ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday called on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to take all public and private sector stakeholders on board to evolve a comprehensive strategy for enhancing cotton productivity in the country besides strengthening cottonseed production system. Strengthening and streamlining of cotton research and development system in the country need to be updated by learning from the experience of other cotton growing countries and making use of the new technologies.
The President said this while chairing a meeting of Food and Agriculture Committee on Tuesday at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
The meeting was in continuation of earlier meeting held in February to achieve food security, improve the lot of the farmers, increase export earnings and to address the issues of the stakeholders. The meeting was updated on the progress made so far in the food and agriculture development and the new measures being undertaken in this regard.
The matter concerning low average yield per acre was discussed in detail and measures were suggested to enhance optimum yield potential of the varieties besides bridging the gap between progressive and non-progressive growers in per acre yields.
The President also stressed producing disease resistant and high yielding variety of the major crops to attain self-sufficiency in food items on one hand and to make Pakistan a food exporting country on the other. The President asked for discouraging the sowing of un-tested varieties with multiple genetic problems, as it was also the reason for low crop production in the country.
The President was also updated on PARC initiatives concerning developing hybrid seed of cotton, wheat, sugarcane, canola, aerobic rice cultivation, high bio-remediation of waste water, agriculture machinery development, alternate energy sources for agriculture, bio-fertilizer, watershed management in dams being built, and nutritional food security in the country.
The President said that the growers who are able to produce maximum yields while adopting new technologies and agronomic practices need to be given incentives. Similarly, the researchers also need to encouraged and provided incentives. He reiterated the commitment of the present government to improve the livelihood of small farmers and growers and the rural population.
“Pakistan is an agricultural country with agro based economy so we need to focus on improving the livelihood of those who are associated with it,” he remarked.
The President remarked that research was a basic pillar of agriculture development and stressed the federal and provincial research institutions to join hands for developing and introducing latest technologies in agriculture and farming sector to enhance crop production, so that the growing challenge of food security in the country could be met.
Mir Israrullah Zehri, Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Minister for Textile, M Salman Faruqui, Secretary General, Kamal Majidullah , SAPM on water resources, Nazar Muhammad Gondal, MNA, Rana M Farooq Saeed Khan, MNA, federal secretaries food and agriculture and Textile industry, Chairman PARC, Agriculture development commissioner, provincial secretaries agriculture of the four provinces and other high officials. Chairman’s APTMA, Karachi, Lahore, Balochistan, Punjab, chairman Pak Cotton Forum LAHORE and Rana Iftikhar Muhammad, Secretary General Anjmne Kashitkaran were also present during the meeting.
