ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved setting up of a workinggroup, headed by the Minister for National Food Security, to revampexisting seed registration institutes to bring about qualitativeimprovement in their output.
He was chairing a meeting on the challenges being faced by the country incotton sector and the way forward towards uplifting the agriculture sector,in Islamabad on Monday.
The Prime Minister directed that the existing rules relating to biosafetyassessment of genetically modified crops be reviewed to make them moresimple, efficient and time-saving.
He was informed that cotton is Pakistan’s second largest crop planted on6.66 million acres. Despite being the 4th largest cotton producer in theworld, the country is still importing raw cotton worth 1.2 billion dollars.
It was informed that even with the existing seed varieties, the productioncould be enhanced to 15 million bales by providing incentives to thefarmers and helping them adopt best practices and modern technologies.
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The Prime Minister emphasized upon the need for revamping of the researchcenters involved in seed registration so as to bring focus to their work.
He said supporting farmers and assisting them in adopting modern practicesis among the top priorities of the government.
