The Minister for Agriculture Punjab, Malik Ahmad Ali Aulakh has said that government will protect the rights of farmers and dealers and fake pesticides and fertilisers will be dealt with iron hands. Addressing the concluding session of Planning Meeting of Annual Research Programme of AARI for Rabi 2008-09 held at Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad. He stressed the scientists to evolve the varieties having high yield potential and formulate effective recommendations about their production technologies, so that production of farmers should be increased to ensure their welfare. Talking about the payment to sugarcane growers he said that millowners have been directed to make payments till 15th August to concerned farmers otherwise a strict legal action will be taken against them. The minister further said that under a new project Government has decided to provide tractors to the farmers at subsidised rates. For this purpose government has allocated Rs 200.00 million for subsidy and Rs 2.00 lac will be paid as subsidy on each tractor, he added. The minister also informed that government has allocated Rs 3.5 billion as subsidy to provide eight kinds of agricultural implements to the farmers to enhance their efficiency and crop productivity. Earlier Dr Muhammad Rashid, Director General Agriculture (Research) in his welcome address informed the participants about Annual Research Programme of AARI for Rabi 2008-09 and said that five expert groups were formed to finalise this programme. He also said that farmers, representatives of agro-based industries and other stakeholders were also especially invited to make the research programme demand driven in view of their needs and field problems being faced by them. Besides AARI scientists, a number of farmers, representatives of agro-based industries, eminent scientists from whole of the country and other stakeholders participated in the meeting.