LAHORE - The role of media has assumed a paramount importance in the promotion of agriculture, said the Punjab agriculture minister. Following Punjab government’s farmer friendly steps and dissemination of knowledge through media, productivity of agriculture sector has substantially increased in the last one year besides significant increase in growth rate of this important sector of the economy, said Naeem Akhtar Khan Bhabha, the provincial minister, here on Sunday.

In a felicitation message to the newly elected office bearers of Agriculture Journalists Association (AJA), including President Fakhar Malik and Secretary Sibghatulla Ch, the provincial agriculture minister said that Punjab’s growth rate for the agriculture sector had increased to an impressive level of 3.46 percent. The Rs100 billion package is helping growers a lot in reducing the cost of production. This way, farmers are now able to increase their profitability in addition to increasing per acre yield with augmented use of inputs, he observed. Talking about role of media in dissemination of knowledge to farming community, Bhabha praised coverage of agriculture by the media, saying objective portraying of events has helped reduce communication gap between government institutions and the growers. Media in general is doing its job in creating awareness about the stewardship programmes of the provincial government coupled with providing information about subsidies being given on inputs, he said.

Reference for Asma

LAHORE  -  The South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) arranged a reference for human rights activist Asma Jahangir in which activists paid glowing tributes to the late lawyer.  IA Rehman said Asma Jehangir was a brave woman who throughout her life raised the voice of voiceless people and through her struggle in human rights, she has become a ray of hope for others to fight for human rights.  A large number of civil society representatives, activists, including members of Safma, including IA Rehman, former foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri, and classical dancer Sheema Kermani. Jahangir co-founded the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.