Third aeroponic greenhouse for production of virus free potato seed inaugurated
The third latest aeroponic greenhouse for production of virus free seed potatoes has been inaugurated in Pakistan at the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) in collaboration with the Korean Program on International Agricultural (KOPIA).
Federal Minister for National Food Securityand Research, Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema, Ambassador of South Korea, H.E. Mr. Suh Sangpyo, Chairman, PARC Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali and Dr. Cho Gyoung-rae, Director, KOPIA Pakistan Center and inaugurated the event.
On this occasion, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Chaudhry Tariq Basheer Cheema said that Government of Pakistan is grateful to the Korean government for the transfer of latest aeroponics technology to Pakistan and the training of scientists.
He said that heavy rains and floods in the country have caused a loss of 30 billion US dollars to Pakistan’s agriculture. Agriculture is the guarantee of prosperity in Pakistan. The agriculture is the guarantee of prosperity in Pakistan, but the sector is facing numerous challenges such as supply of quality seeds and climate change.
It is that potato is fourth most important and cash-generating crop, but due to the lack of good quality seeds, it is facing problems like reduction in production. In Pakistan, potatoes are cultivated on an area of 300,000 hectares, while 20,000 tons of potato seeds are imported into Pakistan every year.
On this occasion, Korean Ambassador Excellency Mr. Suh Sangpyosaid that Pakistan and Korea are promoting cooperation in the field of agriculture and the transfer of aeroponics technology to Pakistan through the Korean Program on International Agriculture is also a link in this chain.
In order to ensure food security, large quantities of agricultural commodities have to be imported, for which valuable foreign exchange is spent, the aeroponic seed potato technology project is important for Pakistan and by eliminating the import of potato seeds through this project. This will be a step towards self-reliancein local potato seed production.
