ISLAMABAD: Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, Jose Graziano da Silva has said that Pakistan needs to develop better and efficient coordination among the provinces, particularly for water resources management and cereal crop production.
During a joint meeting with the Minister for National Food Security and Research, provincial agricultural ministers and senior government officials here at Punjab House on Wednesday, Mr Da Silva discussed in detail the crop production and demand supply trends at global level and Pakistan’s perspective, and explained the issues at hand which are common to all farmers and agriculture sector globally.
Other topics under discussion included issues like the securing of natural water resources and its efficient consumption, technical capacity-building of the farmers, improvement of cereal crop production and its utilization around the world.
He also pointed out the impact of climate change on the issues of crop production such as the increasing tolerance of pests and diseases.
He also talked about ensuring healthy and hygienic meat for human consumption and stated that the FAO has already started coordinating with World Health Organization in that respect.
On behalf of Pakistan, Minister for National Food Security and Research, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan assured that the government of Pakistan stands with FAO and fully supports all efforts of FAO in improving the agricultural sector and eradication of pests and diseases.
Agricultural ministers from the provinces and their officials shared their information and issues pertaining to their respective provinces. The issues highlighted during the meeting included soil erosion due to heavy rainfall, efficient distribution of water to far-flung areas of particularly Balochistan and overall price-related issues of crops.
The FAO Director-General called on President Mamnoon Hussain who commended the role of FAO in poverty reduction, food security, sustainable livelihood and rural development of Pakistan.
He also appreciated FAO for emergency and rehabilitation assistance regarding Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) and livelihood restoration in disaster affected areas and control of animal diseases.
President Hussain urged FAO to further collaborate with Pakistan in various areas like developing a strategy for sustainable agriculture development in view of climate change and improving livelihood of small farmers, and assured the government’s cooperation in supporting FAO’s activities and programmes to achieve its objectives.
Director General FAO said that Pakistan has an important role to play as it is a big producer and exporter of food grains.
Published in Dawn October6th, 2016
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