LAHORE: Latest agriculture technology is need of the hour to enhance per acre yield in the country and we hope the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will allow for this knowledge and tech sharing, Punjab’s Minister for Excise and Taxation Hafiz Mumtaz said on Tuesday.

The excise minister had earlier inaugurated the 4th China-Pakistan Agriculture Expo along with Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Almas Hyder.

The minister hoped that CPEC would allow opening of new avenues of cooperation in the agriculture sector and transfer of technology in agro-chemicals, pesticides, seed and fertiliser sectors. LCCI SVP Khwaja Shahzad Nasir, VP Fahimur Rehman Saigal, Maggie Ma from Sub-Council of Chemical Industry, China, and others were also present.

A large number of people attended the opening ceremony and shown keen interest in farm products displayed at 50 stalls set up by Pakistani and Chinese companies.

Mr Hyder said that well performing and high yielding agriculture sector is the need of the hour as the country cannot do well without improving farming.

He said that agriculture sector cannot be left out due to inherited limitations of resources and various challenges in the way of moving from conventional method of farming to modern technologies. The present scenario demands that both government and private sector join hands to make the most of the available resources through introducing innovative ways at affordable prices to farmers, he stressed.

“We desperately require locally developed as well as imported solutions in the fields of fertilisers, pesticides, seeds and farm machinery. We are glad that our Chinese friends who have developed cost-effective solutions in these areas, are offering us the same at reasonable rates,” he said.

Ms Mah said that Pakistan is one of the top ten exporting markets for China and that two-way trade has reached $13.2 billion and hoped that it will grow with the passage of time.

On the occasion, Mr Nasir and Mr Saigal noted that it was encouraging that some local pesticide manufacturers were exporting their products to Middle East and African countries.

Crop Protection Association Chief Sheikh Arif welcomed growing interest of Chinese companies in the exhibition.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2018