ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) officials held a detailed meeting with NARC G1 garlic farmers to explore export potential of the garlic variety here at Committee Room of the ministry.

The meeting with Ministry of Commerce (Agro Wing) Executive Director General Aisha Makhdoom in the chair reviewed the development and production of the G1 garlic with the country.

Apprising the participants of the meeting, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Association for Excellence in Agriculture (KAFEA) President Muhammad Ismaeel said that garlic is cultivated on 13,347 hectares in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa whereas Pakistan needs an additional 6,460 hectares to bridge the current demand gap. This target is achievable as there are at least 15 districts in Pakistan where garlic is cultivated on a significant area and cultivation of the G1 garlic can play an instrumental role in meeting this target. He said production volume of garlic was 127,463 tonnes about two years ago.

Punjab Progressive Farmers Association (PPFA) President Mohsin Ali demanded of the government to extend seed-related support to small farmers because seed (cloves of garlic) is a major cost element, comprising over 70 percent of the total cost. He said costly seed is major barrier to entry of smallholders into the garlic cultivation.

“This financial help will be just one time as farmers could use their grown seed for the next crop,” he said.

Dr Hidayatullah from National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) briefed the meeting about advantages of G1 garlic. He said different governmental institutions have spent years to attract farmers for G1 garlic cultivation.

Leading food companies representatives including Dawood Kamal, Fahad Patel, Adnan Tariq showed their keen interest in presentation on G1 garlic.

A number of G1 garlic farmers Muhammad Arif, Dr Waji Ali, Abdul Basit Ali, Majid Ali, Luqman Waince, Jaffer participated in the meeting and said farmers have invested million of rupees in G1 garlic cultivation and hoped the variety would be helpful in curtailing import and eventually export of garlic.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023