Pakistan Agriculture Developments

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Shifeng to Introduce Small Agricultural Tractors in Punjab

A renowned Chinese company, Shifeng is planning to introduce small agricultural tractors in Punjab. A representative of the company made this announcement on Monday at the Lahore Expo Centre.

Shifeng mainly deals with agricultural machinery and automobile products. For the past 17 years, the company has been successfully operating in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and is now aiming to expand its business to Punjab.

Rashid Mukhtar, while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the expo, said that that the company wants to target small landholding farmers of Punjab who cannot afford expensive high horsepower tractors.

These tractors are helping small-scale landholders to meet their requirement of farming and harvesting. Now we have decided to explore the potential of Punjab market.

He said the project would be launched under a Dailuda-Shifeng joint venture.

Mukhtar said the company is going to introduce tractors ranging from 25 to 35 horsepower in the province. He hopes that the joint venture would help learn from Chinese success stories in the agriculture sector.

Since landholdings are dividing as inheritance and now there are more small landholders than before and affording a big tractor is not possible for them.

Mukhtar maintained that the small tractors would not only be cost-effective and fuel-efficient; they will also meet the agricultural needs of a small landholder, resulting in a reduced input cost.

He said the company also dealt in diesel engines and three-wheelers and was planning to introduce electric cars in the country.

We have plans to introduce these electric cars in Pakistan too but before their launch, charging stations for these vehicles have to be set up by the government.
The Shifeng representative stated that their electric car could travel up to 200 kilometers after one charge.

While underscoring that imports are not a permanent solution to Pakistan’s automobile needs, Mukhtar also mentioned that their company was planning to establish a manufacturing facility in Pakistan.

We will take local vending industry and dealers on board, once we finalize our program to go for manufacturing in Pakistan.

The company will not only manufacture trucks and other automobiles in the country, but it will also invest in making other agricultural machinery, Mukhat concluded

The company will not only manufacture trucks and other automobiles in the country, but it will also invest in making other agricultural machinery, Mukhat concluded

 

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WB approves $171m for agri uplift in KP

Project to help rehabilitate watercourses, introduce systems, fill knowledge gaps on opportunities, constraints

The World Bank (WB) approved US $ 171 million to support agricultural productivity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), by improving irrigation, strengthening small farmers’ skills, and supporting farmers to add value to their products.

According to the WB, farmers in KP face challenges of low water use efficiency and lack modern technology, skills & knowledge to engage in high value agriculture value chains. This results in an underdeveloped rural economy with high vulnerability to climate changes. The KP Irrigated Agriculture Improvement Project will help address these challenges by rehabilitating community watercourses; establishing water users’ associations; introducing high efficiency irrigation systems and laser land leveling; strengthening farmers’ technical skills, and filling knowledge gaps on agriculture market opportunities and constraints.

 

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Govt launches special programme worth Rs 309 billion for agriculture sector

July 02, 2019

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government has announced a comprehensive 309 billion rupees programme for the uplift of the agriculture sector.

Basic contours of the program titled 'Agriculture Emergency Programme, were shared by Minister for Food Security Mehboob Sultan and PTI leader Jahangir Tareen at a news conference in Islamabad on Tuesday.

They said that this four year programme has been prepared on the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan. This programme envisages thirteen projects in the areas of farming, fisheries and livestock.

They said that these projects will be approved by the ECNEC this month and in a matter of two weeks practical work on these projects will be started.

Jahangir Tareen regretted that the agriculture sector was totally neglected in the past. Spendings on this vital sector of the economy were reduced from twenty nine billion rupees to fourteen billion years over the last ten years. He said the agri yield cannot be enhanced without spending sufficient resources on it.

Jahangir Tareen said that both the federal and provincial governments will contribute to the 309 billion rupees agriculture program.

Sharing key points of the program, he said it focuses on enhancing per yield of wheat, rice, sugarcane and oil seeds. He said the living standards of the farmers will improve with better production of the crops. He said this program is especially for the poor and small farmers.

Jahangir Tareen said that two hundred and twenty billion rupees will be spent on the water related projects which includes brick lining of watercourses and construction of small dams. Under this project, seventy thousand watercourses will be brick lined which will help save nine million acre feet of water.

Regarding livestock, the PTI leader said initiatives in this sector include save the calf and fattening of cattle program to enhance meat production and their export. He said that desi chickens will be provided to the poor population of rural areas on subsidized rates as part of efforts to alleviate poverty.

As regards fisheries, Jahangir Tareen said that shrimp and cage farming will be promoted and supported. There is a comprehensive program for trout farming in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said loans will be provided to the people for trout farming in Naran, Kaghan and Swat.

Jahangir Tareen said the government is also focusing to expand the agriculture markets so that the farmers could get better return of their yield. He said four new markets will be established Lahore, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad. Fifty six other markets will be upgraded.

The PTI leader regretted that Sindh government was repeatedly requested to become part of the agriculture programme but they did not respond positively. He said the Sindh government should rise above politics and join the program for the sake of the country and uplift of the agriculture sector. He said the federal government is ready to provide eighteen to twenty billion rupees to the provincial government for the agriculture sector.

 

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LAHORE - Punjab Agriculture Minister Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial Saturday said the Punjab Agri Expo 2019 would open doors of opportunities on producers, exporters and companies involved in agriculture business in the country. Addressing the inaugural ceremony at Expo Centre here, he said the event would help boost export of rice, vegetables, fruits, mangoes and other agricultural commodities.

He said the exhibition would be beneficial for farmers, importers and exporters as well. Punjab Agriculture Secretary Wasif Khurshid said the Punjab Agri Expo would provide opportunities of business-to-business (B2B) meetings among stakeholders and those associated with the farm sector. He said the purpose of the expo was to highlight vision of Punjab Agriculture Department for enhancing the agricultural exports of Pakistan.

 

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Benefits of GM maize technology showcased

Value assessment trial of GM maize seed technology was showcased by Croplife Pakistan Association in Gojra on Thursday.

The main objective of the event was to exhibit the numerous benefits of biotechnology and provide relevant stakeholders with an opportunity to observe first-hand the performance of the GM maize hybrids in the field. On the occasion, farmers emphasized the importance of cultivating GM maize in Pakistan, explaining it is important to move from subsistence farming practices to more technologically advanced commercial farming.

Muhammad Munir, a local farmer, was particularly excited to see visible benefits of GM maize in the field.



“Biotechnology is the ideal tool for farmers to improve their profitability through reduced input cost and improved yields”, he said.

Speaking to the journalists on the occasion, member of Crop Life Pakistan’s Biotech and Seed Committee, reiterated the unblemished safety record of biotech crops and the yield advantages that can be attained through this technology whilst providing data and case studies.

 

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FAO strengthening institutional capacities for sustainable water management

A panel discussion also took place, which emphasized the need for institutional framework, and capacity development of the irrigation institutions of the country. The panelist included Robina Wahaj, Land and Water Officer FAO, Dr. Muhammad Ashraf DG-PCRWR, Dr. Pervez Amir water expert, Dr. Abdul Majeed, water, energy, and climate specialist IUCN, and Dr. Bashir Ahmad, CEWRI, NARC.

Dr Robina Wahaj from FAO stated that consolidated data about the groundwater in Pakistan needs to be available and made accessible to all the stakeholders, which can only be done through capacity development and the better connectivity of institution.

Inefficient irrigation system is the reason for the mismatched demand and supply of ample water to agriculture, however, over extraction of the groundwater can quickly deplete the natural resource, and solar powered irrigation could be a solution for that.

Group discussion followed where over thirty participants divided into clusters to discuss the policy framework, socio economic indicators for SPIS feasibility mapping, and the physical indicators for the mapping.

 

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FAO begins agriculture water accounting system for Indus Basin
July 07, 2019

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has launched a comprehensive agriculture water accounting system for the entire Indus Basin. — Photo by Kohi Marri/File

ISLAMABAD: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has launched a comprehensive agriculture water accounting system for the entire Indus Basin that will increase resilience to climate change among the most vulnerable farmers in the basin and strengthen government’s capacity to plan and support farming communities against future climate changes.

For this mega project, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) — the new global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change — is expected to approve $35 million at its three-day board meeting that commenced in Songdo in South Korea on Saturday.

The project has an estimated budget of $49.7m, including government co-financing of $12.7m. The project will help shift Pakistan and Indus Basin agriculture from its current situation of high vulnerability towards an alternative paradigm wherein better information and farming practices will significantly increase resilience to climate change, according to project document.

Project will increase resilience to climate change among most vulnerable farmers

The FAO says the project will develop the country’s capacity to get and use the information it needs to tackle the impact of climate change on agriculture and water management by putting in place the state-of-the-art technology.

Lack of coordination across institutions hampers effective and efficient management of the country’s most critical natural resource. Agricultural water consumption at the farm level is difficult to regulate due to outdated policies and the limited integration of water monitoring efforts and subsequent enforcement.

Another barrier is posed by the fact that agricultural extension is lacking at the provincial level with low understanding of climate change threats and responsive practices.

Four water accounting assessments will be undertaken in Punjab and Sindh under the project to be carried out by the FAO in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources and the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), using the methodology defined as a part of FAO’s work financed through a technical cooperation programme.

The project will be implemented in five districts of Punjab — Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Multan, Lodhran and Khanewal — and three districts of Sindh — Sanghar, Badin and Umerkot. It is designed to increase the resilience to climate change of agricultural producers in Indus River Basin and it will directly benefit an estimated 1.34 million rural people in 200,000 rural households.

Socio-economic implications

The threat of climate change to agriculture and the Indus Basin would likely also have serious socio-economic implications for 158 million people that belong to households in the Indus Basin. About 43 per cent of farmers are smallholders, managing landholdings of less than one hectare. They are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their lack of assets to buffer shocks and access to information, new technologies, finance and government services through which they can undertake adaptive actions.

The project will finance the installation of six new agro-meteorological stations and upgrade two existing weather stations to serve the project districts and improve the current scant coverage for the basin. The information generated by these stations will be shared with stakeholders working on early warning, while the system will be linked to FAO’s global information early warning system and will facilitate the use of the associated use ‘Agricultural Stress Index System’ developed by the FAO.

 

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The Geneva-based International Trade Centre – the joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization – is launching a project to reduce poverty in Pakistan by strengthening small-scale agribusinesses in Balochistan and Sindh.

The project known as ‘Growth for rural advancement and sustainable progress (GRASP) will help small and medium-sized enterprises in horticulture and livestock become more competitive by making improvements at all levels of the value chain.

A nine-month inception phase just started, which will assess the capacity of firms and needs at the farm and consumer levels. During this phase, value chain analyses will be carried out for selected sectors, to be refined through stakeholder consultations in Sindh and Balochistan.

Demand for safe, nutritious and quality food is rising in Pakistan, and by improving product quality at every stage, from planting to production to packaging and transport, small-scale agribusinesses including those led by women and youth will increase their productivity and profitability.

 

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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Company (PHDEC) is working on a comprehensive plan to enhance exports of fruits and vegetables to $1 billion mark within the next three years.

The five products identified by PHDEC include kinno, mangoes, dates, onion and potatoes.

“We have almost finalised the marketing strategy for promoting exports of these products until 2021-22,” a senior officer of the Ministry of Commerce told Dawn.

In the year 2019-20, horticulture exports will be increased to $800 million from the current $700m, reflecting an increase of 14.28 per cent. PHDEC is a public sector organisation established by the Ministry of Commerce as Pakistan Horticulture Development Board in 2002, later converted into a Section-42 company in 2009. Due to several administrative and financial constraints, the company’s performance gradually deteriorated and there was serious consideration of its closure in 2015.

The official said the company will soon outsource studies on these five products to identify their potential in terms of promoting exports. Currently there is no marketing strategy for the export of horticulture products from the country. “We will finalise a marketing strategy in consultation with stakeholders in the next six months,” he said.

The strategy papers will cover export development of floriculture especially to Kenya and Ethiopia; export development of medicinal plants to China, import substitution in horticulture especially of garlic and lentils, market and product diversification of dates including a study tour to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as mapping of Horticulture Zones along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and value-added industry in horticulture.

Currently, Pakistan imports $60m worth garlic from China. “We will also look for relocation of processing industries in the horticulture sector,” the official said.

Besides, the company will also sponsor reports on citrus, dates, mango, apple, potato, onion, floriculture and medicinal plants.

To resolve the financial issues of the PHDEC, the government has already allocated an endowment fund of Rs1bn. “Earlier, it [PHEDEC] used to be a dormant organisation due to mismanagement and political appointees. At one stage, it was decided to close down the company,” the official added.

On supply side, the horticulture sectors is facing issues related to narrow basket of products, inconsistent supplies particularly vegetables, lack of certification, extension services etc. “We are working on these issues to address it in shortest time,” the official said.

In trade promotion measures, the company will promote new high value markets especially UK and some European markets for citrus and mango.

In the post-Pulwama episode, India has imposed 200pc additional duties on imports of Pakistani products. “This decision has impacted our date exports to India,” the senior commerce ministry official told Dawn.

He said Pakistan has no export strategy for horticulture and all date exporters are facing problems. Pakistan’s total date exports of 96pc were going to Indian market. “We have now cleared almost all inventory of last year’s date crop to other markets,” the official said.

The new markets for Pakistani dates include UAE, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. “We will now promote export of fresh date from the current fiscal year,” the official said.

PHDEC Acting CEO Muhammad Ashraf made a presentation on the company’s work plan for the current fiscal year.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2019

 

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Cotton growers advised to ensure initial care to obtain better yield

August 24, 2019

Punjab Agriculture department has advised the cotton growers to ensure proper initial care to obtain good amount of yield.

In a statement, the spokesman for the department Najaf Abbas said weeds put negative impact on the growth of cotton besides providing suitable shelter to the insects which attack on the crop.

He said if rain water stays in cotton crop for more than 48 hours it ultimately leads to the decay of the cotton plant. He said that farmers are further suggested to carry out pest scouting twice a week if insects attack is witnessed.

The Spokesman said that in rain fed areas farmers must plough the land deep so that moisture could be saved for the cultivation of pulses and other crops.

 

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Pakistani & Chinese Researchers Announce A Breakthrough in Hybrid Basmati Rice

Researchers from Pakistan and China are nearing a breakthrough in the development of a hybrid version of Basmati rice that will have an average per acre yield of 80 maunds (40 kilograms) and average grain length of 8 mm or above

 

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launch 13 mega projects to give a fresh boost to the agriculture sector with assistance from China

ISLAMABAD: The government is set to launch 13 mega projects across the country in an effort to give a fresh boost to the agriculture sector with assistance from China, announced Federal Minister for National Food Security Sahibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan.

Talking to a delegation of China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) on Monday, the minister said Pakistan was lagging behind due to lower value addition in its products because of a lack of requisite technology. “A joint venture with China and adoption of best practices will help efficiently tap Pakistan’s agricultural resources,” he said.

Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), both countries had gone beyond traditional levels of cooperation such as assistance in crop farming, cattle farming and mechanisation and were moving towards collaborating in food storage and exports, he said.
“This assistance will be mutually beneficial and bring the two countries closer,” Sultan added.

The delegation expressed the desire to hold the China-Pakistan Agricultural Cooperation Summit in Islamabad, in collaboration with the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (Parc) and China Agricultural Association for International Exchange.

The delegation highlighted their eagerness to collaborate with Pakistan through the Pak-China Modern Agriculture Comprehensive Development project.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Food Security was processing a memorandum of understanding between Parc and CMEC, the delegation added.

Under the project, China would provide assistance in the relevant field through technical and financial support, the delegation said. “The collaboration will help advance the government’s objective of poverty alleviation.”

 

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KP government to construct 32000 watercourses for agricultural growth
October 06, 2019


Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Mohibullah Khan has said that the provincial government will construct 32000 watercourses at a cost of 50 billion rupees during next four years to bolster agriculture and food production in the province.

Talking to media persons here on Sunday Mohibullah Khan said that the government has started work on a program to utilize the water of Gomal Zam Dam for irrigation of thousands of acres barren lands in South Waziristan, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat.

He said the main canal of Gomal Zam Dam has been made operational in which irrigation water has been released with capacity to irrigate one hundred thousand acres land in these areas.

The Minister Agriculture and Livestock said work on the dam’s second canal has been accelerated and on completion, intended to irrigate another one hundred thousand acres barren and infertile land in South Waziristan and other southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

 

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October 14, 2019

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Japan are looking for increasing bilateral cooperation in agricultural-based industry and value addition as Japan has already announced grant aid to enhance productivity and capacities in relevant agricultural fields.

Recently Japan has announced a grand aid of $5.2 million to support Agri-Food and Agro-Industry development in the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Minister and Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Japan in Pakistan Yusuke Shindo told APP.

The senior diplomat said that this amount would be utilised for enhancement of productivity and capacities of relevant sectors in the cattle meat value chain in districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Abbottabad, Kohistan and D I Khan and apple value chain in province of Balochistan in Quetta, Killa Abdullah and Pishin.

Replying to a question, he said that Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was already working on potential agro-based region of Khyber Pakhtunkwa including Hazara, Swat and Chitral as in Gilgit Batistan for promoting innovation and value addition culture in these areas.

He said that through JICA, the Japanese government was also working on cold storage for the preservation apple, apricot and other perishable fruits.

“We are initiating capacity building training for farmers’ related sowing, cultivation and use of prepared crops and fruits for value addition through increase the value of these products,” the senior diplomats said.

Replying to a question, he said that Japanese companies were interested in establishing the industrial units of auto parts in Pakistan for bringing investment to provide opportunity to the local people.

 

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OCT

Rotaract Club of QLC lahore organise the activity with MOTO keep green society and bring back fresh air by planting the trees.