PCJCCI calls for adopting eco-farming

Says Chinese model can help boost farm yields, avert shortage

LAHORE:

Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) President Zarak Khan has urged the government to adopt China's eco-farming model for increasing agricultural yields, averting food shortages and providing fresh fruits and vegetables to consumers in this hour of crisis.

While highlighting the Chinese eco-farming model at the PCJCCI think tank session on Friday, he emphasised the need for taking advantage of Chinese friendship in the field of agriculture during the pandemic.

"The Chinese cultivation model involves consumption of hybrid seeds, better water management, increased role of government for effective safety and support mechanisms, such as making a reservoir of food grain, and also public-private partnership to overcome future food crisis," he said.

China accounts for 10% of arable land and produces food for 20% of the world's population as it ranks first in the worldwide farm output. "It is because it has devised different techniques to increase yields of crops just by making use of nature and such farming is called eco-farming," Khan remarked. He expressed hope that implementation of the Chinese model of farm mechanisation practices in Pakistan would help overcome the expected food crisis.

The PCJCCI president said China was the largest producer of rice with per hectare yield of 1.2 tons, which was twice that of Pakistan.

Pakistan's sugarcane production is 53.4 tons per hectare whereas China got a yield of 66.7 tons per hectare through its cultivation techniques. Therefore, the Chinese cultivation pattern was the best that could be implemented in Pakistan to increase agricultural yields, he asserted.

The official added that the eco-farming model also ensured healthy farming and protected the soil, water and climate. It promoted biodiversity and did not contaminate the environment with chemical inputs or genetic engineering, he said.

PCJCCI Senior Vice President Moazzam Ghurki highlighted the environment-friendly techniques being used by China for effective farming.

He quoted the example of increasing rice yield through methods such as duck farming, in which ducks were raised on rice paddies and fed pests and weeds, which meant farmers did not have to use earth and water-ravaging chemical pesticides and herbicides on their plants.

He said duck droppings were also an excellent and natural fertiliser for rice plants. Similarly, growing two or more crops in proximity helps reduce disease outbreak.

The PCJCCI secretary general said 50% of the population was taking less calories compared to average human need. The current crisis would worsen if the government failed to make informed policy decisions, he said.

"In this situation, the government should allocate land to locals in association with the Chinese to achieve farm productivity on the same pattern as the Chinese are getting," he suggested.

He also called for introducing corporate farming to compensate for the rising inflation and high input prices in the field of agriculture.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2020.

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