LAHORE: Pakistan is one of the huge exporters of potato and is self-sufficient for its domestic use, this was stated by Moazzam Ghurki, President, Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) during a think tank session held at PCJCCI Secretariat.
Last year, floods have devastated many kinds of crops in Pakistan, while potato production soared to 7.937 million tonnes in FY22 from 5.873 million tonnes in FY21, up by 35 percent as floods did not hit Punjab which is a hub of potato production. By contrast, Pakistan imports 20,000 tons of potato seeds every year.
President PCJCCI added that most of the potato seeds in Pakistan highly depend on imports and the initial cost of potato production is high because 35-40 percent of the cost goes to seeds, and there is a dire need to make it cost-effective for the low-income farmers.
Therefore, we should promote Tissue-Culture Laboratory for the affordable seed production of potatoes at massive scale in Pakistan rather than depending upon expensive foreign seeds.
Fang Yulong, Senior Vice President PCJCCI said that, Pakistani and Chinese enterprises have been working tirelessly to find opportunities for cooperation in this sector. In addition to seed production, related potato by-products are also welcome Chinese investors. Besides this, mechanized harvesting, pest control are also full of opportunities for investment.
He added that in order to build Pakistan’s largest potato tissue culture lab, various Chinese agricultural enterprises are involved for its practical implementation. The most common potato diseases in Pakistan include early blight, stem rot and so on.
In contrast, Chinese varieties are more resistant to pests and diseases with higher yields, which is exactly what Pakistan needs to learn to improve our own potato germplasm.
Hamza Khalid, Vice President PCJCCI added that we must ensure the localized production of high-quality seeds, and at the same time improve planting technology and mechanization level.
Then we might be able to export potatoes to other countries. We have a huge potential for countries that have smaller land areas or don’t produce much of their own potatoes.
Salahuddin Hanif, Secretary General PCJCCI said that we should work upon increasing the supply of local seeds which can help in saving the precious foreign exchange reserves and increase the income of farmers. If Pakistan succeeds in large-scale production of local high-quality potatoes, it can also export these potatoes to other countries, such as Arab countries.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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