MANSEHRA, April 24: Experts at a workshop here on Thursday said that potato and maize crops could replace wheat as food at this juncture when 36 countries including Pakistan were facing acute food shortage.

Addressing the workshop titled “Local Economic Development” an agriculture scientist said that the world was facing food scarcity and potato was the only alternative to replace wheat as even European countries were using it as food.

To enhance economic productivity of October 8, 2005 earthquake-affected potato farmers of Mansehra district, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organised the one-day workshop, which was largely attended by the agriculture scientists and farmers from Balakot, Kaghan and Narain valleys.

USAID country chief Mark Tracy, Hazara Agricultural Research Station head Dr Mohammad Basher, Food and Agriculture head Dr Faizul Bari and Citizan Network for Foreign Affairs chief Ghani Khan addressed the workshop.

They said that World Food Programme (WFP) realised global shortage of food and declared 2008 as ‘potato year’ because the commodity could be exchanged worldwide as food instead of grains. “Potato gives more yield compared to wheat and maize at the same agriculture land and it is full of nutritional need of humans,” they added.

They said that Pakistan had fertile land to produce the world’s most famous potato but the farmers would have to play an active role not only to earn good livings but to fulfil the need of food of the country.

They said that potato had been grown 4,500 years ago and now it was the fourth agricultural production worldwide and number one in Europe.

“Like European countries Pakistan as well as other countries should use potato as the food in the meal,” they suggested.