MULTAN: A three-member delegation of United Nations Development Program (UNDP) received a detailed briefing on south Punjab agriculture and its development requirements in an official meeting here Tuesday.
South Punjab additional secretary agriculture (Admin) Syed Naveed Alam informed the UNDP delegates about the challenges hindering the development trajectory of south Punjab.
Delegation head Dr. Talat Anwar said that their visit to south Punjab was meant to know about the problems of the departments working under south Punjab agriculture secretariat and ways to resolve them through a better planning to improve agriculture and financial standing of farmers.
Naveed Alam said that development in agriculture sector can bring a turnaround in financial conditions of farming community as majority of population was associated with agriculture.
He said, government allocated separate funds for south Punjab agriculture that has started benefiting farmers.
Agriculture secretariat introduced and implemented Integrated Pest Management (IPM) model in south Punjab that not only cut cost but also boosted profits, Alam said adding that per acre production of cotton witnessed increase.
For sustainable development, government was focusing on small farmers, he said adding that 67 per cent of farmers have landholding below one hectare in south Punjab.
Small farmers were far behind the progressive farmers in average per acre production due to their lack of access to modern technology, Alam said and highlighted the need for reducing this production gap.
Naveed Alam underlined the need for climate smart agriculture.
Heads of different departments informed the delegates that water availability was emerging as a big problem for agriculture and stressed on taking steps to address the issue. They also highlighted the need for establishing agro-based industry like processing units to add value to the agriculture products.