University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) introduced a new window of business enterprises aiming at involving the rural farmers in agro-business and manufacturing of agricultural by-products to enhance the profitability of rural entrepreneurs through ensuring availability of small processing units for value addition and processing.
In a bid to promote the agro-business in rural areas, UAF by encouraging the farmers of Azad Jammu and Kashmir producing organic mango, urged the funding agencies and NGOs to make arrangements of processing and value addition so as to arrest the growing migration trend and engaging domestic women in economic activities and prosperity.
Under UAF outreach programme, an event of branding organic pickle, chatni and jam was organised at a mango orchard of Mirza Zafar Hussain Advocate aiming at putting the locals together in business of organic mango by-products.
Addressing the participants UAF VC Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that organic produce of the valley needs to be showcased and introduced in the world as the rich people of the West and Middle East spend billion of rupees on organic food. He underscored the need for making warehouses of branding organic by-products of local mangos. He pledged to work on preserving rootstock of organic mango. Referring towards his recent visit to the valley with Germen and British scientists, Dr Khan told that Germen colleagues will help the university in getting the registration of organic produces for UAF tech company. Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan vowed to offer various short courses of making mango by-products to the women of the valley thereby to promote cottage industry of making by-products organic mango.
Earlier, AJK Minister for Housing and Physical Planning Chaudhry Pervaiz Ashraf told that participating in mango party of Mirza Zafar as remained a dream which was fulfilled by that event. He revealed that government of AJK will erect a research centre at Bimbhar. Dr Mubarak Ali CEO of Punjab Agricultural Research Board asked the university to work for preservation of organic mango, Germ Plasm. He emphasised to further propagate the organic mango to other parts of the country as yield in bunches distinguishes it from rest of the country.
Former Provincial Livestock Minister, Mumtaz Khan Manhais said he is a mango farmer on 50 acres and of the view that rootstock of that organic mango needs to be preserved. He revealed India was extracting edible oil from the mango residues and such benefits need to be explored in Pakistan as it is a largest producer of the mango and earning a huge foreign exchange through mango exports.
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