Farmers asked to adopt modern means of agriculture

CHITRAL, Dec 24: A day-long awareness workshop on farming mechanization project was held at the agriculture extension and research center in Seenlasht. Director Agriculture Jan Muhammad Khan briefed the participants about the importance of agriculture, especially in the context of Chitral. He said agriculture is like the backbone and most of Chitrali people depended on agriculture but they possess very little cultivable land. He said the agriculture department was encouraging farmers to benefit from its expertise. He said the department had registered 43,000 people with the farmers service association who were paying Rs600 registration fee and the government contributed a matching grant in the fund which was being invested for the benefit of the farmers. “We have 9.3 million rupees in this account and registered farmers can get seeds, fertilizer, pesticides etc., on subsidized rate from this center. Besides, we have six tractors, rotation machine, plough and other latest machineries which can be used by the farmers on a nominal rate.” He also said the agriculture department was developing orchards on 30 acres of land to promote horticulture in Chitral. Residents from the Karimabad valley cultivate off season beans and the department is working with 15 farmers on experimental basis to promote them. Maize is another important crop of Chitral and we are sowing maize on 60 acres of land and as a result this year we will get 35% more production, Mr Jan added. Agriculture department will sell 1200 bags of certified seeds this year on concession rate. Besides, farmers can purchase other material from the model farm services center on subsidized prices. He said a soil analyzing laboratory was under construction and after its completion it will play a vital role in promoting of agriculture by testing soil of different areas. Shah Wazir Lal, the president of farmers association who presided over the programme, Assistant Commissioner Chitral Hafiz Saad Chitral, who was the chief guest, hailed the efforts of the agriculture department. Shah Wazir demanded two sub-centers of model farmers’ services where farmers can get machineries for cultivating their land.]]>