Biotechnology adoption can help overcome agriculture challenges

Pakistan can address challenges in agriculture by using biotechnology as globally the adoption of genetically modified crops has been a success with proven socio-economic benefits.
In addition to meeting food security challenge, genetically modified/biotech crops offer multiple economic, crop management, productivity, and environmental benefits. Benefits that these crops offer include, but not limited to, better yields and guarding against insect pests and weeds as well as being cost effective and less labour intensive.
These views were expressed by the experts of biotechnology industry while briefing a delegation of the Agricultural Journalists Association (AJA) about latest agricultural technologies including biotechnology during their visit to Monsanto Pakistan's state-of-the-art research centre in Manga Mandi, where the company is conducting field trials of its GM corn product and various vegetables and fruits. The journalists also visited the field trails sites.
On this occasion, Monsanto Pakistan Regulatory Affairs Lead Muhammad Asim, and Breeding Lead Abdul Ghaffar briefed the visitors about the benefits of GM corn as well as biotechnology. They informed the journalists that their company had completed the field trials of GM corn and now they were awaiting government's approval to launch the product in the market. They claimed that GM corn can increase the productivity of corn, an important food crop after wheat and rice, by considerably decreasing the losses caused by insect pests and weeds. They said that farmers were well aware of this problem with no solution. They said Pakistan already had a quantum jump in corn production after introduction of hybrid varieties. They claimed that yield increase in spring season is at 2.5 times higher whereas in autumn is 3.5 times. According to their briefing in 1990 spring yield of corn was around 40 maund per acre which jumped to 100 maund per acre in 2010.
However, they were of the view that more increase in production could only be ensured through introduction GM varieties. They said that corn is sown on one million hectares in Pakistan including 445,000 hectares in Punjab and 550,000 hectares in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They said consumption of corn in Pakistan is approximately about 3.8 million tones and its increasing.

Source: http://www.brecorder.com

Original Article

Policy risks to agriculture

By Ahmad Fraz Khan

If farmers’ fears are to go by, the new year might not be any different for agriculture from the last one. They think that this year too, the terms of trade would be unfavourable for them, international recession would keep commodity prices down and an ever-expanding domestic tax regime would keep the cost of production high.
Listing factors causing fears, farmers maintain that uncertainty is also haunting them. At the policy level, no one knows who is in-charge of the sector? The federation has abdicated the sector to provinces after the 18th amendment, but the federating units have yet to come to grips with the problems agitating the growers.
Ideally, it should be a temporary phase and the provinces, especially Punjab and Sindh, should quickly develop the capacity to plan and execute their own agricultural priorities. The problem, however, is that agriculture, as a sector, is yet to appear on provincial policy radar. The budgetary allocations reflect the level of neglect that the sector faces by the provinces. Punjab, which is considered to be the food basket of the country, allocates only Rs3-3.5 billion for the sector each year. To put the things in context, it has allocated Rs50 billion for police this year.

The spending patterns leaves even more to be desired. Out of Rs3.5 billion, the subsequent budgetary revisions regularly rob almost half of the amount, which leaves the sector with less than Rs2 billion to spend during an entire year. For the last three years, the actual budgetary spending has never crossed 60 per cent of the allocations. It means, actually, the sector gets only Rs1 billion each year; it indicates the commitment of the provincial government. With this meagre money, it can hardly meet the level of expectations raised by the 18th Amendment. That is precisely the point that continues to haunt the farmers. Can the Punjab government reverse the spending trend in 2012, the farmers are not convinced.
Second, the farmers fear crop cycle failure during this year. They feel that the country has started the year on a wrong foot.
The cane crop is sprinting towards marketing failure and wheat would be the next one. The cane crop, which is hugely healthy, has seen delayed start of the crushing season and price sliding. The millers, fully aware of the crop size, are making up to 25 per cent deductions in price on excuses like quality. If crop is short, the millers never mention the quality issue. But now, they are doing so with full fiscal ferocity.
On the other hand, farm temperatures have dropped much below the zero degree, injuring the crop from within. Both these factors are hurting the farmers. Cane has overlapping harvesting and sowing activity; on the one hand, it is harvested, and on the other, sown. If farmers don’t get proper returns, the sowing would immediately suffer.
The wheat failure is also feared, not because of production but procurement, as is the case with cane. The country is currently holding close to ten million tons of wheat, with a clogged debt of around Rs300 billion. Servicing this debt is costing the country around Rs6 billion per month. The State Bank has warned everyone that they would get as much loan as they retire.
Thus, money would severely be in short supply when the government needs it the most four months down the line.
The federation has increased wheat price by more than 10 per cent, correspondingly raising the inventory keeping cost. If these factors lead to a price crash, the farmers would be in for a big trouble.
Both crops, if they fail as much as the farmers fear, can take the entire crop cycle down next year. If farmers do not get money from one crop, their investment would naturally drop on the next one. The fertiliser crisis has already taken a toll on wheat this year. Punjab is still lagging 600,000 acres behind its target, which it would, most probably, miss this year because temperatures have already dropped in the country to a level that make germination impossible.
Third fear factor is prices of inputs, especially fertiliser. In the last one year, urea prices have doubled and that of DAP increased by more than 50 per cent. It has already reflected in their off-take; urea consumption in Rabi has dropped by more than 15 per cent so far and DAP by 40 per cent.
The new increase in gas prices, effective from January 1, would further increase urea prices, taking them out of farmers’ fiscal reach. To make the matter worse, the government, instead of controlling ever-increasing fertiliser prices, is contributing to their increase. Taxation, increasing gas prices, failure to print prices on bags and failure to move its machinery for regulating prices are a few examples of government unwillingness or inability to keep prices in check.
The fourth factor is the federal attitude. After lobbing the sector in provincial lap through the 18th Amendment, it seems to have abandoned even those decisions it can take. Like, export of agriculture commodities and imports of inputs. The country is still holding huge wheat stocks because it failed to export wheat due to federal fears and delayed decisions. Its import of fertiliser got dangerously delayed because the federation took time to get fully convinced.

Courtesy: The DAWN

So Called Agriculture Country In Food Crisis. WHY?

By  Zaib Altaf

Pakistan has rich and vast natural resource base, covering various ecological and climatic zones. About 27 percent of Pakistan’s total land area is under cultivation.

Agriculture accounts 21 percent of GDP and employs 41 percent of labor force.

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Agriculture is a vital sector of Pakistan’s economy. The Agriculture sector directly supports the three-quarters of country’s population, employs half the labor force, and contributes a large share of foreign exchange earnings.

The irrigation system in Pakistan is considered to be the world largest irrigation system. In spite of all these available resources we are still facing food shortage in Pakistan.
Food is a basic requirement of human being and without it people unable to survive. In all over the world, problem of food shortage is increases day by day. Different factors are involved in food shortage. The agriculture GDP growth rate in Pakistan was only 1.5 percent in 2007, significantly lower than the population growth rate (Pakistan National Income Statistics 2008).

The 1989-90 to 2004-05 average growth rate was 2.3 percent (Pakistan National Income Statistics 2007).On the other hand it is estimated that average GDP growth rates in fast growing middle-income countries average 4-6 countries.

“According to Pakistan Economic Survey 2005-2006; GDP of Cotton is 10 percent and of Rice is 6 percent. One of the basic reasons of food crises in Pakistan is soaring prices due to gap in demand and supply of edibles. Due to water unavailability mainly our Rabi crops suffered.”

Oxfam’s latest survey showed that Pakistan amongst the 21 nation facing food crises due to increasing prices of food commodities. So the problem is that Pakistan despite being an agriculture country still faces food crises…….

Different surveys reported that being an agricultural country we are facing shortage of food. It might be occurs due to following reasons: rising energy prices, due to increased in cost of production and foreign exchange holding by major food importing countries. Lack of modern agricultural technology also became a reason of today’s food crisis in our country.

Predictable weather also played a main role in increasing food prices. Sometimes sudden uncontrolled conditions e.g. drought, water shortage, unfavorable weather conditions, flood e.t.c. could be a reason in reduction in crop yield which leads to shortage of food. It is estimated that price of wheat has been increased from 15 rupees per Kg in Jan 2007 to 24-25 Kg in Jan 2008.

In order to bring down the prices of food items so that an ordinary person get relieve, we should have to take some steps like banning exports to all food items including vegetables, pulses, fruits as well as eliminating all taxes particularly the import duty and sales tax on food items. Reduction in petroleum prices will lead to reduction in transportation cost as well as inflation.

It is believed that Agriculture scientists will have to introduce modern technologies for getting high yield at low price which helps the government to cope with the persistent crises of food shortage in Pakistan.

The crises of food shortage will be minimized by efficient management of available resources e.g. usage of hybrid seeds, use of better water management, increased role of government for ensuring effective safety and support mechanisms.

According to 2005 Food and Agriculture Organization of UN and AOSTAT, Pakistan is one of the world’s largest producers and suppliers of the crops included: Cotton, Rice, Wheat, Sugarcane e.t.c.

So, in order to protect our country from food crises we should take long term measures to attain the self sufficiency in the production of food crops. Being an agriculturist it’s our duty to solve the problem of food shortage in our country by use of latest agricultural techniques.

Source: Diplomatic Circle