| Musharraf inaugurates hydroponics greenhouse
RAWALPINDI (April 28 2006): President General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday encouraged adoption of modern methods and techniques in farming to increase agricultural yield which would help alleviate poverty, particularly in the rural areas.
Inaugurating first-ever Hydroponics Greenhouse in Pakistan near Rawat set up by 'Bioblitz - Farmers Market,' he said the new ideas and methods would bolster the economy through the development of the agriculture sector.
The Hydroponics, which means process of growing plants in water or sand rather than in soil, is a modern technique widely used in Holland and is becoming popular in other countries. The method results in an increased yield while using less water and space.
President Musharraf lauded the company and Chief Executive Officer Safdar K. Akhtar for the pioneering effort in Pakistan and said the government would encourage and support modern ideas and methods to promote the agriculture sector.
Underscoring the importance of gradually shifting towards industry and engineering, the President said the government's emphasis remains on the agriculture as it remains the backbone of the country's economy for the near future. And, he added that related to the development of agriculture was the issue of poverty alleviation.
"Nearly 70 percent of the population lives in rural areas and they look at agriculture for sustenance," he said and underlined the need of increasing their earnings to alleviate poverty from the rural areas.
"That can be done only by increasing (agricultural) yield and giving them more jobs," he said, adding that more jobs could be created by developing agro-based industry.
He said the government was going for yield-intensification and area-intensification by bringing more land under cultivation. In this respect, he referred to his "Water Vision 2016" that encompasses a complete concept of water conservation, management and building of major water reservoirs.
President Musharraf said the country had a great potential to boost agro-based industry as it had the best of fruits and vegetables in the world. Similarly, he said that despite being the 5th largest milk producer, Pakistan was not producing enough dairy products even to meet its domestic requirements.
The Bioblitz has set up its first hydroponics greenhouse covering five acres of land and will grow as much tomatoes which, its CEO said, are normally grown on an area of 100 acres through traditional methods.
The President appreciated the hydroponics techniques but asked for expanding the concept to whole of Pakistan to benefit the people and create more job opportunities. He added that there was a need to develop an entire chain of transport and storage for the produce to reach markets.
Minister of Food and Agriculture Sikandar Hayat Bosan said the government was giving high priority to developing the agricultural sector, which was the main driving force behind the economy. He said agriculture contributes 24 percent of the GDP and employs 42 percent of the total labour force and accounts for two-third of the country's total export earning.
The minister stated that the country's agricultural growth posted 7.5 increase in 2004-05 and expressed the confidence to sustain 5 percent growth every year.
Bosan however said that there was not much importance given to horticulture in Pakistan. He informed that the government, with the help of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is working on a programme to harness full potential of horticulture in Pakistan.
The CEO Bioblitz, Akhtar said that he plans to expand the hydroponics greenhouse as Pakistan provide an ideal climate and land for such a modern technique to be used for increasing yield.
Earlier, the President unveiled the plaque to inaugurate the greenhouse and also took a round of the facility.
Courtesy Associated Press of Pakistan |
