KARACHI
A meeting of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Food Security and Research on Wednesday stressed the need for provision of adequate funds to plant protection department for research and field work.
The meeting, which was chaired by Malik Shakir Bashir Awan here, noted with concern that only three aircraft out of 20 owned by the department were operational. Seventeen aircraft, which were used for conducting aerial spray to control locust attacks on crops, were dysfunctional due to shortage of funds.
The committee recommended that required funds should be provided to the department for progress of the agriculture sector as it was the back bone of the country’s economy.
It also observed that research work in various fields relating to agriculture had not been done due to shortage of funds. It was also recommended that separate funds should be provided for the upgrading and maintenance of non-operational aircraft.
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan attended the meeting as observer. MNAs Salman Khan Baloch, Romina Khurshid Alam, Chaudhry Nazeer, Tahir Iqbal and Mir Dostain Domki also attended the meeting.
Comments are closed.