GILGIT: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Food Security and Research held a meeting at the Potato Tissue Culture Laboratory in Chilas, the district headquarters of Diamer, on Thursday.

MNA Rao Mohammad Ajmal Khan chaired the meeting.

Officials of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) informed participants about the production of various potato varieties through tissue culture and said it was the only way to better potato seed production.

They said the PARC had set targets for bumper potato crop and was striving to achieve them.

The officials said currently, they’re producing locally one per cent certified seed and relying on imported seed.

They said around 15,000 tons seeds were being imported at the cost of more than Rs1 billion annually.

The committee was also informed that the tissue culture lab would produce 50,000 plantlets through tissue culture annually and that they would be sufficient for 20,000 tons certified seed production after five cycles. The committee appreciated the efforts of the PARC for better agricultural yields.

MNAs Rai Mohammad Murtaza Iqbal, Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari, Riazul Haq, Syed Javed Ali Shah Jillani and Kamaluddin and senior officers of the food security and research ministry and PARC attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2021