Uzair bin Farid

The government has allocated PKR8.85 billion for the National Food Security and Research Division under the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for the current Fiscal Year 2023-24. According to the data available with WealthPK, the government will spend PKR250.53 million on new projects under the Ministry of National Food and Security. These projects include the Pakistan-Korea Joint Program on Certified Seed Potato Production System with a total allocation of PKR100.53 million, the Professional Capacity Building in Agriculture (TVET national reforms program) with an allocation of PKR100 million and the Horticulture Support Programme with an allocation of PKR50 million.

The approval status of these three new schemes is under process, and work on them will start soon after approval by the relevant authorities. Similarly, the total amount of allocation for the ongoing schemes is PKR8.6 billion. The highest allocation has been made to the National Program for Improvement of Watercourses in Pakistan (Phase II) in the list of ongoing schemes. The total allocation for the said project is PKR2.8 billion. Similarly, PRK900 million has been allocated for the National Program for Enhancing the Command Area in the Barani Areas of Pakistan.

An amount of PKR700 million has been allocated for the Promotion of Olive Culture on Commercial Scale in Pakistan (Phase-II), followed by PKR500 million for Locust Emergency and Food Security and PKR500 million for National Oilseed Enhancement Program. The other projects under which allocations have been made are Water Conservation in Barani Areas of KP, Promoting Research for Productivity Enhancement in Pulses, Pilot Shrimp Farming Cluster Development, Establishment of Seed Certification Services in Southern Baluchistan, and Better Cotton Initiative, among others.

A part of financing for the Locust Emergency and Food Security Project under the ongoing schemes will come from foreign aid, as in the cases of the Pakistan-Korea Joint Program on Certified Seed Potato Production System and Professional Capacity Building in Agriculture, in the category of new schemes. For the rest of the projects, the entire financing will come from the coffers of the federal government, which shows the resilience of the federal financing and development institutions in spending money on the much-needed projects of national food security.

Credit: INP-WealthPk