QUETTA: President Dr Arif Alvi has underlined the need for using public-private partnership for improving the agriculture sector in Balochistan, saying the province has immense potential for growth of agriculture.

Speaking at a meeting held at Governor House on Friday, he said for introducing modern techniques in different fields of agriculture a close coordination and help should be sought from Suparco (Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission).

President Alvi suggested that technical assistance should be sought from Suparco for getting timely information about various crops grown in the province. He called for development of an IT application by the federal government for agricultural information.

Balochistan Governor retired Justice Amanullah Khan Yasinzai, federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Fakhar Imam, provincial ministers Mir Saleem Ahmed Khosa and Noor Mohammad Dummar, Chief Secretary retired Captain Fazeel Asghar, Agriculture Secretary Kambar Dashti, the principal secretary to the governor and other senior officials attended the meeting.

Mr Imam briefed the meeting on opportunities in the agriculture sector in Balochistan.

President Alvi said that public-private partnership should be encouraged for bringing improvement in the agriculture sector and the federal government’s billion trees plantation project could be used for promotion of agriculture in Balochistan.

He said there were ample opportunities for development of agriculture, fishing and livestock in the province. “There is a need for taking steps on a war footing in the right direction for the development of these sectors,” he said, hoping that proper and prudent use of available water resources could help in making plans for sustainable agricultural development.

The president said there was a huge demand for Halal meat across the world, including China. Pakistan could earn good revenues through export of Halal meat, but for this there was a need for giving special attention to the livestock sector, he added.

He said skilled manpower was required to achieve the goals of agricultural development. For this purpose, he added, services could be availed from the National Skills University.

He said that apart from agriculture, the progress made under the Public Sector Development Programme in the province could easily be monitored through satellite images.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2020