ISLAMABAD: Agriculture expert underscored the need for looking at possible actions which can help the country achieve sustainable agriculture and food security.

Khan Faraz, agriculture expert told media persons that besides agriculture, aquaculture offers the country a huge opportunity to grow. Food insecurity and human development are a real threat to the sector other than multifaceted inflation – directly impacting livelihood, nourishment, gender participation, etc, Faraz added.

He further said that Pakistan is an agricultural country. Agriculture is the mainstay of country’s economy. While it’s direct weightage is approximately 23 percent, its indirect contributions are in the north of 45 percent. More importantly, the agriculture sector has to move towards sustainability and nature positivity.

This will require Pakistan to strike a balance between economic compulsions and ecological limitations. The country’s greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture are less than 2.0 percent of the global GHG emissions linked with agriculture, he added.

The country currently spends $10 billion on agriculture imports and earns $5 billion from the exports of its agricultural products (almost half of it comes from rice alone). Pakistan has the potential to move the equation upside down if it focuses on increasing its crop production, Faraz added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023