ISLAMABAD: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Chairman Regional Standing Committee on Trade and Industries Riaz Khattak on Sunday said that climate change was the biggest problem facing the country. He said that apparently no steps were being taken to tackle the issue except for joint meetings with the Ministry of National Food Security and provincial departments without any tangible results. The FPCCI official said that agriculture sector was suffering from unpredictability in growth and its performance remained subdued. “According to the Pakistan’s Economic Survey 2014-15, insufficient progress in technological innovation, limited progressive farming techniques, marketing and trade restrictions, low prices of crops and traditional processing methods are major reasons for low production. Around 40 per cent of the total agricultural production is wasted in post-harvest due to insufficient utilisation of biotechnology. In this scenario, use of biotechnology seems to be the most fitting solution to revive this sector,” he said. Khattak said there was a strong need to launch an initiative to digitise agriculture and provide necessary information to farmers to increase production. “It is heartening to note that a mobile company operating in Pakistan has taken the initiative in this regard, but the services of this initiative are limited to certain regions, which needs to be extended to the whole country,” he said. “In order to cope this we should work on productivity increase, adapting to climate change, poverty alleviation, input subsidies, agriculture research and extension, improving seed provision, agriculture produce markets, genetically modified crops, and meeting globalisation challenges,” he said. “Similarly, the agriculture sector of the country is being badly affected due to climate change and disturbance of seasons and decreasing water level in the earth. In future, the situation can become worse if we do not take appropriate measures,” he said. Khattak said that the whole world was facing the effects of climate change. “Pakistan could become single most affected country in future if pre-emptive measures are not taken. It is a huge problem and projects cannot be approved without environmental assessment,” he said. “Climate change is global issue. As many as 190 countries had gathered in Paris in 2015 to negotiate a climate change agreement to frame the global agenda on this issue,” he said. Published in Daily Times, September 18th 2017.