Pakistan can greatly benefit from Chinese expertise in agriculture sector: PM Imran
- By Web Desk -
- Oct 30, 2018
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that strengthening cooperation with China in agriculture sector would be one of the top points on the agenda of his forthcoming visit to China, ARY News reported.
Chairing a meeting on agriculture at PM Office, the PM said that Pakistan could greatly benefit from the Chinese expertise in the agriculture sector and maintained that there was a need to support farmers and help them in adopting best practices along with requisite support in provision of finances and mechanization process.
During the meeting, the premier was given a detailed briefing on the existing situation vis-à-vis wheat, rice and sugarcane crop alongwith a comparative analysis with the neighboring countries and other producers with regards to production, exports and imports.
The PM was informed that the country’s agriculture sector has been stagnant for past many decades and little work was done to assist the farmers in crop diversification, enhancement of yields and mechanization of agriculture sector.
He was told that the research and innovation was totally ignored in the past resulting in overall deterioration of the sector. Low agricultural output resulted in greater reliance on import thus soaring up the import bill.
The PM was informed that as part of PTI’s agenda of placing greater focus on the agriculture sector, various projects were being planned to increase crop yield and productivity, to shift focus towards exports and encouraging crop diversification.
The projects include increase in yields of major crops and adoption of oilseeds; optimum utilization of water resources; harnessing untapped potential of fisheries; restructuring of livestock business model; transforming agriculture produce markets and increasing access to finance for the farmers.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will pay an official visit to China from November 2 on the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping.