PUNJAB Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, while chairing a meeting to review steps taken for the promotion of agriculture, has vowed that the government will take every step to develop agriculture on modern lines in the province. The Chief Minister directed to constitute a special committee for the promotion of the agriculture sector, adding that the use of the latest agro-based technology is need of the hour as the growth of this sector is directly linked with the adoption of the latest technology.
Pakistan is an agrarian country and Punjab, no doubt, is its food basket as what it produces not only helps meet domestic food requirements but also surplus for export to earn foreign exchange. According to leading economist Dr. Hafeez Pasha, agriculture has a 45% role directly or indirectly in the economy of Punjab. The country remained almost self-sufficient in most of the crops and vegetable mainly because of the contribution made by the province. However, it is also a fact that the true potential of the country as well as the province has not yet been realized because of lack of proper planning and investment in the sector. The shortage of wheat and sugar, which the country is witnessing these days, highlights the need to review our agricultural policies and in this backdrop it is appreciable that the Punjab Chief Minister is already seized with the matter. Usman Buzdar has an agrarian background and, therefore, he is fully aware of the problems being faced by farmers and the agriculture sector and hopefully he would devise an effective and workable strategy to boost agricultural production. Punjab, with its fertile land and extensive irrigation system, has enormous potential to produce more provided it adopts modern agricultural practices, lays emphasis on research and invests on production of high quality food.
