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Agriculture sector is lifeline of Pakistan’s economy

Lahore, December 03, 2018 (PPI-OT): Agriculture sector is lifeline of Pakistan’s economy. It is contributing around 25% in economy, employing 42.3% of labour force and a major source of raw materials for several value added sectors. Joint ventures and transfer of latest technology is pre-requisite to avail full benefits from the potential of Pakistani agriculture sector.

It was upshot of the speeches delivered by Chinese and Pakistani experts at CAC Pakistan Conference. The LCCI President Almas Hyder, Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir, Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Saigal, Chairman Engineering Council of Pakistan Engineer Jawed Saleem Qureshi, Muhammad Nadeem Qureshi, Fan Liqian and Ms. Maggie Ma from Sub-Council of Chemical Industry, China, Muhammad Azher, Deputy Director, Department of Plant Protection Allah Ditta, Saad Akbar Khan from Pakistan Crop Protection Association, Director Agriculture Dr. Sher Muhammad Sherawat spoke on the occasion.

During the conference China Agrochemical Manufacturing Capability, Trends and future, Pakistani Crops and Demand for Agrochemicals and Machineries, Pesticides Registration Management Updates in Pakistan, Most Sold Pesticides and Future Trend in Pakistan, Pakistani Pesticides Market and Import and Export Situation, Pakistani Fertilizers Market and Future Development, Current Status and Future Trend of Agricultural Machineries, Current Status of Chinese Agricultural Machinery Industry and leading Machinery and Technology came under discussion.

The LCCI President Almas Hyder threw light on the factors like low agriculture productivity and growing demand for food encourage the use of crop protection chemicals. He said that the excessive use of pesticides on fruits, vegetables and crops causes health and environment hazards. “We need to be very cautious while selecting the right pesticides and while using the right amount of these chemicals”, the LCCI President said and added that Pakistani pesticide market is import dependent. The high prices of imported pesticides promote smuggling and at the same time fake chemicals which adversely affect the economy as well as environment.

Khawaja Shahzad Nasir and Fahim-ur-Rehman Saigal said that said that 4th CAC Pakistan Summit will pave way for joint ventures between Pakistani and Chinese entrepreneurs and will also help transfer of modern technology for Pakistani agriculture sector. They said that agro-chemicals have contributed significantly in raising agricultural yield and there is still a lot of room to bring improvement in this sector.

Engineer Jawed Saleem Qureshi threw light on aims and objectives of 4th CAC Pakistan Summit. He said that there lies an immense potential of agro-chemicals in Pakistan which must be utilized on priority basis. Director Agriculture, Punjab Dr. Sher Muhammad Sherawat shared his knowledge about major insect pests of major crops, insect pests of rice crop, economic threshold levels and new chemistries of insecticides.

Saad Akbar Khan gave a presentation on contribution of agriculture sector in GDP, its growth, Seed and Fertilizer markets, crop protection and Chinese pesticides industry. The experts stated that Pakistani seed market is segmented, based on application, into crop-based and non-crop based seed segments. Demand reaches 1.72 million tons annually, with 1.08 million tons of wheat seed, 40 thousand tons of cotton seed, 42.5 thousand tons of rice seed, 31.9 thousand tons of cotton seed and 10 thousand tons of oil crops seed.

For more information, contact:
Information Department
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)
11-Shahrah-e-Aiwan-e-Tijarat,
Lahore -54000, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-111-222-499
Fax: +92-42-36368854
Website: www.lcci.org.pk