ISLAMABAD - Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said yesterday that the government was committed to boosting agriculture.
The FM has stressed need for the use of modern technology to enhance agricultural productivity. Addressing the launching ceremony of Agri mobile App here, he said awareness among farmers would yield better results in this regard.
FM Qureshi said agricultural sector maintains key importance as bulk of our population’s existence depends on it. He said enhanced productivity would create exportable surplus and that is only possible through use of modern technology in cultivation and water management.
“If you want social and economic change, you have to focus on agriculture. To that end, we founded the Farmers’ Association a long time ago; the aim is to utilize innovations to increase productivity in agriculture,” he said. Today, he said, “we have fertile lands. We have to use new resources to increase our production. That is why I am with you today at the opening ceremony of this agri-app Khushhal (prosperous) Pakistan.”
The FM said most of the population is directly or indirectly involved in agriculture. “How can we get free from IMF (International Monetary Fund) slavery? I use the word slavery because when we ask someone for a loan, he has strict conditions,” he mentioned. Pakistan, he said, had the potential to meet the economic needs easily “if we make better use of our water resources. All this is possible through technology. We are currently facing some challenges related to agriculture. A large segment of the population is living below the poverty line.”
Qureshi said the provision of employment was the second biggest challenge while the third challenge is food security. “All these can be solved by making the farmer prosperous. Capacity of government departments gradually diminished - we need public-private partnership as private sector moves forward,” he maintained. He said that wheat production in Punjab had increased 1.5 maunds per acre this year and hoped that it would go by 3 maunds by next fiscal year.
Qureshi said that 22,000 students of UAF participated in the Punjab government wheat campaign which not only helped promote modern farming methods but also enable the students to get acquainted with the real problems of farmers.
 The FM said the government was taking all possible measures to make agriculture profitable, ensure food security and increase per acre production that will help alleviate poverty and open up the new avenues for economic growth.