Federal Minister for Food Security and Research Alhaj Sikandar Hayat Bosan has said that Pakistan is self-sufficient in food, cotton, sugar, however we have to spend precious foreign exchange of billions of rupees on the import of edible oil. We should evolve modern varieties of edible seeds of sun-flower, corn, soyabean, Jojoba, rapeseed, Cassamba etc to save Rs 200 billion.
Bosan said that research-based technical knowledge related to agriculture and agricultural technologies must reach to the farmers at their doorstep and it should not be kept in shelves to meet the challenges of food autarky. Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday he said that mostly technical and scientific knowledge remained in shelves that should be reached at farmers doors step to help increase their crop production and thus improve their livelihoods. Bosan said that researchers/scientists should identify sustainable agricultural technologies and effectively translating for transfer to end-users. He stressed the need for developing a mechanism for accessible information for extension workers and farmers. Collective efforts and wisdom needed to achieve self-sufficiency in agriculture sector and to ensure food security in the country.
Federal Minister appreciated the role of international agencies, especially FAO, USDA, CIMMYT, ICARDA, ICIMOD and other donors for holding such events in Pakistan to share technical and scientific knowledge and experience by experts and financial support for development of agriculture sector in the country. He urged upon the progressive farmers, researchers and agricultural scientists to reduce the knowledge gap between researchers and enhancing the capacity of the extension workers; during the process, it will identify the most compelling findings from researchers' work, prepare a package, and then present and disseminate these findings in the form that would be accessible and understandable to farmers.