ISLAMABAD: Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the agriculture sector has become important after economic crisis in the world and there is need to diversify crops and livestock production in Pakistan.
The minister said this while addressing an international conference on ‘innovative agricultural financing,’ organised by the State Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Dar said that the government is promoting innovative and sustainable agriculture to make Pakistan competitive,
“We are taking steps to improve production yields, introduce modern farm-mechanisation, increase better market access, and integrate farming with diverse markets through value chains to ensure that the benefits are passed down to farmers,” Dar said.
To achieve these goals, availability of timely financing is critical, the finance minister emphasised. He said Pakistan needs to develop hedging mechanism through futures market to manage interests of farmers, processors and banks in a relatively volatile price environment of commodities.
“This is part of my vision to develop a strong commodity trading market in Pakistan, and integrate it with local and global financial markets.”
He said that various innovations introduced by the government, including warehouse receipt financing (WHR), value chain financing, Islamic agriculture models and automation of credit appraisal processes would help creating price transparency and encourage private sector investment in the commodity sector.
Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan said that with current levels of productivity, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the sector to feed the country’s population as well as to compete in the world markets.
Lack of resources, poor investment in inputs due to the lack of credit availability, old management techniques and the absence of modern technology are some of the key issues that need to be addressed to increase the productivity and growth of the sector, he said.
