Hyderabad:
With the demands of farmers with respect to the development and investigation of seeds that are not heard, the government of Sindh has proposed an expense of more than 7,535 billion rupees in agriculture, in addition to another sum of RS3.5 billion under the head of foreign project assistance (FPA), in fiscal year 2025-26.
They have been allocated to more than RS3.3 billion for projects related to water courses, since less than eight percent of the provincial budget will be spent on investigation and below one percent in the development of seeds.
Farmers’ training will also see tiny financing of RS87 million as the challenges ranging from efficient water to climate resistant agriculture are advanced. The Department of Agriculture, Supply and Prices of SENDH is distributing its development budget in its nine subsectors.
The wing responsible for supervising the supply of basic products, regulating prices, verifying the weights and taking measures will also obtain an insignificant amount of RS69.28 million to acquire a mobile test unit for inspection. “Since water is scarce and Pakistan is one of the less efficient users of water in agriculture, there is no attention to correct that or invest in high efficiency systems such as dripping,” said Syed Mahmood Nawaz Shah, interim president of the Sindh Abadgar Board.
He also noted that the availability of certified seeds in the market is around 45 percent, but the provincial government remains indifferent to the situation. “Again, there is no way to follow a strategy.” The RS150 million seed development program will obtain only a small sum of RS50 million in the next financial year. The program is also supposed to carry out the development of farmers’ ability. The 7,535 billion disbursement consists of assignments of six billion RS for 35 schemes in progress and RS1.5 billion for eight new and unveiled projects.
Investigation
The Government plans to spend RS89.7 million in Phase II of Research and Development of Bio Salina Agriculture; RS1 billion in update of the Horticulture Research Center in Mirpurkhas; RS125 million in rice investigation in Larkana; and RS62.5 million in the varietal development of wheat through speed reproduction. The two unpaid schemes include Bio Salina, rehabilitation and resistant initiative and the investigation of climatic crops with the assignments of RS50 million and RS25 million, respectively.
Meanwhile, after water management projects, the agricultural mechanization sector receives the largest funds from the provincial government with RS2,166 billion promised for the next fiscal year. Eight schemes ongoing and a new agricultural extension wing will receive RS1,042 billion from the Sindh government in addition to a considerable injection of RS3.5 billion under the FPA.
The Water and Agriculture Transformation Project of the Sector (SWAT), whose total cost exceeds RS142.28 billion, mainly funded from the credit received from the World Bank with the contribution of the SNDH government of only RS23 billion, will obtain RS2 billion in 2025-26. Similarly, the RS3.4 billion project to transform the Indo Basin with agriculture and resilient climatic water management will receive RS316 million by the government in the next financial year.
The government plans to spend RS198.5 million to establish a new fruit and vegetable market in Mehar Taluka of the Dadu district, but the project is still classified as not approved. The supply of laser leveling equipment for rent to farmers will be distributed RS220.7 million with the total disbursement of the project in RS3 billion. The Government is also helping farmers to establish dates processing, packaging and stuck plant at the expense of RS628 million. RS254 million, or half of the sanctioned funds, will be published next year.
