Wheat affairs: Food minister pushes for healthier seeds

He said that wheat has contributed 10% to the value-added in agriculture and 2.1% to GDP

“The research enabled farmers to increase their yield from 862 kilograms per hectare in 1965 to 2,800 kilograms in 2015,” the federal minister said. PHOTO: PID

ISLAMABAD:


Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research (NFSR) Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan said that research in wheat during the last four decades has enabled Pakistani farmers to increase their per hector yield by over 224%.



“The research enabled farmers to increase their yield from 862 kilograms per hectare in 1965 to 2,800 kilograms in 2015,” the federal minister said while inaugurating the annual wheat planning and wheat productivity enhancement programme (WPEP) meeting at National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC).


The Minister said that this was the legacy of those Pakistani researchers who selected the `Mexi-Pak’ variety which had become the first most widely grown wheat variety of the famous green revolution. He said that wheat has contributed 10% to the value-added in agriculture and 2.1% to GDP. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9th,  2015.

Load Next Story