Experts believe that the coalition government’s Green Pakistan initiative will revive country’s agricultural economy and help pave the way for prosperity and progress in the country.
The government authorities, on the other hand, say that the initiative would enhance food security, increase exports and reduce agriculture-related imports.
In this connection, the government last week established a Land Information and Management System Centre of Excellence ((LIMS-CoE) to enhance modern farming on over 9 million hectares of uncultivated farmlands, with Saudi Arabia providing an initial investment of $500 million to improve the countrys irrigation system. The Centre will work in collaboration with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and China on various agricultural projects to enhance Pakistan’s exports.
Agriculture contributes more than 23 per cent to Pakistans GDP and employs 37.4 per cent of the labour force, but productivity is currently below par, with decreasing cultivation area, a population-production gap, and agricultural imports amounting to $10 billion annually. It is a good omen that the Gulf countries have shown willingness to invest in the Green Pakistan initiative as their ambassadors were also briefed last week about the project, and they showed complete willingness to invest in it. Secretary Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) Muhammad Ishaq, while talking to media, highlighted the salient features of the initiative, that will boost revival of agriculture for economic prosperity of the country.
He also shed light on the landmark steps, being undertaken by the government to exploit its full potential in agriculture and other domains under the ambit of the recently launched Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).
He said around $50 billion investment in the next five years, primarily from Gulf states, is expected under the green initiative in the agriculture sector. Giving an example, he said that earlier, as a scientific achievement, Pakistan introduced 20 new high-yielding and disease-resistant varieties of wheat and maize.
