Provincial Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Ahmad Ali Aulakh addresses the participants of "Kisan Convention 2012" at UAF

Punjab Government was utilizing maximum resources to boost Agricultural productivity; resultantly maximum record yield was obtained in cotton, wheat, rice and sugarcane crops in the Province. This was stated by Provincial Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Ahmad Ali Aulakh while addressing the participants of “Kisan Convention” organized by University of Agriculture, Faisalabad in connection with 7-Day Rabi Kisan Festival 2012 on Sunday in Iqbal Auditorium. He said that Punjab Government has been providing 30,000 Green Tractors with the subsidy of 6 billion rupees (2 lac/tractor) with transparent Lucky Draws and same pattern was being adopted to provide agricultural implements on subsidy to the small farmers. Malik Ahmad Ali Aulakh expressed his deep concerns over 16% general sales tax being imposed by the federal government which was creating trouble to purchase inputs and other agricultural commodities by farmers who had been losing purchasing power day by day. He urged the federal government to ask Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to procure cotton from farmers so that they could sell their produce on reasonable prices. He criticized the policies of federal government after the implementation of 18th amendment. He demanded that all the committed resources should be transferred to the provinces for the betterment of farming community of respective provinces. Punjab Agricultural Minister said that provincial government has allocated 100 million rupees for the promotion of research by Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB). He added that farmers of the province would be benefitted through the initiatives of Laser Leveling, Drip Irrigation and Water Course Alignments Projects initiated by Chief Minister, Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif for the betterment of Agricultural sector. He urged the Universities and research organizations of Punjab province to follow the pattern of collaborative approaches being introduced by UAF. He lauded the efforts of Vice Chancellor UAF Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan and his team to conduct such programs full of festivities and information. Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan, VC UAF while presenting the welcome address said that we were draining 240 billion rupees on the import of edible oil which could be minimized by promoting oil seed crops. He urged the scientists to introduce modern technologies and agronomic practices for the promotion of “Brassica” (Brassica Compestress). He added that (Sarson) Brassica had been traditionally cultivated for oil extraction and traditional dish “SAAG” he also emphasized that we can expand the cultivated area of oil seed crops by reducing wheat cultivation spots. FAO representative Mr. Kevin, Dr. Ehsan Ullah Chahl, Dr. Hafeez Sadaqat, Dr. Rasheed Ahmad, National Agricultural Expert Baluchistan, Malik Ijaz Hussain, Mr. Hamid Malhi and others also spoke on the occasion.