Punjab Govt Focusing On Small Farmers' Uplift: Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial

Punjab Agriculture Minister Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial on Monday said that the provincial government was focusing on uplift of small farmers in accordance with vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Oct, 2018 ) :Punjab Agriculture Minister Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial on Monday said that the provincial government was focusing on uplift of small farmers in accordance with vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He was speaking as a chief guest at the launching ceremony of a report on 'Creating Wealth in Smallholder Farmers Through Efficient Credit System in Pakistan', organized by the Punjab government in collaboration with Australian Center for International Agriculture Research here at a local hotel.

He said that the Agriculture Department was facilitating the farming community through the use of mobile-wallets.

The minister said that small farmers make a major portion of farming community in Punjab and had previously been provided little access to formal affordable finances. The credit available to these small farmers, mainly from informal sources, used to be of a very high cost which escalated their cost of production.

Langrial said, "We have a total of 55,000 active mobile-wallet accounts. The incumbent government allocated Rs 93 billion budget for Agriculture sector compared with Rs 81.30 billion in the previous financial year.

" The agriculture minister said that for extending interest-free loans, the government had allocated Rs 15 billion.

Other speakers also stressed the need for determining ways and means for small landholders regarding availability of credit as it served as fresh air for farmers.

Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) Chairman Dr Yusuf Zafar, the University of Queensland Australia's Project Coordinator Dr John Steen, Khushali Bank (Agriculture Microfinance Outreach) President Ghalib Nishtar and Agriculture Information Punjab's Director Muhammad Rafiq Akhtar attended the event.

The report to increase income of small farmers through effective credit system was formally launched. The report provides recommendations based on effective policies to make loans available to the owners of small agricultural farms.

The report also ensures that farmers and women farmers could make their financial condition better, besides increasing agricultural yield.

University of Queensland Australia, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Sindh University and Shah Abdul Latif University jointly prepared the report.