NTHRI organises farmers’ day to promote kiwi cultivation
ISLAMABAD (APP): National Tea & High Value Crops Research Institute (NTHRI) on Thursday organised ‘farmers’ day’ for the farmers of districts Mansahra, Batagram and Abbottabad in order to create awareness among the growers to exploit the potential of orchard farming particularly kiwi production in these areas. The day was attended by the 50 progressive farmers of these districts, where as the field extension workers also participated in the programme, said NTHRI Director Dr Hamid. He informed that NTHRI has demonstrated kiwi cultivation in 10 farms and provided technical support and skill training to the orchard farmers. The kiwi had been cultivated over 6 acres of land in three districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) initiative to promote the kiwi cultivation for enhancing the farm income of these areas to alleviate poverty from the rural areas of the province, he added.
He said that NTHRI has developed a nursery of the kiwi plants and provided technical assistance to the local farmers for the fruit production to enhance fruit production in these areas.
Mining industry can boost Pakistan’s economy
KARACHI (APP): Pakistan has huge reserves of gold, silver, copper and other precious metals that can greatly improve the country's economy if the public and private sectors make investment in these areas. The development of underground reserves of various metals would also help provide maximum job opportunities to the local population. These views were expressed by Sindh Mines and Minerals Development Secretary Shams Soomro while addressing the first day of a three-day conference on Mining and Fuel Industries, organised at FUUAST. The conference has been organised by Geology Department. Those who addressed the conference were chief organizer Professor Dr Waqar Hussain, Chairperson of Geology Seema Naz Siddiqui, Secretary Sohail Anjum, Pakistan Council for Science and Technology Chairman Dr Anwarul Hassan, Professor from Turkish university Dr Cem Sensogut. On the occasion foreign experts from China, Turkey, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nigeria presented their research papers on the subject.
Businessmen term completion of Neelum-Jhelum project major achievement
ISLAMABAD (INP): Completion of Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project is an achievement of the government which will help bridge power shortfall and help generate handsome revenue, a business leader said on Thursday. The much-delayed project has almost been completed costing over Rs404 billion which will generate 969 megawatts of electricity. The reservoir of the dam with a capacity of 8,200 million acre-feet is being filled which will take a month, said ICCI former president Atif Ikram Sheikh. He said that the project will add five billion unit of electricity in the national grid per annum while it will generate Rs50 billion revenue and also cater for domestic and agricultural needs of the area. Sheikh said that the cost of electricity from the project has been estimated at Rs7 per unit which is very low as compare to the other modes of power generation. He said that test production of the electricity has been initiated while the commercial production will begin within three months.
A substantial amount is being used to provide water to the local population for consumption and agriculture while damage to the environment has been minimised, he added.
Increase in import duty may affect trade with Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD (INP): Import of fruits and several other edible items has been temporarily halted from Afghanistan due to imposition of 50 percent regulatory duty to curtail rising trade deficit of the country, it was learnt on Thursday. The federal government has doubled the rate of regulatory duty on import of fresh and dry fruits and dairy products and a sufficient quantity of fruit is being imported from Afghanistan. Source revealed that the regulatory duty on imported items will push-up smuggling in the country and the government must focus on increasing exports by facilitating local industry to overcome the trade deficit. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should withdraw withholding tax on banking transactions and discretionary powers extended to the tax officials under Sales Tax Act 38-B and 40-B that are creating panic among the business community. Major imports from Afghanistan are fresh fruits and vegetables.
Traditionally, the orchards of fruits in Afghanistan are bought many months in advance by the Pakistani importers, most of who operate on a seasonal basis.