According to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, farmers will receive loans totaling Rs. 1800 billion, an increase of Rs. 400 billion from the prior year.
On Monday, he claimed during a press conference in Islamabad that the country had been devastated by the record floods, which had damaged crops on 4 million acres of land.
According to the prime minister, Pakistan’s economy can only advance through its agricultural sector, which is why we should modernize in order to change the country’s economy in just six months.
According to him, DAP prices would be cut by Rs. 2500 per bag, giving farmers a benefit of Rs. 58 billion. An affordable DAP bag would cost Rs. 11250.
He said that DAP costs were reduced as a result of difficult talks with the fertilizer industry and added that DAP was crucial in raising crop yields per acre.
Shehbaz Sharif stated that the federal and provincial governments would split the costs of distributing 1.2 million bags of certified seeds valued at Rs 13.20 billion to farmers.
He added that small and medium firms operating in the agriculture sector would also receive loans of Rs 10 billion for modernization initiatives. The landless farmers in the flood-affected areas will receive Rs 5 billion, he said.
He claimed that duties on used five-year-old tractors would be relaxed by 50% and that the government will promote the entry of new tractor manufacturers by lowering the charge on entirely knocked-down kits from 35% to 15%.
He disclosed that 500,000 tonnes of urea would be imported at a discount. He stated that the government would subsidize Rs 30 billion to provide farmers with fertilizer at a lesser rate despite the fact that 200,000 tonnes of urea had already been imported. Additionally, he stated that the government would import 1.6 million tonnes of wheat in the near future after already importing one million tonnes.
According to the prime minister, one million tubewells in the nation are powered by electricity. As part of the new plan, the government will offer 300,000 tubewells interest-free loans to convert them to solar power, providing farmers with free electricity.
Despite all the challenges, he observed, the government had chosen to set the price of energy for these tubewells at Rs 13 per unit and would also provide a subsidy of Rs 43 billion to assist the farmers in repaying their loans for solarization.
The PM remembered that the previous Nawaz Sharif administration also provided small farmers with financial assistance totaling Rs 100 billion.
He noted that the new package would aid in the rehabilitation of farmers, especially those whose standing crops, such as rice, sugarcane, wheat, and dates, were grown on four million acres but were damaged by the floods.
He claimed that the flood victims had already received financial aid totaling Rs 88 billion, of which Rs 70 billion had been provided through the Benazir Income Support Programme and the remaining amount had been provided to the National Disaster Management Authority for the provision of supplies such as food, tents, and blankets (NDMA).