Pakistan Oilseed Development Board has set a target of one million acres for sunflower cultivation in the country during 2006-2007 to produce 223,000 tonnes of edible oil for decreasing edible oil import bill by Rs 11 billion.
This was stated by Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Sikandar Hayat Bosan while speaking at a symposium on 'Hysun: Building the future on a foundation of trust' organised by seed division of ICI Pakistan Ltd and Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman Memorial Society here Monday. The target for Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and NWFP is 615,000, 320,000, 45,000 and 20,000 acres respectively, he added.
He said a sharp increase in cultivation target has been announced keeping in view the popularity of sunflower crop among growers. In the last six years, the area under sunflower has jumped by 468 percent rising from 154,000 tonnes to 875,000 tonnes.
The Minister said Pakistan has spent $958 million or Rs 57 billion on the import of edible oils during 2005-2006. He said this crops needs little water while harvesting time is also short. Besides, it is profitable than its competing crops, he added. Bosan was of the opinion that price for sunflower should be above Rs 900 per 40 kilograms in open market.
He appreciated the ICI Pakistan for marketing quality hybrid sunflower seeds from Pacific Seeds, Australia under the brand name of Hysun in Pakistan and said it has acquired 80 percent market share. He pointed out that ICI Pakistan has acquired permission from its principal supplier Pacific Seeds to start the process of hybrid seed production in Pakistan. Work on a small scale was already in process at Sahiwal, he noted.
The Minister urged ICI Pakistan to lower the prices of sunflower seeds to enable small growers to cultivate sunflower. Taking notice of supply of sub-standard quality seeds by some companies, he said the government was taking steps to curb this menace. Other speakers including growers, solvent manufacturers and scientists from Pacific Seeds talked about the importance of sunflower cultivation in Pakistan.
The participants were told that the sale of sunflower hybrid seeds has seen a steep rise in the last five to six years, rising from 200 to 300 metric tonnes to 1300 metric tonnes. The growers demanded a guarantee of quality seed supplies by the distributors and urged ICI Pakistan to reduce prices of sunflower seeds.
Solvent manufacturers said they will seek advance purchase agreement with farmers at support price. Pacific Seeds' representative said his company will work with Pakistani growers in next 5 to 6 years to further improve the yield.