ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday underscored the need for better coordination between international and national institutions working for sustainable development of agriculture sector.
While addressing the national stakeholders’ dialogue on Sustainable Rice production in Islamabad, the minister said that the government took initiatives for growth of the agriculture sector.
The minister said that though the subject had been devolved to the provinces but given its importance, the prime minister announced a countrywide Kissan package worth Rs 341 billion for the betterment of the farmers.
Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the package envisaged many interventions including promotion of research, subsidizing necessary inputs such as seeds and fertilizers and preparing the farmers for climatic adaptabilities.
The information minister said that targeted programs were also being initiated at the federal and provincial levels to address the issue of malnutrition.
The minister said that with 44 percent of children facing stunted growth, the issue of malnutrition was one of the biggest challenges for us. She said that being an agrarian economy, these statistics were not acceptable and steps were being taken to check the problem.
The state minister said that the platforms of Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television could also be used to create awareness amongst the stakeholders about the significance of sustainable production of crops such as rice.
Marriyum emphasized that the research component should have been aligned with the agriculture universities in order to effectively sort out the issues faced by the sector.
