‘Per acre production in country very low’

FAISALABAD: The country imports pulses worth billions of rupees that may be overcome by providing quality seeds, promoting pulses cultivation and increasing per acre production, said Pakistan Agricultural Research Council Chairman Dr Yusuf Zafar.

Addressing an international conference on sustainable agriculture arranged by the US-Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security, the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, here on Saturday, Zafar said that measures were being taken to increase pulses production as per domestic needs.

Yusuf Zafar said the country was having surplus major crops, including wheat, rice, corn and sugarcane, but per acre production was very low as compared to the rest of the world.

He stressed the need to promote crop management technologies with the joint efforts of all stakeholders, including researchers, public and private sectors, government institutions and farmers.

He said the farmers were facing various challenges, including soil degradation, changing prices of inputs, lack of suitable agricultural machinery, imbalance use of fertiliser and burning of crop residues.