Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Eid shopping and Covid-19
As the third wave of covid-19 has occupied a dangerous situation in Pakistan many people are getting ill day by day and many are losing their life but we, as a nation give more concentration to the shopping than our health.
Government has declared a strict lockdown from 9th to 16th may 2021 but as the people have made fun of those orders to follow standard operating procedures (SOPs).
A lot of people in markets still are busy in shopping. As our neighbour India has suffered a lot and still they daily are having cases more 3 to 4 lac and die more than 4 thousand, what is the reason behind the suffering of our neighbour because they didn’t follow SOPs. This is not the last Eid if we take care of ourselves; there will be lot of Eids.
We must follow the SOPs which Government has declared wearing a mask, maintain social distance, sanitize/wash our hands.
MEHTAB AHMED
Larkana
Eid-ul-Fitr
Eid is a festival that is similar to Christmas. But unlike Christmas, Eid is celebrated not for any significant dates or birth of any prophet, but to mark the end of the holy month-long fasting of Ramadan.
Eid, also known as the ‘Festival of fast breaking’ is a three-day affair, wherein Muslims from all over the world, celebrate the event by giving gifts to their family members, friends, relatives and neighbours.
Eid is celebrated twice a year — the first one is after the Ramadan, the occasion which is called ‘Eid-ul-Fitr’, and the other, which is celebrated during Dhu-al-Hijjah.
This festivity is called ‘Eid-u-Adha’.The importance of ‘Eid-ul-Fitr’ is associated with an actual event in the history of Islam.
Allah sent an angel by the name of Gabriel (remember, it was the same angel that was sent by God to give the good news of Jesus’ birth to Mary) to reveal his words over a period of 23 years. These teachings formed the Holy Quran.
Following the successful completion of the month of Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr becomes a great occasion to thank Allah for giving believers the will-power and endurance to observe the month-long fast and follow rules in personal conduct. It is also a time to renew one’s faith in Allah and seek His blessings.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
Importance
of having families
Families are a blessing and not everyone is fortunate enough to have one. However, those who do, sometimes do not value this blessing.
Families are an integral part of one’s life. It does not matter if you have a small family or a big one. A family serves as the first school to the child where one learns about various things.
World Family Day, which is celebrated on May 15, is a day to remember. The day is also observed as the ‘International Day of Families’.
This day is held annually and is a global observance. This day was founded by the United Nations General Assembly in the year, 1993.
A family that prays together, stays together. My family has always been a blessing to me in times of crisis.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
Pak farm improvement through youth
Research has shown that to end poverty a country needs to increase its food production.
Pakistan is an agriculture-based economy but unfortunately the farm output is one third the farm output of developed nations.
This means Pakistan has the potential to increase farm output by simply following the methods of agriculture used in developed nations.
But adoption of new agriculture technologies by poor uneducated farmers will take too long.
Therefore the Government needs to implement ways to allow private sector and entrepreneurs to introduce new agriculture technologies in Pakistan while also creating jobs for the youth in agriculture.
For example, farmers don’t know the importance of soil testing and fertilizer selection. Therefore no company can set up this facility because there are no customers.
But if a Government organization undertakes to test soil of farmers in an area, every month and advise farmers accordingly. This would help increase yield of the farmers and other farmers would copy them.
The soil testing contract for three years would allow a private company to set up and then get orders from farmers.
Similarly, wheat is an important crop for Pakistan. Washington State farmers in USA, with Governments help, use precision farming to grow the highest yield and best quality of wheat.
In precision, agriculture sensors and GPS is used to monitor wheat farm conditions and production to find high yield methods, which are applied to all farms.
They use equipment to apply water, fertilizer, herbicide to each farm according to its requirement and right when it is required.
In precision agriculture even number of plants and heads are measured and reduced for optimum yield.
Pakistan can request the US Government to help implement precision agriculture in Pakistan helping create many jobs and increase yield of wheat farms.
Similarly, vegetable and orchid farming can greatly be improved by installing Drip Irrigation and bees or self pollinating.
If the Government of Pakistan implements only one of the above suggestions, they would see massive increase in yield within one year.
And that success would be enough to green-light the implementation of all the suggestions and more to improve agriculture yield in Pakistan.
SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER
Peshawar
