Islamabad
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has said that agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy and the government is taking steps to provide support to this important sector.
He was chairing a meeting regarding procurement of basmati rice at the PM’s House on Wednesday. The Prime Minister expressed concern over the falling price of basmati rice due to international factors and directed the Ministries of Finance and Food Security to submit a proposal for providing support to the growers by providing suitable subsidy. He asked the Ministry of Food Security to consult provincial governments and develop a system so that direct benefit of the subsidy goes to the growers and not the middleman. The Prime Minister directed the Ministries to come up with a plan within six weeks through which cost of agricultural inputs can be brought down to make the growers comfortable in the local market and competitive in the international market.
He also directed to submit a proposal regarding provision of solar panels on soft loans for installation of tube-wells for agriculture sector. Federal Minister for Finance, Muhammad Ishaq Dar; Federal Minister for National Food Security, Sikandar Hayat Bosan, Special Assistant to the PM, Dr. Musadik Malik; Secretary National Food Security and Secretary Commerce attended the meeting along with other senior government officials.
APP adds: Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan on Wednesday urged the scientists to work for reducing the production cost of soybean to make it profitable and competitive in the world market.
The minister was chairing a meeting organized to discuss issues related to soybean production here. He said that efforts should be made to promote crop production in irrigated areas to exploit the potential while trials should be conducted at different agricultural research institutes located in the country to test the adaptability of different soybean varieties.
In addition, awareness should be created among the farming community a about the benefits of improving soil fertility.
Speaking on the occasion, Federal Secretary of Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR), Seerat Asghar said that government accords high priorities to agriculture sector for poverty alleviation and food security.
He said that the soybean may be promoted on larger area to meet the country’s requirements for soybean meal.
Since the soybean seed available would be sufficient for only 5000 acres, therefore seeds should be imported and tested in different ecologies to be utilized for crop cultivation. He also urged the scientists to design a project for rehabilitation of agriculture in FATA for poverty alleviation in the region.
On the occasion, PARC Chairman, Dr.Iftikhar Ahmad said that soybean was grown on negligible area in Pakistan.
About 500 million US dollars are spent on the import of soybean oil and meal while the requirement of protein rich soybean meal is increasing due to rapid growth of poultry and aquaculture.
He said during the current kharif season the crop was planted on 270 acres at NARC for seed multiplication of improved varieties while seed for 100 acres was also provided to different govt departments and farmers.
The seed produced will be used for distribution among farmers during next spring and kharif seasons on 5000 acres.
Director General of National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), M.
Azeem Khan and Advisor National Rural Support Programme (NRSP).
Malik Fateh Khan also spoke on the occasion and briefed about the current situation of soybean crop in the country and efforts made by PARC.