LAHORE: The agriculture sector is facing the issue of low per acre yield and seeking expertise from Chinese experts can help increase productivity, Senior Vice President Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP) and former member Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Rana Sarfraz Ahmed Khan said Sunday.
He was addressing the World Internet of Things Convention (WIOTC) at Beijing from Lahore through video-link. The event was organized by World Chinese Alliance to use the advanced Chinese standards of IOT technology to benefit the people worldwide.
Rana Sarfraz said, “We are suffering from low per acre yield in almost all major crops, including cotton, sugarcane potato, paddy and maize etc.” He said majority of farmers in Pakistan owned small land hoardings and they had shortage of resources. They did not have access to modern technology. Moreover, there was shortage of quality seeds, and high prices of agriculture inputs like fertilizers and pesticides.
“We have to create export surplus that is from the existence-subsistence level agriculture. We have to shift to market-level and export-oriented agriculture,” he said.
He said: “We can certainly produce quality agri produce like vegetables, fresh vegetables, fruits, high quality rice, wheat and many other products like floriculture, by increasing average per acre yield, ensuring elimination of post-harvest losses and quality production and also by reducing the input cost.”
He said the experiences of holding WIOTC in China could be of great benefit to Pakistan’s agriculture. He expressed the hope that sharing of experiences of distinguished delegates and exchange of information would be beneficial not only for Pakistan and China but for the whole world as well.
