‘Agri research, innovation can end nutrition deficiency’

Food minister laments lack of focus on quality food and seeds

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan can eradicate the shortage of essential nutrients in its population through agriculture research and introduction of innovation, said Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam.

Speaking at a workshop titled ‘Addressing Zinc Deficiency through Biofortification of Zinc Wheat’ on Wednesday, he was of the view that Pakistan needed a knowledge-based economy.

“It is essential to introduce new dimensions through reforms in various sectors of Pakistan in a bid to enable it to become a modern developed country,” he said.

The minister stressed that Pakistan possessed huge amount of young population that needed a balanced and healthy diet and the government was focusing on it.

Imam lamented lack of focus on quality food and seeds and added that earlier, the country only paid attention to food and crop production.

“The basic ingredients of food such as zinc, iron and vitamins are essential components of human diet and they are vital for a healthy life,” he said. According to the minister, people in 45,000 villages of Pakistan were unaware of the problem of nutrition deficiency and there was a need to enhance work in this area.

In this regard, he called upon the private sector to cooperate with the government. Pakistan needed to improve food production as well as its quality, he said.

Read Agriculture needs sharper focus

The minister highlighted that genetic engineering had made great strides in bio-fortification of seeds, which could help overcome these problems.

“Production of more than 1.6 million tons of bio-fortified wheat grain is expected with the current crop at the time of harvest,” he pointed out. “Bio-fortification is progressing well in Pakistan.”

The official lamented that micronutrient deficiency was widespread in the country and highlighted that it had profound effects on immunity, growth, and mental development of children.

Citing figures, he said that more than 50 million people in Pakistan had inadequate zinc intake which was an important micronutrient for human health.

Pakistan has massive potential reduce zinc deficiency and stunting in children, he said.

National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) Crop Science Institute Director Dr Imtiaz Hussain stated that wheat constituted 60% of the diet of the common population.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2021.

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