LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday announced the establishment of the Punjab Kisan Bank to facilitate farmers, along with zero-markup loans of up to Rs100 million, and pledged to provide land and promote livestock farming to boost agricultural growth.
Addressing farmers, Maryam said the initiatives were part of a broader programme to improve farmers’ access to finance, modernise agriculture and increase their profitability. She said the provincial government was committed to addressing farmers’ problems and providing them with easier access to agricultural inputs, machinery and financial assistance.
Maryam also announced plans to provide land to farmers and promote livestock farming, aiming to create further opportunities for rural communities and strengthen the agricultural economy. She said details of the land distribution programme and eligibility criteria for the loans will be announced soon.
She said agriculture was central to Punjab’s economy, describing the province as the country’s food basket, and stressed that farmers’ welfare was essential to sustaining economic growth. “Your convenience, your facilities and your profit are very, very important to me,” she said.
Kissan Card and mechanisation programme
The chief minister said around one million small farmers had received Kissan Cards, which enabled them to purchase seeds, fertilisers and pesticides more easily and reduced their reliance on middlemen. She described the Kissan Card programme as a successful initiative that had provided direct financial relief and improved farmers’ access to essential agricultural inputs.
Maryam said the government had also introduced an agricultural mechanisation programme to address the high cost of renting farm machinery. Around 25,000 tractors had been distributed to farmers, she said, adding that the government planned to expand the scheme over the next two years.
She said the tractor distribution programme had also helped revive factories manufacturing tractors and agricultural machinery, some of which had been on the verge of closure.
Crackdown on fertiliser black marketing
The chief minister said the government had taken measures to curb the black marketing of fertilisers, including urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), and ensure their availability at officially prescribed prices.
Maryam credited Agriculture and Livestock Minister Ashiq Hussain Kirmani with helping address farmers’ concerns, saying his experience as a farmer enabled him to understand the challenges faced by the agricultural community. She reiterated that her government’s priority was to make farming more profitable, improve access to modern machinery and provide farmers with the facilities needed to strengthen agricultural production
