Minister for National Food Security and Research Tariq Bashir Cheema says government is making all-out efforts to uplift the agriculture sector and bring our farmers at par with their international counterparts.

Chairing a meeting of the committee formed by the Prime Minister for Agriculture Yield Improvement in Islamabad on Thursday, he said this forum provides an opportunity to take a comprehensive stock of the agriculture sector and find ways to improve its yield and productivity.

While briefing the committee, Food Security Commissioner Waseem Ul Hassan said that progressive farmers in Pakistan have a higher yield per acre compared to the country's average.

Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan Sima Kamil told the committee that 45 percent of the financing annual target has been achieved of the PM's Kissan Package. She added that 444 billion rupees have been disbursed for farming purpose while 401 billion has been disbursed for livestock, benefiting 3.2 million farming households. She said commercial banks will soon start to disburse 56 billion rupees for farm mechanization.

The Prime Minister had constituted the committee to suggest measures for agricultural yield improvement and to review steps for availability of quality seeds, inputs and farm machinery.