ISLAMABAD, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani government announced on Tuesday to allocate 309 billion rupees (1.97 billion U.S. dollars) under an emergency program to develop the country's agriculture sector and uplift the lifestyle of poor farmers and people related to the sector, a statement said.
The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) published on its social media account that a National Agricultural Emergency Program has been developed under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan to "uplift one of strongest revenue-generating sectors of the country."
Later in the day, PTI leader Jahangir Tareen briefed media about the uplift program saying that they would mainly focus on the areas of farming, fisheries and livestock for enhancing per-acre yield and meat production.
The government will also focus on the construction of small dams, and improving irrigation system to facilitate the farmers, said the PTI leader.
He said loans on easy installments will be given to poor people in coastal areas to promote and support shrimp and fish cage farming.
Due to lack of industries, Pakistan's economy mainly depends on agriculture, but production in this sector is far less than that of technologically advanced countries as most of the farmers use old techniques to raise their crops and animals.
PTI's official page stated that 44 billion rupees (280 million U.S. dollars) of the allocated amount of the emergency program will drastically increase the yield of four major crops of the country, including wheat, rice, sugarcane and oilseeds.
Earlier on Monday night, the Pakistani prime minister told media that for technological advancement, his government will acquire modern technology from China to develop the agriculture sector on modern grounds.
"We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China to bring Chinese technology to Pakistan to benefit local farmers. China's (per acre) production in the agriculture sector is three-times higher than that of Pakistan," said Khan.
