PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Mohibullah Khan on Friday said that no one paid attention to the development of agriculture in Pakistan which is an agricultural country.

He said due to population growth and lack of agricultural land, food items have to be purchased from other countries. He said the PTI government paid special attention to the agriculture. He expressed these views while addressing a farmers’ convention in Peshawar. He said the budget for agriculture was increased from Rs2 billion to several billion. Eleven projects worth Rs45 billion were approved by the federal government of PTI.

In 70 years, 25000 water courses have been constructed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while in the last five years, the target has been set to increase this number to 50,000. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the only province which has introduced food security policy which has resulted in increase in meat and milk production from projects for protection of farmers and livestock production capacity.

The minister said several projects have been launched under the Agriculture Emergency Program. 1200 farmers benefited from Katta Bachao, Katta Farba and Faru and hundreds of buffalo and cow breeds were saved. Plans were launched to protect animals from diseases, to establish veterinary dispensaries and to provide free vaccines. For the first time in history, a census and farm census program and a veterinary university were established.

Welcoming the participants of the Farmers’ Convention, the Secretary Agriculture Dr Muhammad Israr Khan said that the purpose of the convention was to inform the farmers about the new programs and to get their suggestions. Seventy percent of the country’s population is dependent on agriculture and livestock.

This sector was not given any importance before. Record reforms in agriculture have been introduced in recent times. In which there are valuable agricultural policies. Asif Awan, President of Livestock Farmers Welfare Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sardar Fahad Qayyum, Ms Ruqia, Ms Shama, Fazal Rabi, Mohammad Khan from Sindh appreciated the steps taken by the provincial government in their speeches and expressed their full cooperation. Reassured.

Former Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed while addressing the Farmers Convention said that there is ample scope for development in agriculture. In the past no government has paid attention to agriculture and farms.

After coming to power, it became clear that there was a difference in the production and consumption of wheat. Quaid-e-Imran Khan took practical steps to increase wheat production and in 2020 the country produced record crops.

In this regard, the government has formulated a food security policy. In the future, farmers will benefit from its benefits. Farmer Card is another revolutionary initiative. In the last few weeks, the energy crisis in the country has become serious, as a result of which farmers in Punjab do not have access to water for irrigation.

The PTI government paid the full price of sugarcane to the landlords. Farmers were facilitated in the Karuna epidemic while the whole world praised Pakistan’s initiatives. Practical steps were taken to eradicate poverty through the Ehsaas program. Through successful youth program, interest free loans were given to the youth. The government was overthrown by Imran Khan’s conspiracy to deny the United States a base.