Daily Times

Chairman Pakistan Agriculture Research Council Dr Ghulam Muhammad Ali Thursday said that an organic agriculture support facility would be established at National Agriculture Research Center, besides setting up a local certification authority, which would have international acceptance.

Addressing the Organic Agriculture Policy Review Workshop, which was organized by CABI Regional Bioscience Centre Pakistan with the support of the Laudes Foundation, Dr Ali emphasized the need for expanding agricultural exports as organic products give greater value in foreign markets.

The event was held under the program “Building the Policy Ecosystem for Organic Production Landscape in Pakistan”, and

the chief objective of the workshop was to bring all the organic agriculture stakeholders on the same page to develop a national-level organic agriculture policy.

Speaking on the occasion, Chairman PARC also explained the need and importance of organic agriculture for Pakistan and thanked the organizers for staging the event. Chairman PARC said that a lot of agriculture is already being practised organically in Pakistan but it needs technical guidance from relevant authorities.

He highlighted the potential for organic agriculture in Balochistan and stressed the need for taking measures to promote and encourage organic agriculture in the province for economic growth and social prosperity.

Dr Akmal Siddique, Advisor of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research emphasized the need for policy solutions which are specific, measurable, achievable and time-bound. He said that the Ministry of National Food Security and Research will pass an executive order to institutions to develop a division in which research scientists will develop individual farms for organic cultivation of their crops.

Dr Yousaf Zafar, former chairman of PARC and Senior Advisor/consultant to CABI informed that Pakistan is on the map of certified organic cotton since 2019 and applauded the Balochistan agriculture department for pioneering organic agriculture in Pakistan.