I congratulate the agricultural research scientists of Pakistan on the Silver Jubilee of PARC the national apex body for agricultural research in Pakistan. Despite substantial development in industrial and services sectors, agriculture is still the dominant sector of economy.
It provides livelihood to about two-thirds of the national population living in the rural areas, employs about 42% of the labour force and is a major source of foreign exchange earnings. Investment in this sector has resulted in increased agricultural production, higher export earnings, food security, employment generation and improved living standards of our people.
Realising the importance of investing in agriculture, the Government has initiated a series of policies and programmes aimed at relating agricultural productivity, reducing poverty, improving living standards and enhancing human capital involved in agriculture. In recent years, we have initiated a number of important development programmes, including brick lining of water courses, introduction of high efficiency irrigation system, livestock and dairy development, fisheries and off-farm rural development activities for enhancing productivity, increasing rural income and improving living standards of small farmers and landless labourers.
A key component of these projects includes establishing an easy access to credit for resource poor farmers and entrepreneurs to provide them income earning opportunities. On the occasion of Silver Jubilee of PARC, the Government of Pakistan reaffirms its commitment to agricultural development so that the rural people may reap maximum benefits and make the country self-reliant and competitive in global markets. We will continue to involve the private sector through public policy intervention with the aim to creating an attractive environment for higher investment in agriculture. This will help farmers to raise their standards and provide quality agricultural products to the domestic and global markets.
I would like to compliment the efforts of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council in developing science-based cost-effective technologies which are pro-poor, pro-small farmer, pro-woman and pro-environment. PARC as a centre of excellence on agricultural research has been instrumental in the development and dissemination of modern technologies and innovations for accelerated agriculture development in the past and must continue the momentum of its research and development activities in the future.
May Allah Almighty be with us in our endeavors. Ameen!