ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will inaugurate on Monday the ‘Seed Potato Production and Aeroponics Complex’ established with the assistance of South Korea for indigenising seed potato production using advanced technology.

The complex at the National Agricultural Research Centre Islamabad is a flagship partnership between the Korea Partnership for Innovation of Agriculture (KOPIA) and Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) for certified seed potato production by applying advanced aeroponics technology.

The initiative would significantly improve the quality and availability of seed potato in Pakistan. It also aims to reduce the cost of potato production while improving yields by ensuring the availability of quality seed potatoes at affordable prices.

The partnership between KOPIA and PARC seeks to transform seed potato production in Pakistan by improving efficiency, minimising post-harvest losses and introducing on-farm processing, enhancing human capital and generating substantial employment opportunities.

According to PARC Chairman Dr Ghulam Mohammad Ali, traditional potato cultivation yields only five tubers per plant whereas aeroponic systems can produce between 50 and 60 tubers per plant. These cutting-edge technologies will not only help meet the local consumption of seed potato but will also curtail heavy important bill, he said.

Despite cultivating potatoes on approximately 850,000 acres, Pakistan remains heavily reliant on the importation of 6,000 to 12,000 tonnes of seed potatoes annually due to the compromised quality of locally produced seeds. This dependency places a financial strain on the country as farmers struggle to afford high-quality imported seeds, resulting in suboptimal yields.

The objective is to supply 160,000 tonnes of certified seed potatoes annually, starting in the fifth year of the production cycle. The project’s infrastructure includes the construction of four aeroponic greenhouses and 35 screen-houses as well as the establishment of a cold storage facility and a 100KW solar power system, all provided by KOPIA to meet the target production goals.

The prime minister will also inaugurate the National Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology (NIGAB) at NARC. It is an exclusive national institute dedicated to undertake agricultural research in all the three domains of life - plants, animals and microbes. It is a complex of biotechnology with 28 state-of-the-art labs each designated for a specified area along with glasshouses and containment facilities. Through traditional genetic engineering, NIGAB has developed GMOs of wheat, groundnut, potato and tomato against diseases, drought and salinity which await approval from the regulatory body for commercial utilisation at the farm level.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2025