Robert E. Evenson, Professor, Department of Economics, Yale University, USA said, on December 21 Pakistan's overall performance in adopting Green Revolution was best in South Asia. "Pakistan has been successful in achieving Green Revolution in wheat and rice.
This has improved food situation in Pakistan despite its rapid population increase," he maintained.
Professor Robert E. Evenson stated this while delivering his lecture on "The Green Revolution and the Gene Revolution in Pakistan: Policy Implications" in the evening session of a three-day 21st Annual General Meeting and Conference of Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) concluded here.
The session was chaired by Professor T.N. Srinivason, Chairman, Department of Economics, Yale University, USA, according to a press release issued here.
Robert E. Evenson, however, added that Pakistan could not achieve Gene Revolution, which is based on genetic engineering techniques. These techniques have been used to produce high yielding crops at low cost.
He was of the view that it is in Pakistan's best interest to adopt Gene Revolution techniques.
While concluding the discussion Professor T.N. Srinivasan said that in today's world every country need not to produce every crop by itself. Rather the countries can specialise in specific sectors where they have comparative advantages, he added.
On the last day of PSDE Conference on Wednesday, four distinguished lectures including Iqbal Memorial Lecture and the Quaid-i-Azam Memorial Lecture were delivered and discussed. Eleven papers were presented and discussed in the regular sessions.
The Iqbal Memorial Lecture was delivered by Rashid Amjad, Director, Policy Planning, Employment Sector, ILO, Geneva on "Skill and Competitiveness: Can Pakistan Break Out of the Low-level Skill Trap?"
The Quaid-i-Azam Memorial lecture was delivered by Professor Robert E. Evenson, Department of Economics, Yale University, USA on "The Green Revolution and the Gene Revolution in Pakistan: Policy Implications".
The three-day conference was hosted by Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) and co-hosted by the Department for International Development (DFID), Friedreich Ebert Stiftung (FES), National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB), United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Zarai Traqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL).