ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Mohibullah Khan on Wednesday inaugurated the new admin block of the Directorate General of Agriculture Extension Wing.

He visited the memorial of students who were martyred in the terrorist attack on the Agriculture Service Academy in 2017 and paid tribute to them by laying flowers.

On the occasion Secretary Agriculture Dr Muhammad Israr, Director General Agriculture Extension Jan Muhammad, Director General Livestock Extension Dr Alamzeb Muhammad, Director General In Farm Water Management Javed Iqbal, Director General Fisheries Khusro Kaleem, Director General Livestock Ejaz Khan, Director General Sail Conservation Yasin Khan, Director General Extension Integrated Districts Murad Ali Khan, Director General Engineering Nazir Abbas, Director Agriculture Research Fazal Wahab, Chief Planning Officer Ahmed Saeed and other officers were also present at the inauguration ceremony.

Mohibullah Khan said the annual budget for development of agriculture and prosperity of farmers and landlords has been increased from Rs2 billion to Rs160 billion. He said Pakistan is an agricultural country and therefore they are paying special attention to agricultural development. He said people living in rural areas are mostly dependent on agriculture.

He said officers of the department have been directed to work day and night for the welfare of the farmers as majority of the population is engaged in agriculture. He said agricultural development will not only improve the economy of the country but will also help the landlords in farming. He said the present provincial government is working for the development of agriculture and paying attention to projects worth billions of rupees.

A new building was inaugurated today (Wednesday) at a cost of Rs52 million. It may be recalled that in 2017, terrorists attacked the Agriculture Service Academy, as a result of which 8 students and a security guard of the academy were martyred on the spot while 22 students were injured.