A ceremony was held at Agriculture House Lahore to start the registration of Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card on Wednesday.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani attended the event as a chief guest.

Speaking at the event, Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani said that the Punjab Chief Minister's Rs400 billion "Transforming Punjab Agriculture Programme" will be a game changer for agricultural development and farmers' prosperity in the province.

He further said that under this program, registration of Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card is being started today (Wednesday), through which farmers are being provided with the facility of getting interest-free agricultural loan with a huge amount of Rs300 billion.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani said that more than 10,000 applications have been received so far for the registration of Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card. He clarified that the aim of the Punjab government is the prosperity and improvement of the farmers. That is why farmers will be protected from the exploitation of middlemen through Kisan Card. Farmers will be provided interest-free agricultural loans up to Rs 30,000 per acre for one crop. The Punjab Government will further increase the scope and funding of Kisan Card.

He further said that owners of 1 to 12.5 acres of agricultural land will benefit from this scheme. This project has been started in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Bank of Punjab. Farmers will be able to get interest-free agricultural loan up to Rs150000 per farmer through Kisan Card.

He further said that the farmers will be able to purchase agricultural inputs for their crops in time, which will increase the yield per acre of crops.

Agriculture Minister Punjab appealed to the farmers that the farmer should pay the Kisan Card loan within six months, which would enable the availability of interest-free agricultural loan for the next crop as well.

On this occasion, Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahu said that 500000 farmers will benefit from Kisan Card. He further said that implementation of "First Come First Served" basis for registration of Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card is in progress. Through the Kisan Card, quality fertilizers and seeds will be available to the farmers at fixed prices.

He said that the farmers will not have to visit any office for the issuance of Kisan Card and for the convenience of the farmers, they will be able to get the Kisan Card through SMS alert.

Agriculture Secretary Punjab clarified that Agriculture Department, Bank of Punjab, NADRA, Punjab Information Technology Board and Punjab Land Record Authority are working together to issue Kisan Card. In future, more facilities and services will be provided to farmers through Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card. Farmers will be able to purchase fertilizers, seeds and agricultural medicines through POS machines from 10,000 registered dealers in Punjab province and will not have to pay extra money to middlemen.

The ceremony was attended by senior officials of Punjab Agriculture Department, representatives of Bank of Punjab, NADRA, Punjab Information Technology Board and a large number of farmers.

At the end of the ceremony, Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani awarded the shields to the officers of the Agriculture Department and other departments who did significant work for the issuance of Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card.