The Punjab agriculture department has launched Rs 4.34 billion programme to collect 592,000 soil samples from the cultivated land across the province in order to guide the growers about these samples for balanced and rational use of chemical fertilisers.
This will be a five-year programme titled 'project for agriculture extension' under the 'Kisan Khushal - Punjab Khushhal' project. Secretary Agriculture Punjab Muhammad Mahmood chaired a meeting in this regard at the Agriculture House on Monday which reviewed the targets set at district level for this project and methods to achieve it. The department has provided motorcycles and smart phones besides up-gradation of soil fertility laboratories. This project will also help timely transfer of latest technology to the growers leading to increase in per acre yield of different projects.
Agricultural experts speaking at the meeting claimed that farmer may secure additional income of Rs 305 billion if balanced use of nitrogen and phosphorous is promoted only on 50 percent of the land being used in Punjab for wheat, paddy, sugarcane, cotton and maize.
Some 70 percent of the growers in Punjab own up to 12.5 acres of land because of continuous increase n population and division of inheritance. They also said that growers can take help from the website developed by the University of Agriculture Faisalabad in the light of report by soil survey to select the latest production technology of different crops and earn profit of up to Rs 100,000 per acre. Progressive farmers can even add up to 300,000-400,000 per acre by following latest technologies, the speakers added. They said that models given on website not only increase per acre production of different crops but also bring down the input cost. The website also gives weather prediction for next five days to guide the farmers.