THE firm commitments made by the civil and military leadership at a seminar on agriculture and food security in Islamabad on Monday augur well for optimum exploitation of the potential in the agriculture sector, which could in turn pave the way for meaningfully addressing the economic and financial challenges of the country. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed the confidence that Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) would prove to be second green revolution as the Government expects investment worth 30 to 50 billion dollars in the sector in the next few years aimed at enhancing productivity and transforming barren land into fertile ground, which will significantly bolster our revenues. And Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, who attended the seminar as special guest, assured fullest possible cooperation of the Pakistan Army for successful implementation of all endeavours under the ambit of the recently launched Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).
The high profile seminar, attended by delegates from the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, China, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and various other countries transmitted reassuring message to prospective investors as it not only highlighted different aspects of the initiative and offered input for further improvement in the light of the views and recommendations of the experts but also offered assurances of continuity of the policy. We have repeatedly emphasized in these columns that the agriculture sector provides the shortest and fastest route to economic progress and prosperity because of availability of barren but fertile land, an extensive irrigation network, most affordable labour force and a variety of seasons suitable for almost all kinds of grains, fruits and vegetables. No doubt, important initiatives were also launched in the past and as a result growth in the agriculture sector helped cope with the issues arising out of the population explosion but disruption in policies prevented fuller exploitation of the potential. It is in this backdrop that a whole new approach has been devised under which federal and provincial governments, assisted by the Pakistan Army and other relevant institutions would move in harmony to realize this potential. It seems ground work has already been prepared for the new scheme as participants of the seminar were told that some Gulf countries have expressed their keen desire to make huge investment in the agriculture sector and bring modern machinery to boost agriculture production in the country. Due to proximity and strong linkages, Pakistan can definitely become a food basket for Gulf States that currently import food products worth forty billion dollars from different regions. The Prime Minister rightly pointed out that the green revolution in the 1960s was due to the introduction of new varieties of seed, building of dams and canals and modern agriculture practices in the country. The fresh potential is there but it would need sustained collaborative efforts to realize the targets as envisaged by the leadership. We cannot sustain growth in agriculture without ensuring increased availability of irrigation water and for this purpose apart from speedy implementation of the ongoing water reservoirs, work will have to be initiated on all technically feasible dams. We have some agriculture research institutions but they remain under-funded and it is need of the hour to upgrade their working through Chinese collaboration with focus on evolution of higher yield crop varieties suitable for our climatic conditions and local production of quality pesticides. Pakistan is also guilty of wasting huge resources in livestock and fisheries sectors in near absence of value addition and proper marketing. Well-connected and influential mafias are also major impediments in the way of exploiting optimum potential of the agriculture sector and the leadership will have to make concerted efforts to render them ineffective. No doubt, there is immense potential of the Green Pakistan Initiative as it would provide job opportunities to over four million people, reduce poverty, enhance food security, increase exports and reduce the agriculture related imports. Prospects of investment are also there but the Government will have to deal with the issue of rising cost of production, lack of related infrastructure and hostile lobbies that become active to protect their own vested interests. Mere production of more grain, fruit and vegetables is unlikely to have a salutary impact on the common man if factors contributing to an increase in cost of production are not addressed satisfactorily.
