Speakers at a seminar stressed the need for developing an action plan which can ensure minimum usage of water for sowing of rice without compromising on yield or quality. The seminar "Water Productivity and Sustainable Rice Production" was organised by Rice Partners (Pvt) Ltd (RPL) in collaboration with Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and Mars food for rice millers in Lahore.
Dr Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Additional Secretary Planning and Development, Agriculture Department, Government of the Punjab, , talking to rice millers said that rice is the major staple food for more than half of the world population and a source of employment.
Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) Chairman Sami Ullah Naeem said that modern mechanical harvesting of basmati rice varieties at the premature stage is common, leading to increased post-harvest losses and infestation of microbial organisms in the paddy due to improper drying and storage facilities.
Talking to the participants Chief Operating officer RPL Muhammad Ali Tariq said that Pakistan is at number 7 among the most water scarce countries so there is a need to develop an action plan and implement it in true spirit so that the farmers could produce the rice with minimum us of water without any yield or quality penalty.
In the seminar about 80 rice milers and officials from public and private sector including agriculture, NGOs, academia and media participated and shared their experiences with each other, the principles of Sustainable rice production were highlighted by the speakers.
The Project Manager RPL Zafar Iqbal said, they are promoting sustainable rice production and water productivity in rice value chain, RPL has trained more than 12,000 farmers in sustainable agriculture, water productivity crop in rice value chain and crop management. RPL contract farming program help farmers a lot in terms of low cost on crop production, water efficiency in the rice cultivation and livelihoods of the farmers have been improved.
Imran Sheikh Project Agronomist said that this is time to support poor rice farmers to reduce their cost of production and increase yield of rice by adopting conservation Agri Techniques. Dr Arif Nadeem CEO Pakistan Agriculture Coalition said that that there is dire need to start a dialogue between all the rice stakeholders to design a pragmatic action plan for ensuring national rice food security and sustainability. Ms Sumaira Samad from Action on climate Today, highlighted the impact of climate change & adaptation, mitigation strategies in sustainable rice farming.
Dr Arjumand Nizami Country Director Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation said presently irrigation system is being implementing through Public Private Partnership due to inefficiency of public sector.