Islamabad: A digital initiative has been launched in Pakistan’s fertile Punjab province to empower farmers with digital agriculture solutions and to create smart villages. This is the first of its kind digital agriculture community network pro-ject in Pakistan. Digital Dera aims to contribute as agriculture and food security innovation lab where AgriTech startups and investors…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan needs to upgrade the agriculture sector through the use of modern technology, said Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam. Chairing a conference on “Food Security vis-a-vis Sustainable Agriculture in Pakistan: Policy Outcomes and Prospects” on Wednesday, he said, “We can apply different methodologies to smaller areas that can…
Even as the Punjab government, following the pink bollworm attack, has ordered a probe to find whether farmers were supplied spurious BT cotton seeds, agriculture experts attribute the crop infestation in the state’s Malwa region to poor farm practices. “There is not much merit in claims on seed quality,” said Vijay Kumar, principal entomologist at…
ISLAMABAD, Oct 06 (APP): Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam Wednesday stressed the need to upgrade the agriculture sector using modern technology and applying different methodologies on smaller areas that could be replicated on a larger scale upon success to multiply its benefits. Food security threat has always existed; however,…
Successive governments though have not addressed systemic problems faced by the sector, and as such food security of future generations is at stake. Due to declining agricultural incomes, Pakistan has the highest rate of urbanization in South Asia. The major issue is how to encourage retention of youth in rural areas since rural Pakistanis are…
Addressing the oath-taking ceremony of Pakistan Agriculture Research Scientists Association (PARSA) at National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Imam said the present government has the outset focused on agriculture as 70 percent of the country’s population is dependent on agriculture as well as 45 percent of the employment is related to agriculture. Other important measures to…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China agreed to further enhance cooperation in the agriculture sector under the CPEC initiative, especially agriculture research, inputs production and machinery, and adoption of new technology. China’s ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong and Federal Minister of National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam held a meeting here Wednesday and agreed on…
According to the state agriculture department, all 14 blocks of Bathinda and Mansa, the two biggest cotton-producing districts of Punjab, have reported the pest attack. Cotton growers in south Punjab are a worried lot these days as pink bollworm infestation has been reported in more areas ahead of the main harvesting period of the Kharif…
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Special Committee on Agriculture Wednesday grilled the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB), a subsidiary of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, for failing to play its due role to safeguard the interests of growers. The representatives of tobacco growers informed the committee that this year 64 million tons of tobacco…
South Punjab Agriculture Secretary Saqib Ali Ateel inspected cotton display plots in Muzaffargarh, Jatoi, Alipur during a brief visit paid on Tuesday. He reviewed dried plants of date palms in which temperature was kept at 70 degrees centigrade with the help of a glasshouse. The date palm was dried in the plant for three days….