Federal Secretary Ministry of Commerce Zafar Mehmood said it is high time that the government should privatise, or outsource the agricultural research and seed development programmes in order to get maximum benefits for this much-neglected sector.
Similarly, the Utility Stores Corporation should also be privatised for better supply chain scenario in the country, as they have a huge spread and they will be of much help to the farmer.
He said so being the chief guest at the Pakistan Agri Conference held here in Karachi Expo Centre on Saturday. While talking about the need of revolution in the agriculture sector of the country, he said the government is spending a lot on the agricultural research and seed development programmes since long, but now there is a need that the government should give these programmes to the private sector for much better outputs.
‘We have neglected value addition in the agriculture sector, and agri extension series of the provincial governments are not available to the poor farmer,’ he said, adding that the role of provincial governments in agri exports is minimal. ‘The land records should be computeried and traditional old system should be abolished, so that the farmer can spend his time on increasing productivity of its lands instead of tackling land record issues,’ he added.
‘Also, efficient infrastructure development in the sector has also been neglected, and since today’s world is very competitive I have been requesting the provincial governments to go for value addition and provide the people with efficient infrastructure,’ said Zafar Mehmood.
Another issue is the agri exports, for which we are not doing enough to get the maximum benefits, he said, adding that we still are not able to export mangoes to Japan despite Japan’s plausible assistance in this regard many years back. Even the best Kinnows we have in Sargodha region were not being exported a few years ago, now some 150 latest processing plants have been established there by, the investors from Karachi, which have resulted in the forex of $100m for the country, he added.
Dr Ali Abbas Qazilbash of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in his welcome remarks said that currently the organisation is helping the country through direct technical assistance and investment and technology transfer programmes. ‘Pakistan needs to have better productivity and value added products in the sector through the use of latest technology, which can maximise the benefits of high value agri exports,’ he added.
A project Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTA) funded by European Union (EU) is meant for the support of the country in the areas of agriculture, fisheries, horticulture, etc, and will help the country to have access to the international markets, he added.
Dean and Director of Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Dr Ishrat Hussain while delivering his keynote presentation titled ‘Agricultural Productivity and Economical Development’ said that at the time of independence, Pakistan had 75 per cent labour associated with the agricultural sector that was contributing 50 per cent to the national GDP, now it has decreased to 40 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.
‘Through progressive production practices, wheat production in the country can easily witness the growth up to 35m tonnes from the current production of 25m tonnes,’ he said, adding that the issue that needs to be addressed include inefficiently organised land markets (that result in low production); distorted water market (the influential gets maximum water); unequal water distribution (the poor farmer has no water); non-liberal retail market; low preference to the agri sector; unavailability of quality certification methods (strengthened quality assurance mechanisms to help both the consumer and the exporter), etc.
Chief Executive Officer Engro Foods Limited, Afnan Ahsan while addressing the gathering talked about the challenges and opportunities the dairy industry of the country is facing. He said the value of dairy component of the agriculture sector is Rs500bn which is 15 times higher than the mango market, but it is not even in the thought process of the government policies.
He informed that the demand of the dairy products is continuously outpacing the supply, as the industry requires 11 litres of milk from one cow, which is currently standing at 4 litres; therefore, this gap has been resulting in a price increase. Non-commercialised scattered farming is another issue and adding to it is the export of 11 per cent of our female breeding stock to Afghanistan, he added.
‘We are ranked at ninth among the world’s backward countries that are facing quality issues because in Karachi we have 12m bacteria count in one litre of milk, while in New Zealand, the count is 12 thousands per litre, therefore, we will never be able to export milk,’ said Afnan. The government has to establish a regulatory framework for this industry, he added.
Many technical experts, government officials, high ups of the private sector, scientists, development mangers of the sectors like sea food and fisheries, Horticulture, Grain & Cereals, Meat & Poultry, Dairy, etc. participated in the conference and shared their knowledge with the attendees.
The Pakistan Agri Conference ‘Agricultural Competitiveness through Value Addition’ was supported by the Australian Trade Commission, USAID, United States department of agriculture, Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Punjab government, and Punjab Board of Investment and Trade, among many others.
