PESHAWAR – Highlighting outcomes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s practical steps for the promotion of agriculture sector Saturday, provincial minister Arbab Mohammad Ayub Jan said it resulted in combating the decades old issue of wheat-flour shortage and unprecedented increase in fruit and vegetable production.
“Despite flood havocs and insurgency, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is self-sufficient in wheat-flour and other agriculture items,” Arbab remarked while addressing in Peshawar Press Club’s Guest Hour. In response to a question, he informed that earlier allocation for agriculture sector in Annual Development Program was only 0.80 percent but this government has increased it to 4 percent. Whereas with federal government funded project, such a ratio reaches 6 percent.
Responding to another question, Arbab said the present government has initiated steps for bringing the barren land under cultivation. In this connection, government has evolved a plan for sinking 550 tube wells in five years. Around 200 tube wells have already been completed, 100 are close to completion and 250 will be completed in the next two years. He added that Rs 120 million have been consumed on land leveling under this project by now.
Both the projects, he said, are being executed on subsidized rates. After 18th Amendment in the national constitution, the provincial government has initiated steps for construction of mini-dams, which could help in bringing the barren land under cultivation.
Arbab said that around 1,780 irrigation canals and gravity systems were devastated in the flood. Under the government’s emergency response program, majority of these schemes have been rehabilitated. Similarly the government has distributed seeds, fertilizers and other inputs amongst the farmers in the flood-affected regions.
Referring to decades-old issue of wheat-flour shortage, Arbab recalled that after coming into power, the present government has focused attention on improvement of seeds. In this respect, the local researchers, after rigorous efforts, have succeeded in production of more than 10,000 tones of quality seeds. Three main research centers at Tarnab, Peer Sabaq and Dera Ismael Khan were badly affected by flood but despite such damages, the agriculture department addressed the seed needs of the farmers. Likewise the provincial government has also brought under control maize export to Punjab.
Answering to a question, Arbab said that 48 percent of quality food is produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the provincial government is devising a plan for its export. In this respect, work on establishment of a fruit market in accordance with international standards is in progress.
