KARACHI-Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), in collaboration with ReMIT - International Trade Centre (ITC), REAP and Department of Agriculture, Government of Punjab, organised a series of workshops in July and plan to organise more such events in August 2023 to address maximum residue limits of aflatoxins and pesticides in rice exported from Pakistan.
The need of such activity was highlighted by the Ministry of Commerce as a result of rejections of Pakistani rice consignments especially in European Union. The first workshop of the series was held on 17th July 2023 in Agriculture House, Lahore which was attended by a large number of Agricultural Extension officials of Lahore Division along with prominent rice growers and members of REAP.
Dr Jawwad Uwais Agha, National Project Coordinator, ReMIT-ITC, explained the reasons for conducting series of such seminars all over Punjab and informed the audience that awareness and management of this issue is of vital importance for the continuity and expansion of our rice exports to the international markets. He informed that the developed world has formulated very stringent standards on food safety issues that are being implemented all over the world. He also gave an in depth review of the work done by ReMIT– ITC in Pakistan.
Muhammad Shoaib Zafar, Advisor Trade Policy, reminded the audience that a series of such seminars were also arranged by TDAP and ITC in 2021 that laid a very positive impact on improvement on management of MRL’s of pesticide residues in rice exported from Pakistan.
Dr Muhammad Anjum Ali, Director General Agricultural Extension and AR, Government of Punjab, welcomed the participants and informed that as in continuity to the last activity by ITC the department has already initiated a project on pesticide residues management in the province. “We are hopeful that in the near future the department will be able to manage the problem at the ground level.” He urged the Agricultural Extension officials to take a very serious note of the deliberations of this workshop and proliferate the key takeaways to every village.
Dr. Mubarik Ahmed from TDAP gave a detailed presentation on technical aspects of the problem and stressed the importance of switching to integrated pest management from exclusive chemical control. He discussed the pesticides which are more toxic and have become an instrument in rejections/interception of our rice consignments especially in the USA and EU. For prevention of aflatoxins, he mentioned that the key rules are to keep the grain dry, cool, and clean, and ensure its proper ventilation at all post-harvest stages to prevent the mold/fungal attack. Haseeb Ali Khan, Senior Vice Chairman REAP, and Ali Narang, Head PR Committee, also explained the need for organizing such activities and informed that REAP has recently organized 4 such farmers conventions on its own in different parts of Punjab. After the question answers session, Dr. Jawwad Agha and Dr. Anjum Ali thanked the participants for their active participation.