The government should promote new technologies to increase production of food crops which will ultimately help check sky-rocking food prices. These views were expressed by President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCI) Yassar Sakhi Butt while commenting on the massive increase in the prices of essential food items. The ICCI president was of the view that Pakistan had immense potential to turn into a food-sufficient country in view of its biggest canal system in the world climate conducive to crops’ production year round. He was responding to a report that the prices of basic food items had increased by 79 percent within four years and said the government should focus on achieving self-sufficiency in food production because the common man was facing severe economic crisis due to constant hike in inflation on everyday basis.
Butt said the government should encourage growers to adopt modern techniques to increase food supply and tap a true potential of agricultural productivity in the country. He urged the government to allocate more funds for agriculture research which was currently around 0.2 percent of agricultural GDP. He said the government should introduce more knowledge-intensive agriculture research system, focusing on technological innovations. The ICCI president further said the country could also easily benefit from the experience of Asian countries, especially China and India, adding that the exchange of information and experiences was important among these nations.
