RAWALPINDI: A three-day training workshop on ‘Smart Potato Cultivation & Strategies for Value Chain Development’ commenced at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR), here on Monday, with an aim to address the challenges and strategies to enhance its cultivation by precision agriculture.
Dr. Muhammad Zaffar Iqbal Director General, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute (AARI) was the chief guest while Prof. Dr. Qamar-uz-Zaman was the guest of Honour at the inaugural session.
Dr M Zaffar Iqbal said that due to increase in potato usage in domestic and industrial sectors, its cultivation has become very popular in Pakistan in recent years.
He said that according to the incumbent government’s vision to improve nutrition for all, it could be one of the alternatives.
There are challenges still exist in term of its production and value addition but the government is working hard to address them as they have started to produce high-quality, virus-free and third-generation potato seed with the help of South Korea by using aeroponic technology which would enable Pakistan a self-sufficient in seed potatoes by mid-2022, he said.
Prof. Dr Qamar said that precision agriculture and other modern techniques for cultivation are not meant for some specific crops but with research and minor changes it can be beneficial for others also.
He said that with the help of modern methods like precision agriculture the grower would not only be able to minimize the input cost but increase the output and quality of their products also.
Continuing his address he said, that issues such as climate change, rapid growth in population, unemployment and economic condition of Pakistan alerted us to innovate our agriculture sector on an emergency basis which could be achieved with the combined effort. At the end he mobilized the participants to transfer and apply training’s knowledge in the field which would benefit them in reducing production cost of their crops and also increase the production.
Earlier, in a keynote address, Dr Syed Ijaz-ul-Hassan, Director Potato Research Institute Sahiwal said that Potato is an important and fourth major agricultural crop widely grown in different agro-climatic conditions of Pakistan having a significant contribution to national domestic consumption and food needs.
Despite the ease in cultivation and fewer labour requirements, potato productivity in Pakistan is not yet promising as compared to neighboring India and Bangladesh.
While highlighting the issues in potato cultivation he said that due to unavailability of local disease free potato seed the cultivators have to depend on costly imported seed.
He said that issues like cold storage, poor capacity of growers & industrialists and price instability, have improved but, “We are still deficient compared to the neighboring countries.”
Dr. Muhammad Azam Khan Chairman Department of Horticulture, in his welcome address hoped that the training workshop would equip the participants related to advanced innovative technologies for potato cultivation and industrial partner would focus on value addition and value chain development etc.