Punjab Planning and Development (P&D) Board Chairman Iftikhar Ali Sahoo chaired a consultative session regarding the formation of ADP 2024-25 (Agriculture Sector) organized by P&D Board here Monday. The session was attended by government functionaries, academia, researchers, progressive farmers, and representatives of the corporate sector. The theme of the session was to identify key challenges, gaps, and priority areas for framing development projects for the ADP (Annual Development Programme) 2024-25 and to suggest ways forward to boost the agrarian economy. In his opening remarks, P&D Board Chairman Iftikhar Ali Sahoo stated that agriculture contributes 22.7 percent to the GDP, employs 37.4 percent of the work force, and provides a livelihood to the majority of the population. He said the session was scheduled for the formulation of the next ADP; therefore, all stakeholders were invited to share their views about uplifting the important sector.
He instructed the relevant officers to develop fresh, creative ideas, as agriculture is an important sector; therefore, making it better and more beneficial should be our primary concern. Provincial Secretary Agriculture Nadir Chatha briefed the meeting about smart mechanization through on-farm and off-farm governance. He said that manual sowing and the use of outdated machinery in the agriculture sector caused a loss of billions of rupees annually. He suggested that modern agriculture centers should be established for the facilitation of farmers. P&D Secretary Muzaffar Khan Syal said, “We have scheduled consultation sessions with all stakeholders, in order to get their point of view for the betterment of the agriculture sector and proper representation in the next ADP.” Nestle Pakistan Chairman Syed Yawar Ali said that for improvement in the agriculture sector, it was necessary to transform this old traditional agriculture system into a modern one by providing modern agriculture tools and by educating our farmers about modern ways of sowing and harvesting crops.
Progressive farmer Babar Ali said that the livestock sector needed to be included in the ADP as the sector had capabilities to increase the exports. Fertilizer expert Nazeer Ullah Khan said that in the field of mechanization reverse engineering, which is the lowest cost solution to the economy should be introduced. Member PSW Aslam Javid moderated the discussion. Member Agriculture Aslam Javid, Member Environment Ahmad Aziz Tarar, Special Secretary Agriculture Shahanshah Faisal Azeem, JCE Dr Amanullah Khan, Chief Agriculture Dr. Muhammad Arif Raza, Fertilizer expert corporate support Mr. Naseer Ullah Khan, progressive grower and farmer Khalid Khokhar and Hussan Raza also participated in the consultative session and shared their views to boost the agrarian economy.
