LAHORE – Pakistan lost Rs496.39 billion due to improper handling of five crops last year.
As per the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, wheat witnessed 9% post-harvest losses, rice, corn and hot pepper green 15% each, and potato 19%.
As such post-harvest loses of wheat were amounting to Rs158.12 billion, rice Rs79.75 billion, corn Rs115.5 billion, potato Rs142.27 billion, and hot pepper green Rs0.75 billion.
CropLife’s Biotech and Seed Committee member Sajid Mahmood said that Pakistan lost 2.53 million metric tons of wheat out of a total production of 28.16 MMT last year.
Speaking at a workshop titled “Outlook of Agriculture in Pakistan,” he revealed that 1.1 MMT rice was lost out of total production of 7.32 MMT last year. Similarly, losses of corn, potato and hot pepper green were 1.65 MMT, 1.58 MMT and 0.02 MMT respectively.
CropLife Pakistan arranged the event with the collaboration of Agricultural Journalists Association (AJA) Lahore in Murree. CropLife Asia’s Executive Director Siang Hee and Pakistan’s Executive Director Rashid Ahmad highlighted work of CropLife to improve productivity in the agricultural sector.
Sajid Mahmood shared comparative data of post-harvest losses in Pakistan and developed countries. He said that post-harvest losses in cereals and oilseeds range from 8-12% annually in Pakistan compared to just 1-2% in the United States. In horticultural crops, losses are 35-40% in Pakistan, 30-40% in India, and 20-23% in the US.
He stressed the need of improving harvesting techniques, upgrading storage facilities, developing infrastructure for collection and distribution, proper drying practices and transportation with cooling and ventilation. He urged people at helm of affairs to improve access of growers to credit for resolving these issues.
CropLife’s Biotech and Seed Committee Lead Muhammad Asim said that increasing population needed more food and feed. “Climate change and decreasing agricultural land are major issues”, he said, adding that there was a need to introduce climate-resilient crops and customized outcome-based solutions to achieve food security.
He said that regenerative agriculture aimed at supporting food security, and securing farm incomes and livelihoods while also delivering net benefits to nature.
Biotech and Seed Committee member Muhammad Shoaib suggested further discussion and deliberation on seed regulations in Pakistan. He urged the government to encourage research and development and introduction of modern technology in the country. He suggested facilitating the real R&D companies, rationalizing quantity per import permit (for importing seed for R&D purposes) and pest list.
