Pakistan Agriculture Developments

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Pak-China Agriculture Cooperation Forum

Federal Minister National Food Security Sahibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan; President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi, Chairman Kashmir Committee Mr. Fakhar Imam, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Chairman CMEC Mr.Zhang Chun, Federal Secretary Ministry of National Food Security & Research Dr. Hashim Popalzai ,senior officials of the Ministry, Importers and exporters and businessmen from both side participated.
President Arif Alvi said that, Pakistan is blessed with natural water resources; we need to use these waters judiciously. Adopting modern technology is one of the important requirements, and we could mutually exchange views in this regard. Moreover we need to focus on the use of quality seed, especially for cotton production and other important crops.

Federal Minister Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan said that, CPEC is the best thing that happened between the two countries. The Agriculture cooperation between the two countries would take this to new heights.This will give ample opportunity to both the countries for strong investment and joint ventures. Our government is working hard to bring better future for the people of Pakistan, said the Federal Minister. He added that the foundation for this extensive agricultural cooperation was laid down during the visit of Prime Minister to China, where he emphasized the importance of strong agricultural ties between the two countires.

Chinese Ambassador Mr. Yao Jing said that we are including Agricultural cooperation as one of the important components in CPEC. This Agriculture cooperation will boost business in two countries.
At the occasion President Arif Alvi, laid the foundation of Pak- China Agriculture exchange center. MoU was also signed between China Machinery Engineering Cooperation and Fatima Fertilizer.

 

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NESPAK has won the project design, construction supervision and implementation support for the Asian Development Bank-funded Balochistan Water Resources Development Sector Project (BWRDSP) through national competitive bidding, said Nespak Managing Director Dr Tahir Masood on Wednesday.

The project would support the implementation of the Integrated Water Resources Management Policy of the Balochistan government. The policy provides a comprehensive framework for the province to address the issues of water management and development in the context of basin approach, with water harvesting, and groundwater recharging as an integral part of watershed management.

The proposed project would address the issues of water management and would enhance agricultural production through construction of a dam (Siri Toi Dam) and rehabilitation/extension of 10 irrigation schemes in Zhob and Mula river basins.

 

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Govt moves to reintroduce agricultural display plots in Punjab
By Rizwan Asif
November 16, 2019

PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: The Punjab agriculture department has decided to set up agricultural display plots for wheat and canola across 3,000 rural union councils of Punjab. The move, which comes as part of the Prime Minister’s Agricultural Emergency Program, seeks to motivate local farmers and bring them up to pace with the most productive agricultural techniques.

Each agricultural display plot will occupy an acre of road-facing farming land and will be allotted to farmers with premium quality produce. Farmers, who consider their produce to be of the caliber, may apply for the plots by submitting an application to the department of agriculture.

As per details, the plots will be allotted via a lucky draw and qualifying farmers will be granted Rs 11,000 per plot for wheat and Rs 15,000 for canola. Each plot will be identified and advertised by a separate five-foot tall signboard erected on its premises.

After the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) declared the federal capital an urban area, no agriculture display plots could be set up in the district. However, in a bid to create awareness the Punjab agricultural department has moved to foot the bill for seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural products needed to reintroduce the agriculture display plots in the rest of the province.

Out of the 3,296 rural union councils, 3000 have been green-lit for setting up the display plots, and the number of plots will be increased to 7,000 by next year. So far, all farmers of the 36 districts of the province have been termed eligible for the wheat plots, whereas farmers from only 13 districts will be able to apply for the canola plots. A new lucky draw will be held for each crop to extend the opportunity to a maximum number of farmers and all qualifying farmers will be free to own and utilize the yield from their display plots.

While agricultural display plots are not a new scheme, they’ve never been introduced at such an extensive scale. Before 1996, farmers were paid a nominal amount to set up a limited number of display plots, which were allotted on basis of personal recommendations. “This is for the first time that a project for setting up agricultural display plots has been introduced at a provincial level.

Where Lahore as an urban district cannot host agricultural land, most of the farming will take place in place in Raiwind, Manga Mandi, and Wagha,” Director General of Agricultural Department Muhammad Anjum, told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2019.

 

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NAUDERO, SINDH: Technology at Work; Paddy plantation with latest technology.

 

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The land is being prepared for plantation under the "10 billion tree tsunami" project in different districts across Punjab.

This will be completed till April 30, 2020

 

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Prime Minister Imran Khan will be participating as Chief Guest in the Signing Ceremony of Service Level Agreement between Punjab Land Record Authority (PLRA) and major private commercial Banks for rapid Agri loans.

The Agreement will facilitate farmers in getting required loans from commercial banks easily.

PLRA is the custodian of ownership record of more than 55 million right holders and serves more than 4 million customers on annual basis.

The Service Level Agreement (SLA) being signed today will introduce a secure digital link with the central database of Land Records.

Banks will be able to verify the current / up-to date status of land for which collateral is requested.

This initiative will provide the following benefits :-

- Instant verification of land ownership.
- Reduced loan processing time from 30 days to 3 days.
- Development of land and credit market.
- Ease of doing business.
- Decreased litigation.

 

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Pakistan only country with increasing mangrove cover’

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said that at a time when climate change has become a global threat, Pakistan is probably one of the only countries in the world with increasing mangrove cover.

Mangroves are a group of trees and shrubs that live in the coastal intertidal zone. They act as a barrier for the protection of coastal regions/ports against the disastrous natural phenomenon such as cyclones, wind storms, flooding, soil erosion, etc. Pakistan has approximately 600,000 hectares of mangrove ecosystem.

Addressing an event at the COP25 in Madrid on Monday, the PM’s aide said, “Not only do they [mangroves] protect our coastal areas from storms they are also high carbon-sequestering instruments.”

 

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ISLAMABAD, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- In a nursery which covers an area of around 4,000 square meters, moringa trees whose seeds have fairly high economic values grew taller than a person, Euphorbia milii plants with green leaves and red flowers were competing with each other on appearance, and seedlings in flowerpots made of discarded plastic bottles were nourished by atomizers.
The nursery with over 40 kinds of plants is located at the Gwadar port in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. A hot and dry climate, scarce vegetation and wind-blown sand are the general impressions that Gwadar has left on people's minds.

The Gwadar port is one of the pillar projects of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. In 2013, China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC) was given the contract to operate the Gwadar port and the Gwadar Free Zone, and started to conduct all-round renovation of the port, including improvement of the ecological environment. To make the afforestation work more systematic and scientific, COPHC invited China's Yulin Holdings which has advanced technologies in combating desertification.

"When I first arrived at Gwadar in 2016, there was almost nothing but sand, and I could barely see anything green," said Wang Ruilei who was teaching a Pakistani worker to prune plants in the company's nursery. Born in the 1990s, Wang has become the head of Gwadar Green Ecological S&T Company, a subsidiary of Yulin Holdings.

Wang's company now has five Chinese employees and almost 30 Pakistani workers. Nehmat, a former fisherman and native of Gwadar, has spent two years in Wang's company learning how to grow flowers and lay and repair irrigation pipes. "My family has been very supportive of my work here because the income is higher and more stable. And the work I do is making Gwadar more beautiful," he told Xinhua.

The serious soil salinization and lack of water in Gwadar make it difficult to select suitable plants. "We have tried many kinds of plants and techniques including drop irrigation. Many were successful, but more failed," Wang said.




Altogether, his team has planted 22,000 trees, 40,000 shrubs, 15,000 square meters of lawns, 25,000 pots of flowers and plants, and laid 2,000 meters of irrigation pipes in the Gwadar port area.
In order to realize the secondary utilization of water resources and prevent pollution to the environment by sewage, COPHC has built four reclaimed water systems in the Gwadar port, which also guarantees the water supply for the plants. After years of effort, the Gwadar port now becomes a green pearl in a yellow sand painting.

The lush trees, green lawns and blooming flowers still only exist in the port area, but they are exactly what many Chinese builders think Gwadar will look like in the future. According to Hu Yaozong, deputy general manager of COPHC's subsidiary Gwadar Free Zone Company, COPHC launched a project last year to plant one million trees in Gwadar, which will greatly improve the living environment of the locals.

In addition to the nursery, Yulin Holdings plans to invest in a plant tissue culture center and an intelligent greenhouse in the Gwadar free zone under the support of COPHC, both of which will begin construction this month. After being put into use, the two facilities will be able to produce 16 million seedlings annually.

"The tissue culture center and the greenhouse will provide sufficient seedlings for Gwadar. Our products including flowers and vegetables are expected to be sold throughout Pakistan and even to Middle East countries." said Wang.

Promoting clean energy in Gwadar is also a focus of China. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China donated 4,000 solar energy systems and LED lights to Pakistan to help the country to cope with climate change, especially in the Gwadar region.

Besides inviting a company specializing in combating desertification, COPHC also put forward strict environmental protection requirements for the companies which want to invest in the free zone. Hu said that COPHC sticks to the "dual lifeline" of investment attraction and environmental protection, and hopes to promote the economic development and the ecological construction of the free zone at the same time.

"COPHC attaches more importance to the selection of companies while attracting investment, and meeting the environmental protection standards is the most basic requirement for the enterprises entering the free zone. We hope to attract more 'green companies' with high scientific and technological levels, low resource consumption and low environmental pollution to ensure the sustainable development of the Gwadar port," he added.

 

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Satellite tech to be used for crop reporting services:

Minister for National Food Security and Research Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar chaired a meeting regarding the utility of Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, (SUPARCO) crop reporting data through satellite technology, along with provincial crop reporting services data.

Representatives from SUPARCO, members Crop Reporting Services – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and senior officials of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research were present in the meeting.

The primary focus of the meeting was to discuss the utility of devising a comprehensive crop reporting strategy through satellite technology under the supervision of food security ministry with inclusion of Crop Reporting Services of all the provinces.

Moreover, the zoning of country for identifying major and minor crop zones requires provincial feedback and inclusion of work already done in this respect.
SUPARCO is Pakistan’s premier national space agency of the government of Pakistan, responsible for the nation’s public and civil space programme and aeronautics and aerospace research, with a mandate to strive to achieve self-reliance in space technology and its application for national security, economy and society.

 

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In latest news, Punjab's agriculture department plans to spend Rs5 billion to promote the cultivation of oilseed crops, mostly revolving around sunflower, canola and sesame across the province. Whether or not Rs5 billion is enough to change the country's cultivation landscape is another affair, the initiative ought to be appreciated in principle, though of course the move would require a much more deliberated inclusive effort than a single provincial department spending on a one-off five billion rupee project.

Here are some quick hard facts as necessary context. Pakistan produces only 10 percent to 12 percent of edible oil requirements through local crops, varying from year to year, and depending upon whose estimates one trusts. And here is the background maths of it, according to industry estimates.

Total demand for fat in the country is about 4.3 to 4.7 million tons. This is mainly met by direct oil imports (palm oil) of 2.8 to 3.2 million tons. About 0.25 million tons of soybean oil is also imported. Of the rest, about three-fourths is produced locally but from imported seeds, which includes rapeseed, soybean and sunflower. Little wonder then that annual import bill of edible oil and oilseeds was around $3.6 billion or about 6.5 percent of total imports last year. Bear in mind that soybean seeds are also increasingly being imported to meet the growing demand for soybean-based feed – mainly for poultry, and marginally for livestock and fisheries.

Can Pakistan really do something about local oilseed production? Theoretically yes, likely not. Not unless a great change in policy mindset is brought about.

Oilseeds may be grown in high water availability season, but famers naturally prefer to use that season for mainstay crops. In the offseason, oil seeds crops compete with wheat crop, which not only enjoys support price but is also the song, dance and folklore of farmers. Secondly, marketing lines between farmers and seed processers have not been sufficiently established. Oilseeds also do not enjoy necessary extension services by agriculture departments whereas seed type and quality of oil seeds has not been a matter of focus by agriculture research institutes.

And while oilseed imports may be huge, the industry doesn't have as great lobbying power as do other segments of the political economy. Oil seed farmers aren't as big as wheat, rice and sugarcane who enjoy direct or indirect representation in the parliament. Whereas neither oil extractors nor vanaspati manufacturers are as moneyed as the usual big business houses who enjoy heavy clout in the likes of FPCCI or Pakistan Business Council.

Add to that another twist: there are two interest groups within oil seeds. Poultry industry would mainly want local cultivation of soybean seeds, provided it is cheaper to produce soybean locally. Feed is about 75-80 percent of the cost of poultry, of which about 75-80 percent is the cost of soybean meal. Over the last five years, soybean seed imports have hit about $900 million (as a result of poultry-led demand), which is quite a huge number for one single non-fuel tariff line. Overtime if soybean meal is adopted by local livestock industry, then demand for soybean will only grow north, which in turn would create pressure on the government to grow soybean locally.

Channels checks with solvent extractors suggests that they would also prefer soybean cultivation over other oil seeds, because in the case of soybean, both oil and meal are sold at better rates and better volumes. The vanaspati industry, however, is mainly interested in other oilseeds because unlike soybean, other oil seeds have a better oil yield.

 

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Organic poultry farming to be revived in Peshawar

Peshawar....A group of four educated youths from Peshawar ventured into a novel idea of establishing country’s largest ‘Free Range’ organic poultry farm with the objective of reviving the dying trend of eating real desi (indigenous breed) chicken and eggs.
Established over an area of around 64 kanals in Larama village on the outskirts of Peshawar, the W. Organic Farm has around 18500 roosters and hens fully grown in open and natural environment by eating organic food including grains.
“At the time of launching of organic poultry farm in June 2019, we inducted around 24000 desi chicks which we bought from Punjab and now we have around 18500 chickens as around 2000 rooters were sold in market and some died,” said Dilawar Khalid, partner among four owners of the farm.
The idea also supports Prime Minister’s Imran Khan’s “Backyard Poultry initiative” would help in taking this concept towards commercial lines on larger scale, Dilwar opined.
Dilawar, an MBA degree holder with additional qualification of MS in Finance, said his other three partners were his cousins and all were also highly qualified.
“Our farm is Pakistan’s largest Free Range farm where around 20,0000 desi chicken are grown in natural environment and are fed with grains including wheat, maize, mustard, sun flower, animal dung and grass” Dilawar claims.
He said “there are much larger organic farms in the country but the chicken there are grown in controlled sheds While in their farm, the birds are also kept in totally natural environment”. “The chickens grown in our farm are totally free from hormones, antibiotics, steroids, chemical feed and animal derived feed”, Dialwar continued. To a question, he said, timely vaccination was made through veterinary to the chick for protecting them from seasonal diseases.
Dilawar said the trend of eating organic chicken and eggs has reached to the edge of extinction due to non-availability of these items in market and because of exorbitant price.
If someone wants to have desi white meat or egg, he cannot get real one in market or in case he gets that too at a very high price.
Presently he said after six months his flock of 18500 chickens was laying around 4500 eggs on daily basis which they sold in market at a price of Rs. 4500 per carton of 360 eggs, one each at a price of Rs. 12.5 per one. The price of eggs keep on fluctuating depending on demand in market, he continued.
The flock of our farm has not reached to its full potential of laying eggs which was estimated at 10,000 on daily basis.
He said they were also making arrangements for supply of eggs to home with some additional cost of delivery. Dilawar claimed that organic poultry has great potential for earning profit because people want to consume healthy and nutritious diet at economic price. The side effects on human health of feed being provided to poultry chicken was changing mood of people who wants to opt for organic food consumption.
About future plans, Dilawar said “We are planning to opt for establishing Hatchery of organic chickens through natural process”. “Demand of organic chicken on affordable price is much more in market and people will buy happily if they found it in market”, he observed.—

 

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Rice exports reach record

Pakistan rice exports hold steady as the country’s currency devaluation against the dollar continues, according to a Dec. 19 Global Agricultural Information Network report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Pakistan’s rice exports hit a record of 4.5 million tonnes during market year 2018-19, “the continuing devaluation of the Pakistani rupee against the dollar, down 40% since December 2017, is helping maintain the export momentum,” the report said.

Favorable weather in rice producing areas sets the USDA’s market year 2019-20 rice production estimate at 7.5 million for Pakistan.

The country’s wheat production and exports for 2019-20 remain unchanged.

The USDA estimates Pakistan’s market year 2019-20 wheat production at 24.1 million tonnes while the country’s government has set a production target of 27 million tonnes for the 2019 winter crop due to be harvested in April – May 2020.

Reports gathered by the USDA suggest Pakistani farmers have completed sowing of wheat and good spells of rain across the wheat producing areas in November and December helped in the sowing and germination of the wheat crop

 

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Sale of Loose Milk to be Banned in Pakistan: PFA

The sale of loose milk will be banned from 2022 and all dairy farms will be bound to sell pasteurized milk in plastic bags and bottles. This was revealed by the Additional Director General (ADG) Licensing and Resources of Punjab Food Authority (PFA), Shahid Inayat Malik.