Lahore: Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain on Friday said that agriculture held fundamental importance for the national economy, while food security was a matter of national security.
Addressing the concluding session of the Agricultural Linkages Conference 2026, held at the Expo Centre here, he said Pakistan’s development and prosperity were closely linked to a strong agricultural sector. More than 100 million Pakistanis were directly or indirectly associated with agriculture for their livelihoods, he added.
Rana Tanveer Hussain said climate change had become a major challenge to Pakistan’s agriculture and food security, with floods, extreme heat and water scarcity posing growing risks to farmers.
He said food security was no longer merely an agricultural issue but a matter of national security, economic stability and social welfare.
The federal minister said the agricultural sector had recorded 2.9 percent growth last year, while wheat production reached 29.6 million tonnes and the livestock sector grew by 3.75 percent.
He said livestock’s share in agricultural value addition had increased to more than 62 percent.
He said the decline in cotton production was a major challenge for the country’s agriculture and export sectors. Pakistan’s average wheat yield was around 3 tonnes per hectare, which could be increased to 5-7 tonnes per hectare through research and modern farming practices, he added. Increasing production with less water should be a priority, he stressed.
Rana Tanveer Hussain further said focus was being placed on developing climate-resilient and heat-tolerant crop varieties. The real benefit of research, he added, could only be achieved when new technologies reached farmers’ fields.
He said linkages among scientists, agricultural extension services and the private sector would be strengthened, adding that quality seed was the foundation of better crops and farmers’ prosperity.