Food security minister seeks farm technology revamp

Pakistan initiates action alongside FAO to address locust threat

ISLAMABAD: The agro-economic development depends on structural reforms and agriculture sector development can only be achieved by revamping farm technology, reorienting research, transfer of technology and promoting organic farming, said Minister for National Food Security and Research Fakhar Imam.

He made the remarks while chairing a meeting of the Agricultural Development Forum at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) office in Islamabad on Thursday.

During the briefing, FAO officials pointed out that the government of Pakistan had initiated several actions in collaboration with the FAO and neighbouring countries to address the threat of locust and was prepared for a timely and effective response.

They recalled that in February 2020 the implementation of the first phase of National Action Plan for locust surveillance and control began. Currently, the surveillance and control operations were well under way in all the locust-affected provinces of Pakistan in partnership with the FAO, they said.

The officials added that the FAO provided support for the locust surveillance and control programme in Pakistan through technical and operational advice as soon as the threat was detected.

The FAO also launched a crisis appeal to seek resources for Pakistan to expand its efforts to control the current upsurge of desert locust in the country. Currently, the FAO has committed $12.5 million to three components namely curbing the spread of locust ($7 million), safeguarding livelihoods ($5 million) and coordination and preparation ($0.5 million).

On the other hand, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also expressed interest in supporting research and capacity-building in the agriculture sector of Pakistan while Japan has committed $1 million to the anti-locust programme.

Similarly, China has announced an assistance of $4.9 million and the World Bank has extended $150-million support. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2020.

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