ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Monday launched ‘backyard poultry initiative’ under Prime Minister's National Agriculture Emergency Programme under which 500,000 chickens will be distributed among residents of rural areas across the country on subsidized rates aimed to alleviate poverty.

The government has launched Prime Minister's National Agriculture Emergency Programme of Rs 309 billion indifferent areas of agriculture sector in financial on cost sharing basis between the federal and provincial governments.

0Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sabibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan speaking at the launching ceremony organized it Poultry Research Insitute Rawalpindi said that under this program 500,000 checking will be distributed among the residents of rural in the next five years. The main objective of the program is to alleviate poverty and control animal protein deficiency.

He said that that under this program government will bear 30 percent cost of a set of five chickens (four female and one male).

Jahangir Khan Tareen senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) said that the previous governments have completely ignored agriculture sector. The present government has launched Agriculture emergency in order to make agriculture sector able to play its role in the betterment of coutnry’s economy.

He said that government will strictly monitor backyard poultry initiative in order to make it successful.