ISLAMABAD: Over Rs4.1 billion subsidy has been distributed among farmers under the Kissan Card scheme in Punjab.

A meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) of Agriculture Transformation Plan (ATP), which was presided over by Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam informed that 780,000 Kissan cards had been distributed among farmers and Rs4.1 billion had been so far paid out through the Kissan Card Scheme in Punjab and over 5.5 million transactions had been done.

The meeting was convened by Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri and was attended by Secretary National Food Security and Research Tahir Khursheed.

Chief Secretary Punjab, Secretary Agriculture of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, and other senior officials of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research also attended the meeting.

Imam said the ATP was an unprecedented programme for the development of the farmers of the country. Secretary Agriculture Punjab informed the meeting that 780,000 Kissan cards had been distributed so far and the target until 30th June was one million.

Secretary Agriculture KP told the meeting that they had distributed 100,000 cards and had disbursed Rs475 million. “By the mid of this year almost 50,000 loans will have paid out,” he said.

Imam said that quality of seed was one of the primary factors that decided the productivity of a crop. He said that to improve productivity of crops the quality and provision of high quality seed must be enhanced.

He was briefed that the licences of almost 200 companies had been cancelled in the last year, which was more than the number combined for the last 20 years.

Dr Suleri said the NCC would compile and present its one-year performance report to Prime Minister Imran Khan in February 2022.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022