Naveed Ahmad Khan
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Monday said Green Pakistan Initiative would bring about second agriculture revolution in the country and would create four million jobs.
Addressing a seminar on agriculture and food security here, he said agriculture was backbone of the country and the farmers worked hard to provide food to millions of Pakistani people.
Farmers would be remembered in history as builders of Pakistan, he remarked.
He said incentives for the agriculture sector were the right of farmers and it was responsibility of the government to provide all possible assistance to them. “Farmers work hard but it is common knowledge that they are facing lack of resources.”
The prime minister said growth in the agriculture sector would bring Pakistan at par with the developed countries.
He said progress of Pakistan was inherent in hard work, adding green revolution in the 1960s was due to introduction of new varieties of seed, building of dams and canals and modern agriculture practices.
He said farmers should get more profits than the cost of production of their crops including wheat. The government increased the support price of wheat which led to record production of the commodity, he mentioned.
He was hopeful that due to the incentives given by the government, production of cotton would also rise.
He said it was responsibility of the government to provide better seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to the farmers and equip them with latest technology.
Shehbaz Sharif appreciated the new agriculture initiative for giving real time information about attacks of pests. He showed concern over the adulterated drugs given to the farmers and warned of action against the culprits.
Shehbaz said state owned enterprises were losing Rs 600 billion every year and bleeding the economy. Pakistan imported $ 4.5 billion of palm oil which was a burden on the national economy, he noted.
Pakistan could attract investment of $ 40 to 50 billion in the coming years and it could make food exports to the gulf countries which were presently importing food products worth $ 40 billion. He was of the view that Pakistan had to compete with the world and increase its exports and the economy of Pakistan would get revived in the coming two years. “It is demand of our national security that the country’s food security and economic security should be strengthened,” he added.