Kissan Card 2nd Phase To Benefit Farmers Owning Up To 25 Acres

SARGODHA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Apr, 2025) Divisional Director Agriculture Sargodha Region Shahid Hussain said on Wednesday that in the second phase of the Kissan card initiative, small and medium-scale farmers owning up to 25 acres of land were being included.

Talking to APP here, he said that loan recoveries under the first phase of the Kissan card initiative would be completed between April 15 and May 15.

The agriculture director said that from May 16, interest-free agricultural loans would be provided for the Kharif season, with an allocation of Rs 75 billion across the province and in Sargodha as well. Under the second phase, farmers would also be allowed to utilise 30pc of the loan in cash and 25pc for diesel purchases, in addition to the enhanced per-acre loan ceiling, he added.

Shahid Hussain said that under the Green Tractor Programme, launched by the Punjab chief minister, tractors allocated through balloting had already been delivered. The first phase of the programme would be completed by April 15. For the second phase, it was proposed to offer locally manufactured tractors ranging from 60 to 85 horsepower with a subsidy of Rs 1 million per tractor. Between 10,000 to 20,000 tractors were planned to be distributed, subject to final approval by the Punjab Chief Minister across the Punjab including Sargodha.

He said that 80pc of the grey structure construction for Model Agriculture Malls in Sargodha had been completed, with full completion expected by June 30.

Additionally, eight more Model Agriculture Malls were being considered for the second phase.He further said that under the first phase of the Agricultural Graduates Internship Programme, 935 agricultural graduates were currently serving under the Department of Agriculture Extension and were being digitally monitored. These interns had collectively provided technical guidance to 2.6 million farmers. A proposal was under review to recruit 4,000 agricultural graduates in the second phase, who would be posted across all sub-departments of the Agriculture department.

Shahid Hussain said that 2,317 super-seeders had been distributed to farmers under the Chief Minister’s Smog Control Programme, and more than 600 additional units would be distributed by May 31. He announced that early cotton sowing had been completed on 840,000 acres in Punjab. Under this initiative, farmers cultivating early cotton on five acres or more were receiving a special incentive package of Rs 25,000 per farmer from the Chief Minister. Triple gene cotton seed varieties had been made available as part of this campaign.He said that the success of the early cotton sowing campaign was made possible by the efforts of field formations and the special incentive package offered by the Chief Minister. He also highlighted a significant reduction in solar panel prices under the solarisation of agricultural tube-wells programme, in collaboration with the department of energy.