Pakistan can achieve prosperity with focused agriculture strategy

Islamabad
With slightly more focused strategy and resources in the agriculture and food sector Pakistan not only can tackle poverty but can achieve prosperity said Seerat Asghar, Secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research, says a press release.
He was speaking at a talk on ‘Pakistan’s food security situation and agricultural potential’, organised by the Centre for Policy Studies, Comsats Institute of Information Technology. The initiative was part of CPS’ efforts to promote dialogue between the policymakers, researchers, scientists and scholars.
Mr. Asghar provided a comprehensive account of various aspects related to food security. Highlighting the enormous potential of the agriculture and food sector, he pointed out that with slightly more focused strategy and resources in this area, Pakistan not only can tackle poverty but can achieve prosperity. He referred to the diverse regions in Pakistan which can be exploited and challenges of terrain can very easily be converted into opportunities. In this context he dealt with each sector of agriculture and food and briefed about various projects undertaken by the government by using innovative techniques. The government was able to implement these proposals with the cooperation and support of the farming community as well as entrepreneurs. Mr. Asghar affirmed that by identifying dynamic leadership at all levels vision for invigorating the agriculture can be realized.
He raised a pertinent question: Why investment in agriculture? In this context he underscored the following: comparatively less investment is needed for developing this sector; it consumes very little energy; payback period is short; it constitutes the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and engages 43% of Pakistan’s labour.