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Groundbreaking Ceremony of the First Center of Agrimall in
Punjab
By Agha M.
Ajmal
July 19: Agrimall concept would pave the way for economic
prosperity of farmers in Pakistan. It was observed by Rana
Muhammad Qasim Noon, Punjab Minister for Agriculture while
addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of the first Agrimall
Center the other day at Pasrur.
According to the press release issued here by Agrimall, the
ceremony was also attended by Mr. Afaq Tiwana, Chairman
Agrimall, Mr.Jaweid Ishaq, CEO Agrimall, Mr. Zafar Khan,
Regional Chief Executive UBL and Mr. Tahir Raza Naqvi , DCO
Sialkot.
Rana Qasim Noon, speaking as Chief Guest of the ceremony
acknowledged that the banking sector was taking radical steps
to ease out the financing for Agri-sector. But, he observed
that the comprehensive system being launched by Agrimall would
pave the way for a green revolution in Pakistan by resolving
all the problems currently faced by farmers in the cultivation
process. The facilities required by a farmer from pre-harvest
to post-harvest stage have now been made available under one
roof for the first time. It is a brave innovation for which
Agrimall management should be complimented, he added.
Chairman Agrimall Mr. Afaq Tiwana, in his address, said that
before undertaking the Agrimall project, a comprehensive study
on the problems and needs of farmers was made. He asserted
that being a farmer himself, he had the fullest cognizance of
the difficulties faced by farmer’s community. Agrimall will
provide the ultimate solution to such problems, he added.
Earlier, Mr. Jaweid Ishaq, Chief Executive Officer of Agrimall
apprised the participants about details of the Agrimall
project. He lamented that Pakistan, despite having a
broad-based irrigation system, was unable to get better yield
from its agriculture land. He observed that introducing modern
technology at the level of the small to medium farmer, at all
stages from tilling to harvesting, was the only way to achieve
higher production and incomes. Moreover, the problems being
faced by farmers to have fertilizer, pesticides, and seeds,
farm machinery services and above all credit for these
supplies needed to be addressed properly. He said that
Agrimall has addressed these issues in an integrated fashion
by making the entire agricultural supplies available to the
farmers close to their farms. He stated that currently
Agrimall plans to set up 36 franchised centers in Punjab and 2
in Sindh. Out of these, 14 centres are starting up
construction of which the Pasrur Centre of Col. (Retd.) Yaseer
Bajwa is the first. The rest 13 centres will start off
construction within the next 4 weeks.
Groundbreaking ceremony of the Third Center of Agrimall in
Punjab
The franchise Agricultural centers to be set up by Agrimall
would bring a paradigm shift in lifestyle of the farmers,
besides boosting the agricultural productivity to
international standards. It was observed by Chief Guest Mr.
Fazeel Asghar, DCO Gujranwala, at the Groundbreaking ceremony
of the third center of Agrimall in Punjab.
According to a press release issued here, the ceremony was
held at Alipur Arian, Hafizabad road, Gujranwala the other day
where Mr. Fazeel Asghar, DCO Gujranwala, Mr. Jaweid Ishaq, CEO
Agrimall, Mr. Iftikhar-ul-Haque, Regional Chief Manager Bank
of Punjab and Mr. Afzaal Inqalabi, franchise partner, also
addressed the ceremony.
DCO Gujranwala, speaking as the Chief Guest, said that the
agriculture sector of Pakistan was facing a great challenge
because of the new rules of WTO. The challenge, he said, could
only be met by adopting modern ways and means of cultivation
and marketing. He was confident that the centers to be set up
by Agrimall would enable the farmers’ community to fill this
gap.
Earlier, Mr. Jaweid Ishaq, CEO of Agrimall disclosed that idea
of Agrimall was conceived by Mr. Afaq Tiwana about two-years
back. Later, Smeda was asked to design a feasibility to
undertake this project. Following the Smeda feasibility, the
best organizations in agri-business sector were brought
together to set up Agrimall as Joint Venture Company of Ali
Akbar Group, Engro Chemical, Millat Tractors and PSO. Mr.
Jaweid Ishaq added that Agrimall would provide the farmers
community with all of their needs under on roof, in an
integrated fashion. There is crying need to provide them
technical guidance at every steps, from tilling to harvesting,
at the micro level of each farmers. Agrimall will provide
these inputs and services to fill the gap and also facilitate
loans to farmers from partner banks like BOP. It is hope that
this will usher in prosperity in the Agrimall communities.
Later, DCO Gujranwala Mr. Fazeel Asghar unveiled a model of
the center and laid its foundation stone and prayed to Allah
for His blessings.
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Pakissan.com;
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