ISLAMABAD: Easy loan schemes for farmers can help boost agricultural production as the developed nations facilitate farmers to improve their standard of living.
This was stated by Patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Butt in a statement. He said that Pakistan lags behind as farming communities still prefer informal financial sources to formal financial markets to get loans that are costly but easily accessible.
Butt said that affordable financial resources can facilitate agricultural growth by improving productivity which will promote the overall economic growth by supporting the other critical sectors.
Relationship between finances and development is evident therefore farmers cannot be left of the mercy of informal lenders, he said, adding that government must pay attention to agri-reforms, encourage R&D, design new products for rural population and pay attention to rising input costs.
Financial institutions should provide affordable loans to farmers that will automatically create demand for financial services in rural areas opening new window of opportunity. Government and State Bank should revisit the financial reforms to improve the efficiency of agriculture sector after studying the structure of the economy. Province of Punjab deserves extra attention which produces around 70 % of the wheat, 80 % of cotton, 50 % of sugarcane, 40 % of rice, over 70 % of the buffaloes and 50 % of the cattle.
