Comment by Riaz Haq on April 30, 2021 at 7:03pm

Kisan Cards to digitize #Pakistan's rural #economy with direct financial benefit to farmers. Access to loans & crop insurance will diminish power of 'Arthi' or middle-man. Farmers will become empowered to improve their #productivity & #income. #Agriculture https://www.brecorder.com/news/40089062

The Kisan Card program is expected to boost the demand for phosphate fertilizers and result in positive yield outcomes for the farmers and support the digitization of rural economy.

Industry experts said that the launch of Kisan Cards is a major milestone for the development of Pakistan's agricultural sector as it will provide targeted subsidies to small farmers, improve their financial inclusion, and digitize the rural economy.

During the first quarter of 2021, urea and DAP sales have witnessed high growth of around 35 percent and 51 percent, respectively. The increase in urea sales can be attributed to higher wheat support prices, better water supplies and availability of urea in the local market at Rs 1717 per bag compared to the global rates of more than Rs 3500 per bag.

At the launch ceremony of Kisan Cards in Multan, Prime Minister Imran Khan also announced to increase the subsidy on DAP (diammonium phosphate) from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 under Kisan Card. Meanwhile, the federal government's targeted subsidy package on agriculture input remains unmaterialized in Sindh as the provincial government has to date not reached a consensus on its implementation mechanism.

In this regard, Nadir Salar Qureshi CEO of Engro Fertilizers has said Kisan Cards will provide targeted, smart subsidies on agricultural inputs to subsistence small land holding farmers, and other benefits like crop insurance and subsidized loans.

Kisan Cards will reduce inefficiencies and corruption in subsidy disbursement of agricultural inputs, while also improving financial inclusion by adding millions of farmers to the formal banking system, he added.

Appreciating Prime Minister's leadership in prioritizing the transformation of agriculture sector, he said that by delivering such initiatives, the PTI government is living up to its promise of supporting the agricultural sector that is the backbone of Pakistan's economy. When agricultural economics improve the knock-on effects are felt through the entire national economy. The prudent policies of government enabled the agricultural sector to overcome the COVID-19 shock and register record growth in farm economics in the past two years, he added.

With greater access to loans and crop insurance, the influence of 'Arthi' or middle-man will reduce and the farmers would become more empowered to improve their productivity and earnings. "We believe the Kisan Card initiative has put Pakistan's agriculture sector on the road to digitization and documentation of rural economy that will immensely benefit the country in the long-term", he maintained.

Lauding the PM's vision on agriculture development and bringing it on top of the Government's agenda, CEO Engro reiterated that Engro Fertilizers vision is to transform the agricultural landscape of Pakistan. He assured that Engro remains ready to support the Government in bringing his vision on agriculture to life.

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 30, 2021 at 7:05pm

Kisan cards to provide direct financial benefit to farmers: Dr Firdous

• This would benefit the farmers’ community in the province as a subsidy worth billions of rupees would be provided annually to one million farmers, she said.

https://www.brecorder.com/news/40089264/kisan-cards-to-provide-dire...

Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Friday said the government had taken a historic initiative of launching Kisan (farmer) Card which would provide direct financial benefits to the farmers in the shape of cash transfer besides encouraging them to grow more crops.

Talking to the media along with Provincial Minister for Agriculture Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi here, Dr Firdous said that farmers would be able to timely procure pesticides, seeds and other essential items by collecting subsidy amount directly from the ATM through Kisan Card.

This would benefit the farmers’ community in the province as a subsidy worth billions of rupees would be provided annually to one million farmers, she said.

The Special Assistant said the farmers through this card would get subsidized fertilizers, seeds and pesticides besides loans and compensation for damaged crops in case of any natural calamity.

The Kisan Card would bring about a revolution in the country by making the life of farmers easy through the use of technology, enhancing agricultural production, and saving foreign exchange, she further said.

Dr Firdous regretted that agricultural development was not among the priorities of previous governments who ignored farmers in their regimes however, the PTI government was paying special attention to this important sector which was considered as the backbone of the economy.

The SACM said the PTI government was fully committed to providing farmers agricultural support, besides resolving their problems at their doorsteps.

The need of the hour was to use the modern techniques for increasing the per acre yield, she stressed.

Dr Firdous said the NA-249 Karachi by-election had raised many questions.

The PPP used government machinery and resources ruthlessly to support its candidate in the by-election, she added.

The SACM urged the opposition to support the government for electoral reforms which was the need of the hour for ensuring transparent election process in the country.

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 7, 2021 at 4:30pm

#Arabian varieties of #dates offer better yield in #Pakistan, among the top date producers and exporters in the world, with annual date production of more than 535,000 tons.Local farmers have developed interest in growing the foreign varieties. #fruits https://www.arabnews.com/node/1855331/world

KHAIRPUR: Five years ago, 70-year-old Ghulam Qasim Jiskani, a farmer in Khairpur, Pakistan’s largest date-producing region, experimented with Middle Eastern varieties of the fruit to see if he could increase his yield.

Today, he is spearheading a successful campaign to produce Arabian dates at home.

Pakistan is one of the top date producers and exporters in the world, with annual date production of more than 535,000 tons, according to data from the Trade Development Authority.

The main region for date cultivation is Khairpur district in southern Sindh province, Jiskani’s hometown.

On his farmland in Kot Diji village, Jiskani has planted date palm varieties that are grown in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Morocco.

“It can be a game-changer for the area’s date production and export,” Jiskani told Arab News last week, saying by planting foreign varieties of the fruit, Pakistani farmers could earn up to 15 times more from their harvest.

“I brought 400 tissues of 15 date palm varieties from Dubai five years ago,” he said.

“These trees are now laden with fruit and I plan to market the yield in July when they are ready for harvest. My experiment has been successful.”

Jiskani’s plantation covers two acres of land, but as his Arabian varieties of dates have grown so well on the land, he now plans to dedicate three more acres to the fruit and hopes other growers will follow suit.

Jiskani believes that with the Arabian varieties, local growers would be able not only to tap into domestic demand but also boost Pakistan’s date exports.

“Pakistani date farmers also have a good chance to penetrate the international market with their yield,” he said.

“With that in mind, we are striving to replace local varieties with foreign ones.”

Local farmers have already developed interest in growing the foreign varieties.


“After Jiskani’s experiment, a significant number of Khairpur’s date farmers want the government to facilitate the procurement of foreign palm tissues at feasible rates,” Mushtaq Soomro, a senior official at the Sindh Agriculture Extension Department, told Arab News.

“If they start cultivating today, 40 percent of the region’s date cultivation will transform, and we will see the exotic varieties of the fruit covering much of this land.”

One of the reasons for the growing interest was climate.

“Monsoon in Pakistan arrives in June and persists for a few months,” Soomro said.

“This is also the harvesting season for locally produced dates. Rainfall on the ready-to-rip crops is destructive, however. To get away from possible losses, growers opt for dried dates, though they are comparatively less lucrative for them. By growing the Middle Eastern varieties, though, date famers are hoping for a more exotic early monsoon crop.”

One problem with dried dates from Kahirpur is that their main export destination is India.

“For the past four years or so, however, direct trade of dried dates between India and Pakistan is on a halt, which has resulted in significant losses for local farmers,” Jiskani said. He added that another advantage of the Arabian dates was their longer shelf life and the fact that with higher fiber component they were also healthier.

Rustam Phulpoto, a representative of Khairpur’s KHajjoor Market, said by sticking to its native date types, Pakistan was not focusing on the value addition that the foreign varieties bring.

“This lack of value addition not only makes us import more but also limits our exports as well,” he told Arab News.

Under the Sindh administration’s Agriculture Growth Project 2015-2020, the government was required to import 3,000 exotic date tissues and provide them to local farmers at 70 percent subsidized rates. But that did not happen.

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 27, 2021 at 9:02pm

Despite bumper wheat crop Pakistan still not food secure
Amjad Mahmood Published May 27, 2021

https://www.dawn.com/news/1625954


THIS season the country has reaped an all-time high wheat output of 28.75 million tonnes, two million tonnes more than the target of 26.78 million tonnes. The government claims the milestone has been achieved through a 3.25 per cent increase in the area under wheat, a favourable weather throughout the season that helped grow a healthy grain and repel yellow rust attack, and employing of more intensive labour as well as improved farm input use by the growers in the wake of a better price they had secured for their crop last year.

If one goes by the official data, though some experts suspect the official figure saying it lacked any substantial reason in support of the yield boost, the country is far from achieving its food security even with this record output of grain, the main staple food of the population.

The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) has estimated that the country will need 29.50 million tonnes, including one million tonnes of strategic reserves, of wheat to feed its people until the next harvest. The Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) estimates per capita consumption of wheat at 125 kg per annum as grains make up on an average 60pc of daily diet of an ordinary citizen. The recently released results of the 2017 census put the national population figure at over 220.5 million. This means the country has enough wheat to meet its food security and with import of around 500,000 tonnes of grain it will be able to maintain its strategic reserves as there are about 324,000 tonnes of carryover stocks.

But this simple calculation excludes three factors: the need for more than one million tonnes of seed for the next plantation, staple food requirements of close to 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees in the country, and smuggling of approximately 300,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan each year. To meet these needs, the government will have to import over 1.5 million tonnes more wheat taking the total import to over two million tonnes to make the country food secure for the year [the federal food ministry has announced plans to import four million tonnes of grain]. This will give a headache to the foreign exchange-starved government already worried at the rising food import bill.


The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) that recently met under the chair of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin tasked National Food Security & Research Minister Syed Fakhar Imam and Industries Minister Khusro Bakhtyar to look for options to bring down the volume of food imports.

The government’s worries are not implausible. For nature may not be supporting all the time. As one sees that during the last decade there had thrice been a substantial decline in the expected wheat output: -6.9pc in 2012, -3.44pc in 2015, and -3.19pc in 2019. Also the increase in wheat acreage has come at the cost of the area under sugarcane and cotton crops. And the cut in the acreage of the two cash crops means costlier import of the sweetener and white lint to meet domestic needs. A Catch-22 position for the government.

The only solution to the situation lies in improving crops per acre yields. Dr Javed Ahmad, Director of the Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, says the seed varieties developed by AARI have genetic potential of nine tonnes per hectare yield but certain factors are reducing the yield to one-third of the potential. Non-availability of certified seed and lower than needed fertiliser intake are the two major reasons he puts forth behind the poor wheat production as compared to neighbouring India and China which are harvesting four and six tonnes per hectare, respectively.

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 28, 2021 at 7:31am

New farming method promises to multiply Pakistan’s mango yield

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1865876/world


Mango grower in Sindh has introduced the small tree system of cultivating orchards, which allows more trees to grow on a smaller area
Sindh has seen a decline in production volume largely due to outdated farming techniques

TANDO ALLAHYAR: After a decade of declining harvest, mango growers in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province are pinning their hopes on a new farming technique that would allow them to increase their fruit yield up to six times, several growers and experts said.
Pakistan is the world’s sixth-largest mango producer, with an annual production volume of about 1.7 million tons. While most of the harvest comes from Punjab, the Sindh province has the second-largest yield and is known for the Sindhri variety of mango, famous for its honey-like sweetness and deep, thin yellow peel.
But farmers are increasingly sounding the alarm on declining crop yield.
Sindh cultivated mangoes on 59,215 hectares of land and produced 381,269 metric tons in 2010. Provincial agricultural data shows this yield reduced to 329,300 metric tons by 2019.
Realizing that a major reason for the decline was outdated farming practices, one grower, Mahmood Nawaz Shah from the Tando Allahyar district, decided to try something new at his Genuine Delight Farms.
In 2019, he initiated a pilot project to cultivate new orchards under the small tree system (STS) on 1.6 hectares of land using a pruning technique that keeps the height of the mango plants at nearly nine feet, making their management easier and helping to accommodate more trees in a smaller area.
“The STS can revolutionize the quantum of our mango production,” Shah, who also represents a provincial farmers’ body, the Sindh Abadgar Board, told Arab News.
“We can increase our mango production some five times in this country,” he added, explaining that while the average mango yield per acre was five metric tons from large trees, an average of 25 to 30 metric tons could be harvested from the same area using the small tree system.
According to estimates by the Sindh Abadgar Board, the STS is currently being used on only 1,618 hectares of Pakistan’s total mango cultivation area of 167,000 hectares. In Sindh, only 10 growers have so far adopted the method.
“We are far behind when it comes to modernizing our farming structures and techniques,” Dr. Noor-un-Nisa Memon, a faculty member at the Sindh Agriculture University in Tando Jam, said.
It was high time, she said, that old mango orchards were replaced with new ones, but farmers in Sindh were reluctant to prune their trees, thinking it would reduce their yield.
Farmers, however, say they are willing to adopt new techniques but cannot do it without government support as most are small-scale growers.
“It is extremely important to adopt the STS to deal with the situation,” Mir Zafarullah Talpur, a grower from Sindh’s largest mango-growing district, Mirpurkhas, told Arab News.
“The government should arrange an extensive awareness program for farmers and provide them subsidies and installment facilities so they can import modern instruments.”
Hidayatullah CHajjro, director-general at Agriculture Extension, said the provincial administration had already arranged several training sessions to raise awareness among mango growers about new farming techniques but agreed that subsidies needed to be given to farmers who wanted to import essential gadgets and machinery.
“By adopting a comprehensive approach, such as the STS, not only can we reclaim our previous production level but also enhance it further,” CHajjro said.
Shah, who introduced the new farming method to Sindh, is hopeful the trend will gain momentum in the next few years.

Comment by Riaz Haq on June 25, 2021 at 5:01pm

FAO on Pakistan:

Pakistan has a semi-industrialised economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector. The country’s economy was the 23rd largest in the world in 2018 in terms of nominal Gross Domestic Product (purchasing power parity, PPP).

http://www.fao.org/pakistan/our-office/pakistan-at-a-glance/en/

According to the Labour Force Survey of 2017-18 conducted by Pakistan Bureau of Statistic, thirty-nine percent of the country’s labour force is engaged in agriculture (30.2 percent males and 67.2 percent females). In total, the agriculture sector contributes 18.5 percent to the country’s GDP.
Out of the total area of 79.6 million hectares, 22.1 million hectares are cultivated; the rest of the territory is comprised of culturable waste, densely populated forests and rangelands. Cropped area constitutes 23.3 million hectares, while forests cover 4.6 million hectares of the total land. The country has the world’s largest contiguous irrigation system with almost 80 percent of the cultivated area irrigated.
Pakistan is also amongst the world’s top ten producers of wheat, cotton, sugarcane, mango, dates and kinnow oranges, and is ranked 10th in rice production. Major crops (wheat, rice, cotton and sugar cane) contribute around 4.9 per cent, while minor crops contribute 2.1 percent to the country’s total GDP.
Livestock sector contributes 11 per cent to the country’s GDP (60.5 per cent in agriculture sector) and employs approximately 35 million people. Fisheries and forestry sectors each contribute an estimated 0.4 per cent to the GDP (2.1 per cent in agriculture sector).

Comment by Riaz Haq on June 25, 2021 at 5:01pm

With 1.32 billion birds, #Pakistan has the world's 5th largest #poultry population. #meat #eggs #protein https://www.statista.com/statistics/263961/top-countries-worldwide-...

https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1408522023186227202?s=20

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 2, 2021 at 5:10pm

#Pakistan rice #exports to surge to a record this year on bumper production in the world’s No. 4 exporter & growing #Russian purchases. Pak domestic production is estimated to surge 13.6% to an all-time high of 8.4 million tons in the year ended June. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-02/pakistan-trains-...

A jump in exports, which are likely to climb as much as 15% from a year earlier to more than 6 million tons in 2021, will be good for Pakistan as Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government is trying to revive the fragile economy with the help of the International Monetary Fund, and aims to cut imports and boost overseas sales.

“We have got access to the Russian market and our exports to that region will increase by as much as 200,000 tons,” said Syed Waseem-ul-Hassan, food security commissioner at Pakistan’s national food ministry. Total exports are expected to increase by 10% to 15% this year from 2020 as the government also aims to boost shipments to regions like Africa, he said by phone.

Russia lifted its 2019 ban on purchases from Pakistan in early June after the South Asian nation strengthened its phytosanitary quality certification process for rice processing units, according to the food ministry. The government also sees increased buying from other countries in the region, such as Ukraine, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Pakistan exports rice to about 140 nations.

The resumption of rice exports to Russia is a milestone, said Malik Faisal Jahangir, senior vice chairman of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan. Four members of the group have already complied with the Russian milling standards, and many more compliant units will be added this year, he said, noting that overseas sales are attractive due to the huge availability of rice.

Domestic production is estimated to surge 13.6% to an all-time high of 8.4 million tons in the year ended June, according to government data.

However, a rise in global supply could further pressure prices of the staple, a predominant source of nourishment for more than 3 billion people worldwide. The Asian benchmark for Thai white rice has slumped 24% since a peak in February, while rice futures in Chicago have gained only 4% during the period.

Currency Boost
A weaker local currency has also helped shippers as Pakistani rice becomes relatively cheaper for overseas buyers. The rupee fell about 3.5% against the dollar in the April-June quarter, according to Bloomberg data. It may slide further by the end of September, with high commodity and oil prices weighing on sentiment.

“A weaker rupee will benefit rice exports, which are already increasing,” said Ahsan Mehanti, chief executive officer at Arif Habib Commodities. “We see our competitors getting more impacted by Covid. This too would help Pakistan’s exports,” he said, adding that shipments of more than 6 million tons would be a record high.

India, the second-biggest grower and top exporter of rice, is just emerging from a devastating second wave of the pandemic. Some scientists say a third wave could arrive within months, driving fears the country may see a repeat of the recent nightmare of oxygen shortages and overwhelmed hospitals.

Pakistan’s successful effort this year to secure the Geographical Indication tag for its basmati rice has also helped the country to compete with India. Basmati rice exports from Pakistan surged 68% to 87,413 tons in March from a month earlier, according to official data.

Comment by Riaz Haq on September 24, 2021 at 9:38am

Gomal Zam Dam Makes Two Lac (200,000) Acres Land Cultivable In KP Southern Districts in Pakistan

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/gzd-makes-two-lac-acres-land-...

He said 200,000 acres barren land have been made cultivable in DI Khan and others southern districts of KP which means that Rs20 billion could be generated only from agriculture and 18megawatt affordable electricity in one year.

Focus are being made on food processing in agriculture sector to counter challenges related to food security, he said, adding the Government would help encourage food processing in merged areas to explore and take full advantage of its fruits and agriculture wealth.

The PM's special assistant said DI Khan, Mianwali and Bhakkar districts were going to become a hub of agriculture goods including fruits and vegetables to cater needs of every growing population including Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

Agriculture sector had achieved tremendous growth in the country where rice and maize production increased each by over 18pc, cotton by 50 and a record 100MT sugar were produced recently, adding that Rs 12,00 billion value addition were also achieved directly benefiting farmers and agriculture growers.

Comment by Riaz Haq on October 6, 2021 at 8:58am

#Pakistan #agriculture #startup Tazah gets #2 million pre-seed funding. It screens produce for quality, removes rotten produce. It sorts into categories for specific types of buyers. Now it offers 5 products: ginger, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes & onions. https://tcrn.ch/3lgDm7C

The founders of Tazah Technologies, a B2B agriculture marketplace in Pakistan, met while serving leadership roles at Uber subsidiary Careem. Abrar Bajwa and Mohsin Zaka bonded during long working hours as the platform dealt with COVID-19’s impact. Eventually, the two started talking about creating their own startup. When asked how they got from ride-hailing to agri-tech, Bajwa told TechCrunch that the two grew up in farming communities. “We are from central Punjab and every family there has something to do with agriculture,” he said. “We had seen firsthand how farmers, or people who are involved in small holder farming, do not encounter social mobility based on how the deck is stacked against them.”

Agriculture is Pakistan’s biggest sector, contributing about 24% of its gross domestic product and employing half of its labor force, according to government statistics. But fragmented and complicated supply chains lead to inflated prices, food waste and low profits for farmers, all problems that Tazah wants to solve. The startup, which launched two months ago in Lahore, announced today it has raised a $2 million pre-seed round led by Global Founders Capital and Zayn Capital. Other participants included Ratio Ventures, Walled City Co, i2i Ventures, Suya Ventures, Globivest, Afropreneur Syndicate, +92 Ventures, Sunu Capital, Musha Investments and angel investors like senior executives from ride-hailing platforms Careem and Swvl, where Bajwa worked before launching Tazah.

There are currently about 300 small- to medium-sized sellers buying inventory through the platform and it moves multiple truckloads of produce per day. Right now it offers five main kinds of products: ginger, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes and onions. Tazah plans to expand into other vegetables and fruits, but wants to ensure that it can guarantee consistent supply and quality. For example, instead of just serving as a marketplace to connect farmer and buyers, Tazah also screens produce for quality, removing rotten produce. Then it sorts them into categories for specific types of buyers.

For example, potatoes are separated into ones for households, restaurants, small retailers, or to be made into French fries, based on what Bajwa and Zaka learned during market research. “We have spent months in wholesale markets, we’ve interviewed hundreds of retailers and we got to know that standardization of product is needed in Pakistan,” said Bajwa. “We get into the bottom of operations, because retailers will know what exactly is in the sack.” This has resulted in a monthly retention rate of more than 80%, and most customers buy from the platform about four times a week.

“We’re not just a box-moving operation because in one sack of potatoes, there can be multiple rotten potatoes, so you don’t want to just buy from farmers and then give to retailers. That doesn’t add a lot of value,” said Zaka. Tazah is currently focused on small to medium-sized sellers who are overlooked by fast-moving consumer goods and grocery product inventory providers because they aren’t able to buy at sufficient bulk. It’s also started talking to other customer segments, including B2C marketplaces, grocery apps and stores.

Increasing farmers’ profits and reducing food waste
Tazah’s founders say fragmented supply chains mean that about 30% to 40% of produce is wasted because they perish or are damaged each time they are unloaded, warehoused and reloaded onto a truck. The company wants to fix that by creating a shorter, more streamlined logistics infrastructure. It plans to keep costs down by working with third-party warehouse and trucking providers instead of owning its own facilities.

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