Daily Times

The government under the Kissan Package has provided Rs3,830.9 million in interest-free loans to landless farmers, which were badly affected due to torrential rains and flash floods during last year.

By the month of June 2023 the interest-free loans were provided to about 35,405 landless farmers in order to revive the agriculture sector in flood-hit areas across the country, said an official in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.

Talking to APP here on Wednesday, he said that the government has introduced a multi-billion rupee Kissan Package to revive the agriculture sector and enhance the per-acre output of major and minor crops, aiming to achieve sustainable agricultural growth and economic development.

Additionally, the government disbursed Rs12,817 million under Prime Minister Youth Business and Agriculture Scheme to 23,857 farmers, which provides financial assistance and support to young farmers in agriculture entrepreneurship, added.

He said that recognizing the importance of farm mechanization, the government had provided Rs1,056 million to 507 farmers under the markup and risk scheme, he said adding that the initiative aimed to enhance productivity and efficiency in the agriculture sector.

Moreover, the State Bank of Pakistan’s Refinancing Facility for Modernization of SMEs (RFMS) allocated Rs5.414 billion to include agro-SMEs in the SME modernization scheme. Out of this amount, Rs2.953 billion has been availed by agro-based SMEs, leading to the overall development of the agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises, he added.