PM Khan shows concern over agriculture sector
Country's agriculture has been stagnant for past many decades and little work was done for it.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed concern over the deteriorating condition of agriculture sector and expressed intentions to strengthen it
PM Khan chaired a meeting on agriculture at Prime Minister’s Office. The Prime Minister was informed that the country’s agriculture has been stagnant for past many decades and little work was done to assist the farmers in crop diversification, enhancement of yields and mechanization of agriculture sector.
It was informed that research functions were totally ignored in the past resulting in overall deterioration of the sector. Low agricultural output resulted in greater reliance on import thus soaring up the import bill.
The Prime Minister was informed that the existing trend could be effectively checked and reversed with short-term measures and work on long-term strategy could be started immediately with concerted efforts of all stakeholders. He was given a detailed briefing on the existing situation vis-à-vis wheat, rice and sugarcane crop alongwith a comparative analysis with the neighboring countries and other producers with regards to production, exports and imports.
PM Khan was informed that as part of PTI’s agenda of placing greater focus on the agriculture sector, various projects were being planned to increase crop yield and productivity, to shift focus towards exports and encouraging crop diversification. The projects include increase in yields of major crops and adoption of oilseeds; optimum utilization of water resources; harnessing untapped potential of fisheries; restructuring of livestock business model; transforming agriculture produce markets and increasing access to finance for the farmers.
Expressing concern over the existing state of affairs, the Prime Minister said that boosting agricultural sector is a major plank of PTI government agenda. He said that there was a need to support farmers and help them in adopting best practices along with requisite support in provision of finances and mechanization process.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan could greatly benefit from the Chinese expertise in the agriculture sector. He said that strengthening of cooperation with China in agriculture would be one of the priority agenda of his forthcoming visit to China.
