PESHAWAR: The USAID’s Economic Recovery and Development Activity (ERDA) here on Thursday organized a one-day workshop for the capacity building and business-to-business networking of the agriculture inputs dealers from different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including the Merged Districts.
The workshop also provided a platform to some of the leading national and multinational agriculture input providers participating from across the country. Titled as ‘Building Capacities and Creating Partnerships’, the workshop was designed to strengthen public-private sector engagement as well as provide networking opportunities to agriculture inputs providers, dealers, and suppliers of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides.
In his opening remarks, ERDA’s Deputy Chief of Party, Shakeel Kakakhel said, ‘Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been experiencing a decline in agricultural farm sizes and land holdings because of increasing population and division of land among family members in successive generations. In order to overcome this limi
ting factor, it is important to increase land productivity through optimal application of quality agriculture inputs, adoption of advanced agricultural practices and utilization of modern technologies, he said.
The relevant officials from the Agriculture Department of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were also present at the workshop and shared the government’s regulatory frameworks, ongoing initiatives, and planned interventions with regards to the registration, supervision, and facilitation of agriculture inputs providers. The technical presentations given by the Agriculture Department officials covered standard operating procedures for the registration of agriculture input providers, innovative practices and modern technologies to address plant protection challenges, and safeguards in the use of pesticides to reduce their environmental and climate impacts.
Speaking at the workshop, the Director Plant Protection at the Directorate General Agriculture Extension, Muhammad Naveed Khan said, ‘we are keepi
ng a close liaison with the agriculture inputs service providers and dealers in order to facilitate them properly’.
The interactive panel discussions focused on the role of agriculture inputs dealers in protecting improved variety seeds in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, climate-friendly plant protection technologies and practices, and emerging products, including bio-fertilizers and micronutrients for increasing crop productivity.