Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam on Thursday stressed the need for developing local seed production technology to enhance output of major crops to increase farm income and alleviating poverty from the country.
Speaking in a webinar titled ‘China Pakistan Seed Industry Cooperation and Exchange’, the minister termed the development of seed producing sector vital for achieving sustainable agriculture growth and economic uplift of the country.
He informed that agriculture sector in Pakistan was making 19.3 percent of the GDP and cooperation with China in field of seed technology and production provided a great opportunity for employment as Pakistan has one of the largest irrigated area in world where almost 90 percent crop producing area was irrigated.
Pakistan has 30 different fruits and 30 vegetables, he said adding that country was also producing five different pulses to tackle with the local needs. The minister said seed certification registry provided quality seeds for growers and about 27 seed testing labs were set up across Pakistan to cater the seed requirements of 8-10 major ecological zones.
