K-P invites Saudis to invest in agriculture sector

Official favours cultivation of saffron, olive and plum honey in K-P

PESHAWAR:

An important meeting was held at the Saudi Royal Embassy to invest in the agricultural sector with the efforts of the former governor and the focal person of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government for important crops, Shah Farman, and the secretary of agriculture.

During the meeting, the commercial attaché and other officials were briefed in detail about the production capacity of the province related to agriculture, especially saffron, olive and plum honey, and the opportunities for investors were highlighted.

On this occasion, Secretary Agriculture Dr Muhammad Asrar told the participants that the provincial government is paying a lot of attention to agriculture and saffron was cultivated experimentally two years ago in different districts of K-P from which many encouraging results have been obtained. On the basis of this, the provincial government has also approved a special plan for the development and promotion of saffron.

He said that more than 100,000 acres of land in the province is suitable for saffron, and if this land is brought under cultivation, Rs870 billion can be added to the economy from saffron and its seeds.

This is a good opportunity for investors to import saffron to Saudi Arabia at a lower price than other countries, he added.

Regarding olives, the secretary agriculture said that the climate of K-P is about 80 percent suitable for this crop and high-quality oil can be obtained from it. The provincial government is paying special attention to it, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2023.