LAHORE: Pakistan Hi-Tech Hybrid Seed Association (PHHSA) Chairman Shahzad Ali Malik on Thursday urged the scientists to focus on dedicated research for evolving new hybrid seeds for different crops to bring revolution and increase per-acre yield, resulting in import substitution of agri-commodities.

Addressing the participants of the conference on “Agriculture and Food Security “at the Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture, Multan, he said we claim agriculture was the backbone of our economy, but unfortunately, we import agro-commodities like cotton, wheat, edible oil, pulses etc. worth US$ 10 to 11 billion per annum.

He said in Pakistan we have 5 major field crops cotton, wheat, rice, maize and sugarcane out of these 5 field crops, only two crops maize and rice are performing well. The satisfactory performance of maize and rice is attributed to hybrid technology as both crops are an outcome of hybrid seeds, he added.

While quoting the example of the hybrid rice success story Shahzad Ali Malik apprised the audience that in Sindh province IRRI rice was cultivated since the 1960s.

The seed was acquired from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines and its per acre yield was stagnant at around 45 to 50 maunds per acre and there was a need to look for an alternate.

He said with the introduction of hybrid rice technology in the late 1990s by Guard Agri with the Chinese collaboration per acre yield doubled giving 100 to 110 maunds.

It also increased the income of the farmers resulting in prosperity, poverty alleviation and socio-economic changes especially in rural Sindh while on the other hand rice exports which were stagnant at $ 450M in 2002 rose to $ 2.4 billion in 2022. Malik expressed thanks to hybrid rice technology from China which has contributed to the increase in foreign exchange earnings from rice exports for the country.

Shahzad Ali Malik (Sitara-i-Imtiaz) congratulated on the successful organization of the event and commended the efforts of Prof Dr Asif Ali, Vice Chancellor, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Agriculture University, Multan and his team for developing wheat hybrid and working closely with the private seed companies for the commercialization of hybrid wheat seed varieties and setting up a good example of industry-academia linkage, he concluded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023