The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Minfa) and other stakeholders ie ministries of Textile, Finance and Environment, growers' association of Pakistan, seed companies, and provincial governments of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan have reached at a consensus to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the American seed company, Monsanto.
The stakeholders developed the consensus during a meeting held here with Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Muhammad Gondal in the chair, here on Thursday. Gondal said that the government wanted to take all the stakeholders on board before striking the deal with the seed company.
It is worth mentioning here that Monsanto is an agricultural company applying innovation and technology to help farmers around the globe produce more while conserving more. It also help farmers in sustainable production, so they can be successful, produce healthier food, better animal feeds and more fiber, while reducing environmental impact.
Briefing the participants, Gondal said that there was complete consensus among all the stakeholders to sign the MoU with Monsanto. He said that the agreement was in Pakistan's favour as India has already singed an agreement with the company and it has achieved higher cotton production.
Pakistan needs to move ahead with the agreement while taking all the stakeholders on board. The reservations, if any, of the stakeholders shall be taken into consideration and addressed in the agreement with the company so that our interests are safeguarded, Gondal underlined.
The minister was of the view that Pakistan's cotton production needs to be enhanced to fulfil the domestic requirements and increase the per acre yield in the country. For the purposes, this MoU would prove a significant step forward, he added. He said that there is no option but to go ahead with the agreement which is the need of the hour.
Textile Minister Farooq Khan, representatives from the Finance Ministry, Ministry of Environment, Growers Association of Pakistan, seed companies and Punjab Sindh and Balochistan governments also attended the meeting.
The MoU is likely to be signed in a month that would be an enormous success for the ministry and the country. All the provincial governments have displayed their total willingness and have already requested the federal government to speed up the process of singing the MoU with Monsanto.
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