US helps strengthen farming business in Pakistan

64 specialists from the Ministries of Agriculture from Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KPK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Sindh and Balochistan have completed a ten-day course on modern farm business and irrigation methods sponsored by the United States (U.S).
The participants would help farmers to increase their profits by making them understand farming from a business point of view. By sharing the knowledge, farmers would be able to identify higher-value crops and access new markets and customers. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) organized this training session to help increase farming profits through better product quality and water management, said official sources of the U.S embassy. At the completion of the training course in Islamabad, USAID Country Director Jonathan Conly said “By using modern techniques, Pakistani farmers can capture new customers and increase their profits. The United States is committed to helping Pakistan modernize its agriculture sector so that farmers can improve their livelihoods.”
After the workshop, Amina Rafi, an agricultural specialist from AJK, said “Farming in the mountain areas has always been a challenge. I am glad that this training has provided me with the skills to help the farmers in AJK to improve their businesses.”
Agriculture employs more Pakistanis than any other sector in the country. Therefore, the U.S had been helping to modernize this important sector by working with the Pakistani government and businesses to increase agricultural productivity through research and development, introduction of international quality standards, renovation of irrigation systems, up gradation of farming techniques and increasing profits by identifying new markets for agriculture products on a national and international level.