‘Thar food crisis a management problem’

Karachi
Instead of a shortage, the Tharparkar District is largely facing management problems in terms of food distribution, said KU’s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences Director Professor Dr Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhry in a lecture at the centre on Monday.
He mentioned that biotechnology could be used for multiplying the existing food production even in dry lands and could bring food security in the country.
Dr Chaudhry, who is also director at the Pakistan Biotechnology Information Centre (PABIC), said that Pakistan was the sixth most populous country of the world with 185 million people and is expected to gain the fourth position with 300 million by 2030. “Around 20 percent Pakistanis are now facing acute malnutrition, while 10 years back the figure was at 10 percent.”
He stressed that increasing population was the real challenge for the country. Besides that, natural calamities also cause great loss to the country’s food production every year.
“Biotechnology has the potential to increase food production even in infertile lands. The country has made remarkable advancement in biotechnology. A majority of the Muslim nations are the net importer of food commodities, but Pakistan is included among three Muslim countries, including Turkey and Iran, out of 57 nations who have achieved commercialisation of biotech crops. But, food inflation is still among the highest in Pakistan.”
The increasing rate of population and the demand of food require appropriate planning at the government level, he said.