13 agriculture development projects would launch in 5 years: Minister

ISLAMABAD: Development of agriculture sector would see 13 projects worth Rs 286 billion launch during next five years announced Mehboob Sultan, ARY News reported today, Tuesday.

Minister for National Food Security and Research said that the incumbent government was fully focused on the agricultural sector and was aiming to make it better.

“Out of the total budget, an amount of Rs 86 billion would be allocated by the federal government whereas the rest Rs 200 billion would be spent by the provinces,” he said while addressing a press conference.

The minister said that the projects would cover all areas of the agriculture sector including livestock, poultry, fisheries, and crops.

Admonishing governments of the past Sultan said that the agriculture sector  saw a major drop in previous tenures, falling from around 70% around Rs 40 billion to Rs 15 billion per year.

The minister revealed that two out of five agreements signed under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative were related to the agriculture sector.

The minister pointed out that at present, the country’s export in meat sector stood around only $200 million which was negligible against potential.

He stated that agreements have been reached with China pertaining to meat export and Pakistan would see positive indicators on that front.

China will provide skill, machinery, and technology specially to small farmers besides introducing new breeds of livestock, poultry, and fisheries, the minister revealed further.

Replying to a question, Sahibzada Sultan said the wheat target of 25.8 million metric ton could not be achieved due to heavy rains with farmers suffering losses of 1.2 million metric tonnes of wheat.

“Total wheat requirement in the country was around 25.5 million while total expected production was around 24.12 million metric ton,” he added.