Agriculture Department Explains Procedure To Claim Subsidy On Sunflower Cultivation

The Agriculture Department on Monday issued guidelines to farmers on varieties they should sow to extract maximum benefits out of sunflower cultivation and the procedure they should adopt to claim the Rs 5000 per acre subsidy - a measure introduced to encourage oilseed farming

MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Jan, 2023 ) :The Agriculture Department on Monday issued guidelines to farmers on varieties they should sow to extract maximum benefits out of sunflower cultivation and the procedure they should adopt to claim the Rs 5000 per acre subsidy - a measure introduced to encourage oilseed farming.

The Agriculture Department spokesman, in a statement, said that registered farmers could claim Rs 5,000 per acre subsidy for 20-acre farming at the most, equivalent to a maximum limit of Rs 100,000.

Farmers were advised to buy bags of registered sunflower seed varieties containing vouchers like ICI Pakistan varieties HiSun-33 and Agora-4, Syngenta Pakistan's NKR-Mani, US-666 of Omar Seeds and Agro Services, and Agsun-5270 of Sethi Seeds.

To claim the subsidy, farmers should send their scratch card number to 8070 as SMS in the format: "ScratchCardNo space CNIC". After receiving reply on their cell phone, the farmers should go to the nearest mobile merchant and receive Rs 1000 per acre after showing the message. They would receive remaining Rs 4000 per acre after receiving another verification message verifying their sunflower cultivation and acreage.

The spokesman said that oilseed cultivation was being encouraged through different initiatives to increase edible oil production at home, so as to cut the country's Rs 300 billion annual import bill significantly.

Sunflower sowing is in progress in south Punjab districts, including Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan, Multan, Vehari, Khanewal, Bakhar, Bahawalnagar and Lodhran. The farmers have been told to complete sowing till January 31.

Second phase of sowing began from January 1 in central Punjab districts, including Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushab, Jhang, Sahiwal, Okara, Pakpattan, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Chiniot, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Lahore, Mandi Bahauddin, Hafizabad, Kasur, Sheikhupura, and Nankana Sahib. Sowing would continue till January end.

Third phase of sowing also began from January 1, and would continue till February 15 in northern Punjab districts, including Narowal, Attock, Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Jhelum and Chakwal.