LAHORE: Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani has sought a plan for promoting hydroponics for kitchen gardening particularly in major towns of the province to enable the people to get quality vegetables even during off-season.

Presiding over a meeting here on Wednesday, he said the plan should include the minimum cost of the project and how the government could provide financial support to those interested in it.

He also directed the extension authorities to prepare a training plan and guiding campaign and the need for the provision of quality seeds of vegetables and fertilisers to the people.

Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo suggested a pilot project as the first step before launching it on a larger scale in five big towns of the province with the financial support of the government. In the second phase, the scheme should be introduced in government institutions and organisations like Lahore Development Authority and Parks and Horticulture Authority, while in the third phase the scheme should be taken to the household level.

Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi Vice-Chancellor Prof Rai Niaz Ahmed said that through the hydroponics technology quality vegetables could be harvested without the use of insecticides or pesticides, and that it would multiply vegetable production, overcoming the issue of demand and supply, particularly during off-season.

Special agriculture secretary Shehan Shah Faisal Azeem, DG Agriculture Extension Chaudhry Abdul Hameed, consultant Dr Anjum Ali and others also attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2024