ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Friday said that to make Pakistan self-sufficient in food security the country needs to adopt the latest techniques and technology in the agriculture sector to boost the economy.

While chairing a meeting on the government’s key initiative, “Agricultural Revolution 2.0,” the minister highlighted the importance of increased production of crops, saying a revolution in the sector was needed to meet future challenges.

He said prompt measures were being taken to prevent the agriculture sector affected by the negative impacts of climate change, besides promoting research and introducing modern technology for getting better production. Potentially, Pakistan can produce edible oil to meet local demands but over the years owing to inconsistent policies the country failed to achieve it.

He said Pakistan has the potential to export billions of dollars of agricultural products worldwide but unfortunately was importing farm products worth $10 billion dollars per annum.

The minister said the country had immense potential to further progress in the agriculture sector for which research was being promoted to increase the productivity of crops.

According to the minister, Pakistan can become a leading exporter of Halal meat, fisheries, dry fruits, fresh fruits, juices, grains, livestock and many other farm products, but to achieve this the country has to change the farming methods. He said that the government will fully focus on agriculture growth in the next fiscal budget and has set the agriculture growth target at 3.5 percent.

Iqbal said there existed bright prospects for exporting agricultural commodities and livestock to China and Middle East countries.

“New projects are being launched to promote research and modern technology,” he added. Under the Agriculture Revolution 2.0 initiative, he said the government had planned to achieve self-sufficiency in the agriculture sector and promote exports of its products.

Iqbal said prompt measures are being taken to prevent the agriculture sector from the negative impacts of climate change. He said there are bright prospects for exporting agricultural commodities and livestock to China and Middle Eastern countries. He said under the Agriculture Revolution 2.0 initiative the government has planned to achieve self-sufficiency in the agriculture sector and promote exports.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan’s report released in January 2023, in the first quarter of the financial year 2022-23, Pakistan’s palm and soybean-related imports hit US 4 billion dollars in 2021-22 which is the highest spending on food items. Similarly, Pakistan spent millions of dollars on the import of three million tons of wheat and additional millions of dollars on the import of various pulses, tea, spices, and other items.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023