Agri. Education Pakistan

Punjab Agriculture Department has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with Nestle Pakistan for agricultural sustainability including Chaunsa Mango sector and Water Resource Management. For the Chaunsa project Nestle Pakistan shall take on board Mango Research Institute Multan as a research partner, said a spokesman of the provincial agriculture department here on Tuesday. By virtue of these MoUs, Nestle Pakistan will provide technical support for improving quality and quantity of Mangoes to the growers. With the latest research in Mango sector, farm practices to be introduced will enable growers to work in a best way according to the latest production techniques. Under another MoU, in water resource management project, water Management wing of Agriculture Department will partner with Nestle Pakistan for a program which offer 60 percent subsidy to farmers who employee high efficiency irrigating system (Drip Irrigation) and other Water conservation techniques, techno...

Pakistan exported around 201,000 kilograms (kg) of mushroom with a total export price of $12.930 million in 2016. Not only was the increase in the value of mushroom exports phenomenal but mushroom exports also contributed over 25 percent to the overall vegetables exports of over $101 million the same year. In Pakistan, mushrooms are grown in farm houses, including but not limited to state owned national logistic cell. Farm production contributes around 1 percent to overall mushroom exports, while the rest of it comes from natural production in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The global mushroom production according to Food and Agriculture Organization's statistics was estimated at 4.99 million tons in 2016 with major producers being China with 60 percent production, followed by United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Ireland, Indonesia and India. Talking to the Daily Times, Akhtar Usmani, Chairman Mann-O-Salva Pakistan Private Limited w...

A severe infestation of the papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus) nearly wiped out papaya orchards in Pakistan before this largely farming South Asian country decided to replace conventional chemical pesticides that were ineffective, with natural predators that proved to be successful. Developed by agro-biotechnologists and entomologists at the Pakistani chapter of the UK-based Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), they introduced the use of Acerophagus papayae, a parasitoid (insects whose larvae parasite upon and eventually kill the host), to effectively control the mealybug infestation. “Farmers are happy with this cost-effective, pesticide-free technique to deal with the mealybug and now see possibilities of recovering their papaya farms,” says CABI research coordinator Abdul Rehman. He regrets though that by the time the biological method became available many farmers had already shifted to other crops. Papaya once covered some 921 hectares...

The Chinese model of nutrient management system can enable Pakistan to get optimal yields out of the lesser agriculture land. It was stated by Qingdao Agricultural University Vice President Dr Yuan Yongbing in a meeting with Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) President Wang Zihai and Vice President Moazzam Ghurki at Chamber premises. The delegation, headed by Dr Yuan Yongbing, was comprised of Agricultural University Vice President Qingdao, Professor Shan Hu, Professor Zhu Jun and Dr Gao Ting. The purpose of the delegates was to introduce the Chinese nutrient management system in the agriculture sector of Pakistan. They were of the view that Pakistan being an agricultural country with vast arable lands is still unable to utilise its maximum potential, particularly due to lack of modern infrastructure, conventional cultivation procedures and low-quality chemicals and fertilisers that badly affects the yield per hectare. On the occasion, Dr Yongbi...

Health authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guizhou have confirmed a new human case of H7N9 avian influenza, state radio said, bringing the total number of human infections of the highly pathogenic strain to 19 this winter. The 49-year old man, who is a chicken trader, was being treated in hospital in Qiannan prefecture, the report said on Sunday. The local authorities were taking precautions to try and prevent the infection from spreading, the report said. A total of 19 people have been infected with bird flu in China so far this winter, all with the H7N9 strain, killing at least three of them. Regional fears of a major bird flu outbreak have been raised by a record outbreak of avian influenze in poultry in South Korea as well as infections in birds in Japan. The last major bird flu outbreak in mainland China – from late 2013 to early 2014 – killed 36 people and led to more than $6 billion in losses for the agricultural sector. China has culled more than 170,...

University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan has asked the researchers to come up with viable solutions to the problems of farmers. He said this while addressing the teaching and administrative staff of the varsity at the Staff Club, UAF, on Monday. The UAF VC said that it was a matter of grave concern that farmer’s son does not want to become a farmer due to low profitability, heavy post harvest loses, marketing and other challenges. He expressed concerned that despite having sufficient food, 40 per cent women and children were malnourished. He said that the government was taking revolutionary steps to address woos of the farming community in the shape of Kisan Package and other initiatives. He said that the Punjab Agriculture Policy was being redesigned in order to uplift the sector keeping the need of the modern era. We were losing upto 40 per cent of our produces in the post-harvest process, he lamented. He said that it was need ...

The Chinese nutrient management model could enable Pakistan to achieve optimum yield out of a comparatively lower agricultural land, said Dr Yuan Yongbing, Vice President of the Qingdao Agricultural University. He made the suggestion while leading a delegation in a meeting with Wang Zihai, President of the Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI), and Moazzam Ghurki, Vice President, at the chamber premises on Monday. The delegates were of the view that Pakistan being an agricultural economy with vast arable land was still unable to utilize its maximum potential, particularly due to the lack of modern infrastructure, conventional cultivation methods and low-quality chemicals and fertilizers that badly affected the yield. Yuan pointed out that China had only 10% arable land and had the challenge to feed 20% of the world’s population. “With the help of nutrient management system devised by our agricultural research experts, we are able to get higher yields f...

Frosty relations between Kabul and Islamabad have put a brake on Afghanistan’s ambitious plans to boost fruit exports, according to analysts. Pomegranates and grapes have long been the pride of Afghan agriculture, but exports from the landlocked country have suffered due to poor air connectivity and frequent closures of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The sight of hundreds of long-haul trucks stuck along border towns became all too common in 2016, with tonnes of fruits and perishable items going to waste and forcing some farmers to return to the most lucrative cultivation of poppy. “We invested huge sums of money on growing fresh fruits in our orchards,” grape farmer Abdul Samad from Panjwai district in southern Kandahar said. He said the farmers were very frustrated that the border was shut during harvest season. “We have no choice but to return to poppy farming. It will fetch us a lot more money than fruits.” Pakistan sporadically shut the main border crossings...

The Chinese model of nutrient management system can enable Pakistan get optimal yields of the lesser agriculture land. Dr Yuan Yongbing, vice president of Qingdao Agricultural University, said this in a meeting with Wang Zihai, president of the Pak-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) on Monday. A delegation led by Dr Yongbing also included Professor Shan Hu, Prof Zhu Jun and Dr Gao Ting. The purpose of the delegation’s visit is to introduce the Chinese nutrient management system in the agriculture sector of Pakistan. The delegates said Pakistan being an agricultural country with vast arable lands is still unable to utilise its maximum potential, particularly due to the lack of modern infrastructure, conventional cultivation procedures and low-quality chemicals and fertilisers that badly affects the yield per hectare. Dr Yongbing said that China has only 10 percent arable land and has the challenge to feed 20 percent of the world’s population. "W...

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday said that setting up the Punjab Agriculture, Food & Drug Authority is an important step towards provision of quality medicines and food items to the people of the province. The CM expressed these views while addressing a meeting at the Civil Secretariat through a video link, which considered the matters relating to the Punjab Agriculture, Food & Drug Authority. Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that the Punjab Agriculture, Food & Drug Authority would become fully operational during the current year. Issuing instructions for activating the board of the authority immediately, he said he will preside over the meeting of the board. Shahbaz Sharif directed that the matters regarding construction of the offices of the authority should be finalised and work be started. He directed that the best international firm should be selected for this purpose in a transparent manner. The chief minister directed that human r...

Saudi Arabia has placed a temporary ban on the import of Indian poultry products, following the recent outbreak of avian influenza or bird flu in several parts of the country, reported foreign media. Saudi Arabia joined other West Asian countries such as Kuwait in banning the imports of poultry from India, which reported about seven instances of bird flu outbreak during 2016 with the latest being in Khordha district of Odisha. Saudi Arabia was the second largest buyer of Indian poultry products in 2015-16. As per DGCIS, India’s poultry exports to Saudi Arabia stood at 95.64 crore Indian rupees, accounting for over 12 per cent of the country’s total poultry shipments of 766.71 crore Indian rupees in 2015-16. Source:  The News

According to the agriculture department sources on Saturday, a four-phased strategy was devised, according to modern times and latest research to obtain record production of cotton. The first phase would consist of steps before cultivation, the second during cultivation, third during development of the flower and fruit while the last one would consist of steps after picking. The source said that this strategy would help cotton farmers in making a better yield besides making them aware of steps to protect the crop from insects. Source:  Daily Times