LAHORE: Punjab’s agriculture department is now accepting applications from pulse growers belonging to Thal districts, including Bhakkar, Mianwali and Layyah, for the provision of portable solar irrigation system on subsidised rates.
An official from the department told this scribe that the aim of this scheme is to boost the production of pulses in the country and to increase their per acre yield.
“This initiative will reduce the energy cost for farmers in these three districts,” he said.
Landlords, contractors and farmers with at least 5 to 25 acres of land and a 50 horsepower tractor are eligible for the scheme. “If the land is jointly owned by a family then only one person from that family can apply,” he added.
He further said farmers from Layyah, Bhakkar and Mianwali can submit their applications along with copies of their Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), attested copy of document proof of land ownership/possession and an Rs100 affidavit to the concerned assistant director agriculture (extension) in their respective districts.
The last date for the submission of applications is February 25, after which the scrutiny of the documents will be carried out till February 29. The last date for the lucky draw will be March 5 and the winners will have to book the machinery by March 20.
Selected farmers would be bound to rent a portable solar irrigation system to other farmers in their vicinity for three years. “The portable irrigation system will only be used for agriculture purposes,” the official said.
Profit also reached out to various farmers to get their comments on the agriculture department’s schemes. Shahzad Rizvi, a pulse grower from Layyah, said that power outages and high energy costs were two of the biggest issues he was facing. “I am applying for this scheme because it will help me cut the energy cost to a very large extent,” he added.
Ghulam Rabbani, a pulse farmer from Bhakkar, agreed with Rizvi’s comments, and said that most farmers were disturbed by the increasing costs of fuel and electricity. “This scheme will help the farmers overcome their financial woes and encourage others to switch to the production of pulses,” he said, adding that it will pave the way for boosting the production of pulses in the country.
An official of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) said that the total production area of pulses in Pakistan is around 3.2 million hectares annually and each year the country imports pulses worth more than Rs100 billion.
Adding to the PARC official’s comments, an Arid Zone Research Institute (AZRI) official in Bhakkar said, “If the agriculture department continues introducing such initiatives which are aimed at decreasing the energy cost of farmers then Pakistan can easily decrease its import bills of pulses in the country.”
He added that apart from portable solar irrigation systems for the pulse growers, the agriculture department should also take measures for the provision of top quality seeds to pulse growers.
“The federal and provincial governments should also provide adequate funds to the agriculture research institutes so that they can carry out research on pulses if we want to mitigate our dependency on Australia, Canada, Brazil and Burma from where we import pulses and become self-sufficient in the production of pulses,” he demanded.
such good information and good step to save water
very good step from government for formers