Monitoring Desk: The office of the Director General Strategic Projects of the Pakistan Army will take over around 45,267 acres of land in three districts of Punjab in district Bhakkar, district Khushab, and district Sahiwal for ‘Corporate Agriculture Farming’.
The document available indicates Joint Venture (JV) agreement was signed on March 8, 2023.
The Dawn newspaper indicates that the JV has been signed between the military, the Punjab government, and private firms dealing with corporate farming. However, no list of private firms was available in the notification or in a news item.
The document said that the agriculture, forest, livestock, and irrigation departments would hand over 42,724-acre land in tehsils Kaloor Kot and Mankera in Bhakkar, 1,818 acres in tehsils Quaidabad and Khushab in Khushab, and 725 acres in tehsil Chichawatni of Sahiwal.
Newspaper while citing military sources stated army was “not taking over the ownership of the land as it will remain the property” of the Punjab government. They said that the land in question is mostly barren, uncultivated, and under-cultivated and added that the army with the assistance of the relevant stakeholders, including its JV partners and locals, will turn this into fertile land.
