Pakistan and Afghanistan on Monday joined hands to cope with agricultural challenges by strengthening field network and enhancing skills of government’s support workers.
The need for expanding the network arises as in Pakistan only one agricultural department field worker is available for the capacity-building of 10,000 farmers.
To share experiences and set a roadmap, an international conference titled “Strengthening skills of young professionals in Pakistan and Afghanistan” was organised at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) where the two countries vowed to cement ties to tackle agricultural challenges.
UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said Pakistan and Afghanistan were two sides of the same coin because of shared values, religion and culture. He said both the countries were facing same challenges such as food security and terrorism and stressed the need for producing quality research.
Quoting the example of California, he said the state had 10 per cent of Pakistan’s water share but its production was much higher, because of technological advancements in the production of goods and services with the help of agricultural field workers.
He stressed the need for increasing agricultural lending which would help farmers adopt modern techniques.
Agriculture Extension Department Director General Dr Muhammad Anjum Ali said researches being carried out by institutions were shared with field workers, who in turn imparted the know-how to farmers.
He said average wheat production per acre in the country was 30 maunds but progressive farmers were harvesting 55 maunds per acre and called for narrowing the gap between progressive and traditional farmers by strengthening the extension network.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2011.
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