Punjab Agriculture Secretary Muhammad Mahmood on Saturday said that Punjab government was revamping agricultural policy with the special focus on farmers to address their problems that will untimely increase the productivity and help alleviate poverty.
He was chairing a meeting at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. He said that during the process of framing policy, all stakeholders including farmers associations, agricultural industry, scientists and political leadership would be taken on board in order to address their problems and to increase the productivity. He said that policy should be equally practically acceptable for all stakeholders.

He said that needs and problems of small famers vary from large famers. He urged the members involved in the process of policy making to ask the farmer about their problems. He called for identifying prioritized areas to work with solution and strategy for the betterment of the agricultural sector.
He said that the key elements in agriculture sector are revolving around crop, land and farmers. However, the farmers remained neglected in the past.
He said that the government was introducing Kissan smart card by next year to make financial support and other transaction more transparent. The card will be having all the biodata, land record etc.
He said that government would also provide the subsidy on potash worth Rs 500 million in order to increase the productivity. The new mechanism would be adopted for the distribution of subsidy on potash as a pilot project under which each bag comprises a unique code. The farmer will buy from the open markets and after scratching he will send the code at given number. Resultantly, the government will release the subsidized money to the farmer through easy paisa. He said that the government is mulling converting the all subsidies on agricultural input on the same pattern.
He said under the new policy, all prioritized areas including seed issue, cropping zones, climate changes etc would be dealt effectively.
UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that the UAF was consulting with all stakeholders on the policy. He said that farmer friendly policy with the focus on rural development was being devised for the development of the agriculture sector. He said that the agriculture production of the major crops had been facing stagnation. The first draft of the proposed agriculture policy was being forwarded to farming association, industry, MPs, donors, for getting their feed and finally prioritizing the agriculture policy issues. He said that rules and regulations regarding pesticides, fertilizer, and seeds will also be addressed in the proposed policy. High value crops, post harvest losses and alternatives diversification , inputs will be highlighted in the policy for making the agriculture a profitable business.