HYDERABAD: Agricultural experts have called for promoting urban and modern agriculture for food security while mentioning that farm sector offers solution to poor economic conditions of the country.

They said the agriculture sector should be focused for the export of agriculture products.

Addressing the opening ceremony of a two-day training programme on hydroponics under title of the “Sustainable Food Production Under Climate Change”, Sindh Agriculture University Vice Chancellor (SAU) Dr Fateh Marri said it would be difficult to get quick economic results from the industry and services sectors in the current situation, but through development of the agricultural sector and modern technology, export and food security could be ensured.

He said that 90pc of water could be saved with hydroponics and modern agricultural methods, adding that the urban agriculture should be adopted instead of canal agriculture.

Dr Inayatullah Rajpar, dean of Faculty of Crop Production, said the training programme on hydroponics was started for the third and final year students of the SAU so that fresh vegetables and fruits could be grown in cities through hydroponics systems. He said agriculture could be expanded on a commercial basis and hydroponics units should be promoted on commercial basis along with the training of the youth.

Prof Dr Mohammad Ibrahim Keerio said that due to climate change, increasing population and economic risks, threat of food shortage existed; therefore, experiments on modern and alternative agriculture technology should be done.

Published in Dawn, February 23th, 2023