The government on Friday proposed a nationwide digital system to maintain farmers’ and agricultural land records, including soil and water testing data, as part of efforts to modernise Pakistan’s agriculture sector, according to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
According to a post on X, the Digital Farmers’ Diary-AgriStack proposal was presented at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on the development of agriculture and promotion of agricultural exports.
وزیراعظم محمد شہباز شریف کی زیر صدارت زرعی شعبے اور زرعی برآمدات کے فروغ کے حوالے سےاعلیٰ سطحی اجلاس آج اسلام آباد میں منعقد ہوا.
گفتگو کرتے ہوئے وزیرِ اعظم نے کہا کہ زرعی شعبے کا پاکستان کی معیشت کی ترقی اور استحکام میں کلیدی کردار ہے. فی ایکڑ زرعی پیداوار میں اضافے، زراعت میں… pic.twitter.com/8Qnvrfnedz
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) September 11, 2026
Under the proposed system, records of farmers and agricultural land across the country would be digitised, along with information related to soil and water testing, the PMO said.
The meeting also proposed introducing the Pakistan-Good Agriculture Practices (Pak-GAP) system to promote agricultural practices that produce better results.
The prime minister said increasing per-acre yields, modernising agriculture, developing the livestock sector and expanding agricultural exports required effective coordination and partnership between the federal and provincial governments.
“Value addition in agricultural products is essential to increase exports from the agricultural sector,” PM Shehbaz said.
He directed commercial officers at Pakistan’s overseas missions to promote agricultural exports and called for coordinated efforts to expand access to international markets and identify new markets for Pakistani products.
The prime minister also directed the launch of a media campaign on a mobile application for crop monitoring.
Read: PM Shehbaz directs banks to expand financing for agriculture, SMEs, housing
Officials told the meeting that Pakistan’s agricultural exports had reached $5.18 billion during the previous financial year. Rice, fisheries, halal meat, potatoes, sesame, tobacco, mangoes and maize were among the major agricultural exports.
The meeting also discussed the development of agricultural value chains, with China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Gulf countries identified as important markets for Pakistani agricultural products.
PM Shehbaz said the National Agriculture and Food Security Council would be activated, with chief ministers representing the provinces.
The meeting also considered proposals for agricultural financing facilities for exporters. The prime minister stressed the need for coordinated efforts to increase agricultural productivity, improve value addition and expand Pakistan’s presence in international markets.
The meeting was attended by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, National Food Security and Research Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, Ahsan Khan Cheema, Musadik Masood Malik, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunications Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Adviser to the Prime Minister Haroon Akhtar, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Bilal Azhar Kayani, Malik Rasheed Ahmad and senior government officials.
Read more: PM seeks export-led growth push
The move came as the government had also been seeking to expand access to financing for farmers. Earlier this week, PM Shehbaz directed banks and financial institutions to increase lending to the agricultural sector, describing agriculture as the backbone of the country’s economy and its development as a national responsibility.
Agricultural lending stood at Rs1.268 trillion in August 2026, while the government had set a target of increasing it to Rs2 trillion by June 2028 under its Access to Finance Plan 2026-28. Shehbaz had also called for farmers to have easy and uninterrupted access to financial resources on favourable terms.
The meeting was told that 35,838 applications had been received through the Zarkhez-e app for agricultural loans, with Rs7.35 billion approved and Rs1.96 billion disbursed. The prime minister had also directed the government to encourage banks that played a proactive role in extending loans to farmers.
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