Sir: Punjab is one of the most fertile regions in Pakistan, and is known in the entire region for its agricultural output. The economy of Punjab is largely based on agriculture, which employs a major chunk of the labour force of the country. The province of Punjab plays a pivotal role in Pakistan’s economy by contributing almost 60 percent to the total agricultural production of the country. Therefore, in order to further develop the agriculture sector and provide relief to the farmers, the Punjab government has approved a scheme to provide interest-free loans to farmers. According to details, these soft-term loans will be given to the farmers for both Rabi and Kharif crops in the province. A landowner possessing up to twelve and a half acres of agricultural land will be eligible to get this loan. Since agriculture is of paramount importance to national economy, and a major portion of population is associated with it, therefore, government has announced a historic Kissan Package of Rs 100 billion. Moreover, besides provision of relief to the farmers, special attention has also been paid to research and development for increasing per acre yield. Keeping in mind the importance of this sector, the proposal for establishing agriculture stock exchange is also on the cards. The move certainly highlights the fact that government has fulfilled its promise of facilitating the farmers. It is hoped that the move, if properly implemented, will certainly help the agriculture sector in general and small farmers in particular. This will consequently pave the way for the socio-economic development of the country. SYED ALI QASIM Lahore