The agriculture sector share in the GDP has been reduced from 38 to 20 percent because of persistent decline in per acre yield which is a matter of major concern for the present government. The Punjab Minister for Revenue and Relief, Haji Muhammad Ishaq revealed this while addressing the inauguration of two-day kitchen garden promotion campaign at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) here on Friday.
He expressed his concern over the communication gap between the agriculture researchers and the farmers due to which the farmers are not benefiting from the latest research in the agriculture sector. Haji Muhammad Ishaq said that agriculture sector being backbone of the economy of the country has a huge potential and keeping in view this sector's importance, the present government is spending all its resources for its promotion and the LCCI has taken a very right step at a right time that definitely help supplement government efforts aimed at providing relief to masses. He said that the government was spending a huge amount for the promotion of mechanised farming in the country. He said the kitchen garden is not simply a concept but it is a way of life that not only ensures financial benefits but also help address environmental concerns.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI president Muhammad Ali Mian said that Kitchen Garden Promotion Campaign has been launched to overcome the food shortage and to address the issue of prices of daily-use items which are going up like anything. In advanced world this concept is in vogue since ages but now in Pakistan it has started gaining ground. He said that kitchen gardening could either be a principal component of subsistence farming or a beginning of commercial agriculture or horticulture.
The LCCI president said that government would have to take concrete measures for the promotion of agriculture sector as the future is with agro-dollar and not with the petro-dollar. He said that Pakistan despite being an agro-based country and abundant resources is not performing the way it should. Citing the example of Thailand, he said that Thailand is not a Muslim country but its share in 200 billion dollar export of Halal meat is five billion dollars while Pakistan's share is negligible so we all should think over it that why non-Muslim countries are taking lead over Muslim countries in Halal meat export.
Mian said agriculture continues to be the single largest sector, a dominant driving force for growth and the main source of livelihood for 66 percent of the Pakistan's population. It accounts for 20.9 percent of the GDP and implies 43.4 percent of the total work force. But the sector is facing two major problems: firstly, our productions per acre are lower than many countries. For instance our per hectare production of wheat is only 2.5 tons as compared to 4.5 tons in India and 6.2 tons in Egypt. Our sugarcane production per hectare is 45.1 tons as compared to 65.2 tons of India and 90.9 tons of Egypt. Our potato production is 17.2 tons per hectare as compared to 20 tons of India and 23.8 of Egypt, he added.
He said that secondly, around 40 percent of our production is lost as post-harvest losses due to lack of preservation. Pakistan is fifth largest producer of milk in the world but are unfortunately preserving a little amount of this heritage due to lack of the use of biotechnologies and the cool chain systems. The use of biotechnology can not only considerably enhance our productivity but also avoid post-harvest losses. He said that the genetically improved varieties should be available in the market. Genetically improved varieties of livestock are also being developed by the Livestock and Dairy Development Departments.
Now we are increasingly trying to use biotechnology techniques in tissue culture and cutting of floriculture. As a result we are now in a position to export these flowers to the developed world. We need to use genetically modified varieties of flowers for value addition and to maximise our income from the floriculture, he added.
Senior vice president Mian Muzaffar Ali, vice president Shafqat Saeed Piracha and Chairperson LCCI Standing Committee on Kitchen Gardening Ms Nilopher Sikandar and former provincial minister Mumtaz Khan Manias also spoke on the occasion.