ISLAMABAD: On Friday, the government has issued about 880,000 Kissan Card for the farmers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in order to enable them to benefit from various programs to develop the local agriculture sector and enhance the per-acre output of all major and minor crops in the country.
In Punjab about 780,000 Kissan cards have been distributed among farmers and the government has fixed a target to provide one million cards by June 30, 2022, said an official in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
He said that the growers in Punjab were provided Rs4.1 billion through the Kissan Card Scheme, adding that over 5.5 million transactions have been done through these cards.
Meanwhile, about 100,000 cards have been distributed among farmers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and disbursed Rs 475 million in order to ensure access to credit for growers, particularly for small-scale growers, he added.
He further informed that the farming community in the country was also provided an amount of Rs650 billion through Agriculture Credit Facility, adding that out of the total amount, about Rs500 billion has been provided to farmers in Punjab and Rs100 billion for growers of Sindh.
He said that all these loans were interest-free and so far over 3.4 million borrowers have taken advantage of this credit facility, adding that the government was also taking measures to provide quality seed to farmers in order to enhance crop productivity.
