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LAHORE, Jul 28 (APP):Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani has said that under the wheat support cultivation programme, farmers with up to 25 acres of land will be able to purchase DAP fertilizer at a reduced price for the Rabi season 2025.
A review meeting regarding the Wheat Cultivation Support Programme 2025–26 for the upcoming Rabi season was held at Agriculture House here on Monday under the chairmanship of Punjab Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani.
Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture Osama Khan Laghari and Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo also participated in the meeting.
During the briefing, the provincial minister was informed that a proposal was under consideration to provide a subsidy of Rs. 3,000 per bag of DAP fertilizer to farmers owning up to 25 acres of land during the Rabi season.
However, the subsidy will be limited to farmers with a maximum of 12 acres. These farmers will be eligible to receive a total subsidy of Rs. 36,000 at the rate of Rs. 3,000 per DAP bag.
The programme would remain active from November 1 to November 30, he said and added that it would be mandatory for registered DAP dealers to maintain a daily record of all sold fertilizer bags.
The provincial minister said that not only farmers having Kissan cards but also other eligible farmers would be included in this initiative. Around 98 percent of farmers in Punjab are expected to benefit from the programme, he added. A proposal to allocate Rs 20 billion for the programme is also under consideration.
Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani emphasized the importance of including non-computerized areas in the Wheat Support Programme.
He said that a comprehensive awareness campaign must be launched to educate wheat farmers regarding timely sowing, machine or drill-based cultivation, availability of certified seeds, balanced use of fertilizers, weed management and irrigation management.
Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo said that 3,000 notified Kissan card dealers had been brought on board under the programme. These dealers would sell DAP fertilizer bags to eligible farmers at subsidized rates. Revenue department or Agriculture department officials would monitor the entire process to ensure transparency.
Explaining the sales procedure for DAP fertilizer, he said that the process had been made fully transparent.
The dealer would open the Fertilizer App and verify the farmer’s CNIC to determine eligibility. Real-time verification would be done through PLRA (Punjab Land Records Authority) records and biometric verification through NADRA. Once the farmer completes the verification, they would deposit their share of the cost, and the dealer will maintain daily sales records. The remaining subsidy amount will be directly transferred to the dealer’s bank account by the government on the same day.