Food security: Experts call for harnessing full potential of horticulture

HARIPUR: Experts at a seminar on Friday termed harnessing the full potential of horticulture in the country essential to achieving the goals of improved livelihoods and food security.

The seminar titled “Horticulture for Food Security and Livelihoods” was organised at the department of Horticulture University of Haripur.

The keynote speaker was Prof Dr Muhammad Jafar Jaskani from the Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.

The speakers delved deep into the issues of food security, the challenges faced by fruits and vegetables, and how agricultural growth was linked to government policies. They said that horticulture has a vital role to play in ensuring food security, improving nutrition, and enhancing livelihoods so there was a dire need to encourage eco-friendly farming methods to boost productivity and resilience.

“Support scientific research to develop new crop varieties, improve yields, and address emerging challenges, develop efficient market systems to connect farmers with consumers, ensuring fair prices and reduced post-harvest losses,” said one of the speakers.

The speakers also recommended that developing of strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change on horticulture, enhance digital extension to provide farmers with real-time advice, market information, and best practices, encourage value-added products to increase shelf life, reduce waste, and enhance profitability, support farmer organisations to improve bargaining power, access to resources, and market linkages and establish robust monitoring and evaluation systems to track progress, identify gaps, and inform policy decisions.