February 28, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 26, 1423

PESHAWAR, Feb 27: The agriculture department, NWFP, has set up a ‘WTO Unit’ in its planning cell to organize the agriculture sector of the province to meet the challenges of the WTO regime, according to official sources.

The WTO unit, established through a notification of the agriculture department issued on January 25, said the sources, had been necessitated to create understanding among the stakeholders about the WTO regime and its impact on the poor economies of the World.

The unit, first of its kind in any of the departments of the provincial government, had started functioning, though the members of a special committee constituted to provide expertise on the subject has yet to hold its maiden meeting, according to the sources.

The unit, said the sources, would work for introducing a shift in the production priorities and push the local farmers for value addition in addition to ensuring environment friendly agriculture and livestock production in the province.