HYDERABAD: The experts emphasized a joint MoU among agricultural institutions, and the local and Chinese private sector for the growth of certified seeds and new seed commodities in Sindh, while it was demanded to increase the research budget to the development of agriculture and to access the demand for pure seeds.

Experts also suggested that apart from government institutions experimental fields may be set up on farmers’ lands. It was suggested while First Farmers Field Day was organized by the Seed Production and Development Center (SPDC) of Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) in collaboration with Higher Education Commission (HEC), Agriculture Research Sindh and UBL, on Sunday.

Addressing the occasion, Vice Chancellor Dr. Fateh Marri said that during independence in 1947, war conditions in 1971 and economic problems in the present era, agriculture is the only sector due to which we are dealing with food and economic crisis, although in terms of production per acre, we are still far behind the developing countries, while there is a need to increase the budget for agricultural research by 20%, to get positive yield results. “We along with the provincial agriculture department and its subsidiaries are producing seeds of wheat and other crops in Sakrand, Setharja, Mirpurkhas, and Kotdiji and have started joint research work in this regard.” He added

Noor Muhammad Baloch, Director General, Agriculture Research Sindh (ARS) said that 13 new varieties have been introduced by ARI, while our institution, Nuclear Institute of Agriculture (NIA), SAU and Sindh Seed Corporation are also working with the private sector for seed expansion. He said that even now we are suffering from more than 40% seed deficiency in wheat alone, so the non-standardization of seed, fertilizer and agricultural pesticides coming from other areas is harming the agriculture of Sindh.

Ashfaq Ahmed Memon, Former secretary and former assistant to the chief minister for irrigation and a progressive farmer said that 70% of the population of farmers in Sindh is illiterate, for which the agriculture of the province is still running according to the traditional system, so technology is not available to the farmers, while the knowledge system should be made more efficient to transfer the knowledge of agricultural development.

Lucas, the head of China’s private seed company in Pakistan, said that the biggest damage was done to agriculture, including people’s homes, due to floods in Sindh, China wants to restore agriculture in Pakistan and especially in Sindh, but we are starting work on hybrid rice seeds, and we will work with Sindh Agriculture University and other agricultural departments and the private sector to develop the pure seeds.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023