The Rs. 341 billion “Kisan Relief Package”, announced by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif would help improve the condition of small scale growers and small land holders of wheat, sugarcane, rice, cotton and maize in the country. Under the package, the small rice farmers would be provided Rs. 5,000 per acre cash support while assistance of Rs. 5,000 would be provided to cotton growers as well. About Rs. 40 million would be spent for the provision of cash grants to rice and cotton farmers. This cost would be jointly shared by Federal and Provincial Governments, it wa officially announced. The government had also announced Livestock Insurance Policy of Rs. 2.5 billion to benefit about 700,000 farmers particularly small ones in case their fields were affected due to any natural calamity. Besides, interest-free loans will be provided to farmers who own 12.5 acres or less land for the installation of solar-powered tube-wells or for the conversion of existing tube-wells to solar system. The judicious and transparent use of relief package could minimize farmers’ problems and challenges besides boosting the agri-sector to maintain food safety and security in the country. Commenting on the PM Kisan Package, Secretary Information, Pakistan Kisan Board, Hajji Muhammad Ramzan called upon the government to introduce transparency in the distribution of agricultural funds for the larger benefits of small and medium landholders. He suggested that the government should introduce proper price mechanism for fixing the crop output prices like sugarcane, rice and cotton to protect local farmers so that they could sustain the decreasing pricing trend of these major cash crops of the country. He said like wheat, the government should also activate Cotton Corporation to stabilize the crop price for giving maximum benefits to growers of their produce. On the other hand, steps must be taken to minimize the role of middleman to stop exploitation of farmers besides providing facilities to export the surplus production of rice, cotton and sugar, he added. Hajji Ramzan stressed the need for constructing small dams to overcome water shortage as well as to produce less expensive electricity for agri-sector besides abolishing duties on solar plates to produce alternative energy for the sector. It may be recalled that the current government had introduced several steps for the revival of agriculture sector of the country including Kisan Relief Package, interest-free loans for installation of solar tube-wells, subsidy on fertilizers and provision of certified seeds to enhance per acre crop output. It is the need of hour to ensure implementation of these steps to benefit small landholders who comprise a major portion of the agri-sector. It may be mentioned that agriculture sector, which accounts for 20.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is a major source of livelihood of about 43.5 percent of rural population, has been facing multi-dimensional challenges. Although, the major crop production including wheat, rice, cotton and maize had witnessed significant increase during last couple of years, but farmers were not getting proper rates of their produces due to poor market mechanism. Source - http://pakobserver.net