CM Punjab approves 'Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card' for farmers

The first woman Chief Minister of Punjab – Maryam Nawaz – on Friday approved the ‘Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card’ to facilitate the farmers in the province, ARY News reported.

Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz chaired a meeting regarding the agricultural reforms where she approved the ‘Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card’ for farmers.

Through the Kisan Card program, farmers will get various types of subsidies, while, a total of 500,000 small farmers in Punjab can get loans of Rs 150 billion within a year with each farmer will be eligible for a loan of Rs 30,000 per acre of agricultural land

During the meeting, CM Maryam Nawaz stated that with the private sector collaboration, a model agriculture center will be built in every district of the province, through which the farmers will get rid of fake fertilizers and medicines.

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In the meeting, the Agriculture Department was directed to compile complete data on production and demand of each crop, while the meeting approved the creation of a state of art center of excellence for research development on cotton, wheat and rice crops.

The meeting participants agreed to control the administrative affairs through the board and to link the research center with regional universities.

It was also decided to build a research development center at the cost of Rs 2 billion in Agricultural University Faisalabad with the cooperation of China.

Apart from this, it was agreed to equip the Agricultural Extension Wing with modern technology, recruit 500 agricultural graduates, review the restructuring of the Punjab Seed Corporation and the Punjab Agricultural Research Board and propose a law to prevent the use of agricultural land for residential purposes.