RAWALPINDI: The Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has asked the farmers to sow wheat on maximum area and assured that the Punjab government will purchase wheat from them.

Thew assurance was conveyed by additional commissioner revenue through director Agriculture department.

Additional commissioner revenue said that their first priority was to register as many farmers as possible so that they can take full advantage of the Kissan package.

Additional Commissioner Revenue further said that along with wheat, farmers should be guided and encouraged in the cultivation of canola oil, off-season tomatoes, vegetables, so as to improve the country’s economy by increasing their agricultural production.

He expressed these views while addressing the meeting of the Divisional Agriculture Advisory Committee and Task Force held at the commissioner’s office Rawalpindi. In the meeting, Director Agriculture Shahid Bukhari, Deputy Director Sadia Bano and other officers concernedwere present whereas Agriculture Field Officers of Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal and Tala Gang participated through video link.

On this occasion, Director Agriculture Shahid Bukhari gave a briefing on the agricultural profile of Rawalpindi Division and said that Rawalpindi Division has been given a target of 1,491,000 acres for wheat sowing in 2024-25 of which 98.90% has been achieved. .

He further said that currently 29,877 seed bags are available across the division, 18285 seed bags are available at Punjab Seed Corporation, Azmat Seed, Nawab Seed, Al Aziz Seed, FMC and others in Attock district.

There are 4,870 seed bags in Punjab Seed Corporation in Rawalpindi district, 2435 seed bags in Punjab Seed Corporation, Askari Seed, Accurate Seed, Tezro Private Limited and Rachna Seed in Jhelum district. Similarly, in district Chakwal, 1493 seed bags are available at Punjab Seed Corporation, Askari Seed, Accurate Seed, Tezro Pvt and in Tallgang, 2794 seeds bags are available at Umer seed, Nawab seed, Askari seed, Azmat seed and Anokha seed.

He further informed that as per the instructions of Commissioner Rawalpindi, along with increasing the number of field assistants, it is being ensured through geo-tagging that they have registered every farmer especially small farmers in their area.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2024