Agri. Education Pakistan

Surface of Rawal Lake near Islamabad --- Reuters Like his farming neighbours, Bilal Khan plants wheat in late October or early November each year, and harvests and sells his winter crop a few months later. But this year there are no wheat stalks are to be seen on his three hectares of land in Rawat, a town some 20km from Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. Instead, Khan is growing onions, potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage and carrots. In late October, the Pakistan Meteorological Department informed Khan and other farmers that no rain was forecast for the crucial wheat-growing months of November and December in parts of northern Pakistan that rely solely on rain-fed agriculture. The warning was one of the first of its kind from Pakistan’s weather service, aimed at helping farmers look ahead months, rather than just days, and plan for crops more likely to survive drought. “As advised by the weatherman on the radio, I exercised caution and opted for vegetable cultivation, it being...

Investments in agricultural development in Pakistan do not necessarily benefit the poor and landless people, concludes the International Fund for Agricultural Development evaluation report. Drawing lessons from the country programme evaluation of its projects, the IFAD states that there is a need to develop a better balance between agricultural and non-farm investments in the rural sector. About 57 per cent of the rural poor belong to non-farm households but more off-farm opportunities are now being offered by the country’s growing business environment. More resources should be devoted to small agribusinesses and family-based rural micro-enterprises. IFAD stressed the importance of promoting wider market linkages for both agricultural and non-farm outputs. More rural financial services and products are central to ensuring that the poor have access to financing. Greater attention needs to be paid to livestock development and high-value crops such as fruit, vegetables and flowers t...

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah held a meeting with Chairman Shunxing Agriculture Group (Food and Agriculture) Ze Wang in Beijing. The company is keen to invest in cattle, fruit and vegetable farming, fruit and vegetable processing plants. Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah told them that the mango, guava of Sindh are two popular fruits in Pakistan as well as all over the world. He offered them to establish a fruit processing plant at Hyderabad/ irpurkhas or in Karachi whichever sitable and assured them his fully support.—APP Source:  Pak Observer

A team of the agriculture department on Friday raided the pesticides filling unit at Industrial Estate Area Multan (IEM) and seized a stock of fake pesticides. Pest Warning and Quality Control of Pesticides (PWQCP) Assistant Director Omar Farooq, Agriculture Officer Rao Shamraiz and other staff raided a filling unit and seized 494 units of 400ml bottles with dubious labels. According to a release issued by the media liaison unit of Punjab agriculture department the seized stock valued around Rs 200,000 and the pesticides were handed over to police and samples sent to a laboratory for analysis. A first information report (FIR) has been registered with PS Muzaffarabad, Multan, against filling in charge, RG filling unit Mudassir Ayaz, Shakeel Ahmad and store in-charge Saeed Ahmad under Agriculture Pesticides Ordinance SRO-21, Rules A 23(a)12, 1971-A and section 21 and 26 of Rules 1973 amended in 1997. Source:  Pakistan Today

Nepalese Ambassador to Pakistan Sewa Lamsal Adhikari has said that his country is keen to promote trade with Pakistan as both countries have good potential to enhance bilateral trade in multiple fields. Addressing the business community at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), the ambassador said that trade had become an integral part of sustainable development in interdependent world. She said Nepal-Pakistan bilateral trade was not satisfactory despite having multiple consultative mechanisms and robust institutional as well as legal frameworks. She said that both countries should make more efforts to promote frequent interactions between their private sectors and organise trade fairs, exhibitions and promotional activities to exploit all untapped areas of mutual cooperation. She said many Nepalese products, including tea, coffee, woollen carpets, handicrafts, gold and silver jewellery, optical lenses, pulses, paper and paper products and medicinal he...

The paradigm shift from aid-to-trade in national policy is no doubt a forward step for economic growth, especially for developing countries like ours. However, instead of producing worthwhile products through knowledge based economy, the focus has always remained on imports. The country is prone to pursue dependency on the produce of others instead of creating a demand in the international markets for the “Made in Pakistan” products. Without being able to create maximum jobs, businesses, local manufactures, domestic industry or entrepreneurship opportunities for the bulging unemployed youth of the country, it would be impossible to cope with law and order situation, militancy and economic crisis. Pakistan has been positioned among the regional economies that rack up the lowest revenue from commodity exports as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report states “A developing country is considered a commodity dependent developing country when its commod...

The completion of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will not only make Pakistan economically self-reliant but establishment of new industries around it will boost the business and industrial activities, creating millions of jobs, said Rohail Dar, president, Pakistan Muslim League-N, USA. Addressing a reception arranged in honour of Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) Secretary General, Major (Retd) Syed Javed Hussain Bokhari here on Friday, Rohail claimed that effects of PML-N economic policies had started reaching the common man. PSyed Anwer Wasti, PML -N USA Secretary Information hoped that these projects would produce electricity in abundance for the industrial and domestic use on cheaper rates. Source:  The News

The representatives of the Pakistan Veterinary Medical Association (PVMA) on Thursday said that veterinary doctors will carry out a movement for regularisation of 67 doctors working in DPC. About 145 contract doctors to fill up the vacant positions on merit. Dr Hakeem Jalbani has appealed to the chief minister and the Livestock minister to announce a service infrastructure for veterinary doctors and provide them facilities in a manner the veterinary doctors of Punjab are being given. Speaking to Daily Times, Dr Hakeem Jalbani, Dr Ashfaque Laghari and Dr. Sadique Mari said that the Association will continue its movement for solving issues confronting with doctors in every district. Source:  Daily Times

According to Punjab Food Authority director Badar Munir, certain chemical(s) were being used in the production process of unbranded milk. The team also found fungi, insects, and dirt in the company’s dairy products, he added. No further development was reported, nor is it known whether Swedish Dairies, which claims to be “the most reliable name” in Pakistan’s dairy industry on its website, responded with any action. Swedish Dairies is a supplier of dairy products to various bakeries in the locality. Earlier, Geo News reported that Punjab Food Authority was ordered by the Supreme Court to conduct quality and plant checks of the milk-producing companies in the province, and obtain samples of their products. It also advised the authority to test the samples in a dedicated lab. The case was resumed on Tuesday. In a report filed by Punjab Food Authority director general Noor-ul-Amin Mengal, it was noted that products made by Haleeb Foods, Acha Milk, Al-Fazl Food, Doce, a...

The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) today hosted a panel discussion for the launch of Hisaar Foundation’s Report ‘Recommendations for Pakistan’s National Water Policy Framework’ for the consideration of the government. The event was a culmination of two years of consultations, including discussion sessions with various water stakeholders across the spectrum, as well as two international water conferences that focused on water cooperation and water security. The recommendations are part of the first report of Hisaar Foundation’s think tank on Rational Use of Water. The recommendations focus on five main areas for further action. These include improving water access for the poor and landless, financing the urban and rural water value chain, safeguarding the Indus Basin and its infrastructure, improving water institutions and their management and governance, and finally building a base for science, technology, and social aspects of water. The goals of the...

The report said dairy milk is mostly contaminated as the brand is using chemicals known as embalming fluid and is used to preserve cadavers. Punjab Food Authority slapped fines to major suppliers of packaged milk as Justice Saqib Nisar said the court will take this matter to its logical end to ensure that children of this country have pure milk. Consequent upon the court action, Food Authority widened its jurisdiction from five divisions to entire Punjab. Directives have been issued that milk samples be collected and an analytical report be readied. The case was heard at apex court’s Lahore Registry. The court was briefed that the company was fined a million rupee as unhygienic and cadaver-preserving chemical was found in the milk. The company’s lawyer assured that the company does not use any such chemical now. Meantime, Food Authority canceled license of Al-Fazal Foods and fined Acha Milk with Rs.500,000. Now, Punjab Food Authority will obtain milk samples ...

The Supreme Court of Pakistan formed a commission yesterday to inspect different milk and water companies. Directions were issued to Punjab Food Authority to ensure completion of reports on the basis of samples taken from the local companies. Officials of the Food Authority told the apex court on Tuesday that samples of 30 dairy and 313 drinking water companies had been collected and sent to its laboratory for analysis. Giving a statement before a two-judge bench, headed by designate Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, PFA Director General Noorul Amin Mengal said that strict action would be taken if samples of any company were declared substandard. The SC bench observed it would take this matter to the logical end. During the hearing, the bench snubbed the officials of the companies which were manufacturing milk products and water when it read reports on contaminated elements in the milk. “No one would be allowed to play havoc with the lives of the innocent citizens,”...

Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Engr. Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said that it is the age of multi disciplinary research and innovations as the institutions engaged in research fields with success stories are doing miracles. This he said while addressing the 2nd International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering, Management and Sciences (ICETEMS-2016) as a chief guest in City University, Peshawar on Wednesday. President of the City University Mr. Saboor Sethi, Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Atta Ullah Shah and a large number of students were present on the occasion. Addressing the conference the Governor appreciated the efforts and exertions of the organizing committee of the conference and said that the organizers have provided a platform to scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, policy makers and industrialists to come closer for developing innovative solutions. In fact, he said, Pakistan in general and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular, is placed at a very significant geo-strategic po...

Persistent dryness, high level of pollution and below-average rain during the month of December has resulted in spread of weather-related disease in Lahore. The prevailing weather situation has also become alarming for the fruit and wheat growers. A significant increase in the number of patient suffering from flu and cough has been observed in the past few weeks. An EPA official told that the city is currently observing a high level of toxic pollutants in the air which are causing weather-related diseases among citizen while the department is helpless in dealing with the current situation. He said that rain can provide respite as it will wash away toxic pollutants from air. Punjab University Environment College Principal Dr Sajid Rashid said that both sources; vehicles and industry are the main sources of adding to pollution level and it is imperative to take precautions in order to minimise their effects. He said that the ongoing construction works on different roads of th...

Bernard Francois, head of cooperation, Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Pakistan, attended the second project steering committee meeting arranged by the EU-funded Pakistan Leather Competitiveness Improvement Programme (PLCIP) under the European Union's Trade Related Technical Assistance Programme. The programme is aimed at improving the overall value chain in the leather sector of Pakistan. The purpose of the meeting was to update stakeholders and EU representatives about the programme's activities and industry interventions over the last one year. Speaking on the occasion, Francois emphasised on changing structure of exports to include more value-added products to compete with China. He said that the government of Pakistani should take the reins in their hands, and steer the sector towards more value addition, and higher export earnings. In his presentation, PLCIP Project Director Usman H Malik briefed the audience about the value additions and interven...

Giant piles of black manure towering over cornfields, while rancid-smelling effluent from thousands of cows spills onto the land — this is the price of a glass of milk in China today. Large-scale dairy farms have boomed in the Asian giant, as its near 1.4 billion consumers overcame centuries of cultural reluctance to embrace the white fluid. An economic boom and government backing transformed dairy into a $40-billion-a-year industry, shifting production away from small-scale producers towards massive megafarms with up to 10,000 cattle — and a lot more waste. “The smell of the manure… in the summer it’s very intense,” said Ren Xiangjun, a farmer in Gannan county. Pointing at a stream of green water escaping from under a grey brick wall at the giant farm owned by agro-conglomerate Feihe International, he added: “You can see how it flows right out of the farm. Dodging packets of animal medicine and syringes littered nearby, he explained: “The rubbish left after i...

The Punjab Agriculture Department has evolved a new strategy to achieve record cotton yield. Modern techniques and latest research are the part of strategy, a spokesman of the agriculture department informed the media here on Monday. This strategy will consist of four phases. Steps have been mentioned for all of these phases to protect the crop and save it from various types of issues. First phase will be called pre-cultivation phase, second phase will be cultivation phase, third phase will be called flowering and ball development phase. While the fourth phase will be called picking phase. The objective of this strategy is to inform the farmers about the measures for protecting the crop from sects and germs etc and increase its yield. The strategy will also be helpful in further increasing liaison between the cotton farmers and the concerned officials of the agriculture department. The spokesman said that agriculture experts have termed the new cotton strategy as a positive initi...

Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) has adopted Integrated Management Strategies to control fruit fly in orchards and facilitate peach growers to improve quality and quantity of exports. The council, as part of its measures, also established Germplasm Units in public sector for bud-wood supply to commercial nurseries and ensured true to type and high quality nursery plant production. Sources at Commerce Division on Monday said that PARC was also ensuring trainings and capacity building of growers for orchards management (pruning, insect/pest control, fertiliser application and irrigation etc). Moreover, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) plans to organise Fruit Shows and seminars to promote export of fruits from the country. The sources said peaches are being exported both in fresh and dried form. During the year 2015-16, peaches amounting to a value of Rs13,99,000 were exported whereas no peaches have been exported from Pakistan during 2014-15. Source:...

The food imports into the country witnessed an increase of 5.43pc during the first five months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year. The food imports into the country during July-Nov (2016-17) were recorded at $2.340 billion compared to the imports of $2.219b during July-November (2015-16), according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Among the food products, the import of milk, cream and milk food for infants increased by 7.53pc by going up from $95.575m last year to $102.773m this year. Similarly, the import of dry fruits and nuts increased from $54.883m to $69.179m this year, showing an increase of 26.05pc, while the import of pulses (leguminous vegetables) increased by 32.18pc by going up from $218.351m to $288.607m.  The food items which showed declining trend in trade included tea, imports of which fell by 7.55 percent, from $225.625m to $208.597m. Similarly, the imports of spices decreased by 7.5pc, from $...

The district agriculture department has achieved its cultivation target of wheat crops and introduced modern techniques to enhance per acre production. District Officer Agricultural Faiz Ahmad Kundi told APP on Tuesday that farmers were being provided relief. He said that a comprehensive campaign was launched for creating awareness among farmers regarding packages provided by the government and innovations in this regard in the farm sector. He said that the authorities had decided to sow wheat on 530,000 acres in the district while 533,000 acres wheat target had been achieved by Dec 15, 2016. He said that in six tehsils of the district including Silanwali, Bhalwal, Kotmomin, Shahpur, Sahiwal and Sargodha the agricultural authorities had given targets 49,000 acres, 96,000 acres, 93,000 acres, 90,000 acres, 70,000 and 130,000 acres, respectively. While the following tehsils have achieved the cultivation targets within the period as Sillanwali achieved 49,936 acres, Bhalwal 123,0...

Pakistan has produced 154,825 ton banana from 34,830 hectares per annum with major contribution coming from Sindh and the rest shared by other provinces notably Punjab. The tradition of banana sowing in the sub-continent was centuries old and according to an assessment it originated from Bangladesh, said Agriculture Information Assistant Director Naveed Asmat Kahlon. Well over 90 per cent of banana cultivation is done in Sindh i.e. 32,236 hectares out of total 34,830 hectares in Pakistan. Its cultivation in Punjab was far less than Sindh as it covers only 1,389 hectares due to unsuitable weather conditions but it was more than rest of the provinces. However, trend of banana cultivation was now growing in Ahmedpur East tahsil of district Bahawalpur and Alipur tahsil of district Muzaffargarh. Banana production in Sindh was recorded at 127,426-ton and in Punjab 9,373-ton. Banana can be divided into two groups botanically called Musa Cavandeshii and Musa Paradisica. M...

Telenor Pakistan’s ‘Khushal Zamindar’, a user-friendly Robocall, IVR and SMS content based mobile agriculture service for small scale farmers - provides location-specific weather forecast along with contextual agronomic advisory for every farmer’s relevant crop mix and tips for livestock management. ‘Khushal Zamindar’ also allow farmers to contact agriculture experts once a week through a live show which is extremely popular amongst subscribers. ‘Khushal Zamindar’ is currently available to small scale farmers in 36 districts of the Punjab, and will soon be rolled-out nationwide. Only in Punjab, the service has already reached over 1.3 million subscriptions in a short span of time since its launch in December 2015, and it’s ready for a nationwide rollout. Recently, the ground-breaking mobile agricultural service won P@SHA ICT Award for ‘Innovation in Service’. Pakistan’s economy can really benefit from growing agri-technology initiatives. The increasing complexity of digi...

Agricultural experts on Monday said that agro ecological zones were being redesigned by keeping in view agricultural sustainability, water scarcity, climate changes, changing weather pattern, soil fertility and deteriorating underground water quality and markets issues. The experts were addressing a meeting held to redesign the agro ecological zones at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. The meeting was chaired by the UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan. Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi Vice Chancellor Dr Rai Niaz, Director General Ayub Research Dr Abid Mehmood, Director General Extension Anjum Ali Bhuttar, UAF Dean Faculty of Agri Engineering Dr Allah Buksh, Dr Muhammad Ashfaq, Dr Mubasher Riaz and other notables attended the meeting. Prof Dr Iqrar A Khan said that collaborative work would come up with viable solutions in the shape of recommendation on agro zone that would boost the agriculture. He expressed his concern that rainfall volatility, increase...

Hundreds of farmers staged a demonstration against overbilling and high tariff in front of the Multan Electric Power Company Headquarters here on Monday. The protesting farmers led by Pakistan Kisan Ittehad chairman Ch Anwar blocked the Khanewal Road by parking their tractor-trolleys. They also tried to besiege the Mepco Headquarters but a heavy contingent of police foiled their attempt. The protesters said that the Mepco had allegedly sent them inflated tubewell bills, which they were unable to pay. They alleged that the Mepco officers did not rectify the bills according to a government’s commitment made in a meeting with the PKI leaders. They further alleged that the Mepco had started disconnecting connections of tube-wells instead of following the government commitment. They said that the agriculture sector was badly hit by loadshedding, but the situation became worse when the Mepco issued inflated tubewell bills to them. They said that the agriculture power tariff had...

Earth, revered as a blue planet, is believed to be the only planet in the entire solar system that constitutes life. This intriguing feature of life that our earth is capable of and what makes it unique and distinct from rest of its counter-parts- i.e other planets- is ascribed to its endowment of water reserves. Hence it is water that makes life possible here and act as its building block. Pakistan virtually being a small mini planet as it has been inhabiting and supporting lives of approximately 180 million cohorts of people having varying lifestyles, ambitions, demographics, languages and races now appears to be on the verge of losing its life fostering status as it is being stranded and terribly mired in a tortuous tangle of water crisis. While myriad of reasons ranging from internal to external and then environmental have been cited which are deemed to bring Pakistan’s water reserves from a state of once efficient to the dire state of alarmingly deficient levels, however an ...