Increase in per-acre yield must to avoid food crunch

FAISALABAD, March 27: Pakistan will face 12 million tons of food shortage by 2025 if farmers have not been provided required training and modern technology to improve the per-acre yield which is quite low at the moment. These words were echoed by speakers at a seminar on the "Role of agricultural machinery in poverty alleviation and food security in Pakistan" organized by the Department of Farm Machinery and Power of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. Faculty of Sciences dean Dr Ashraf said efforts should be made to generate solar energy as power crisis was not only shrinking industries but also affecting the agricultural production. Citing an example of Turkey, he said, it was generating 35 per cent of the electricity through solar energy. He said since small farmers were responsible for 70 per cent of the agricultural production in Pakistan, they should be equipped with knowledge of modern technology and machinery. Highlighting the major challenges facing the country, he said strenuous efforts should be in place to increase the per acre agriculture production. He said the wheat could be attained 60 maund per acre, but unfortunately Pakistan was getting only half of it. Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology Dean Dr Rai Niaz said it was regrettable that the people who were using modern apparatus did not know how to use it properly. He said farmers must be trained to use the modern technology efficiently, adding that with the adoption of agri-machine the country could earn millions of rupees by exporting agriculture products. He said the people in Australia and Japan were cultivating vegetables on the roofs of their houses with the help of modern machinery and the same strategy could easily be introduced in Pakistan. Farm Machinery and Power department chairman Dr Iqbal said the country had 32 million hectares of cultivable land, but only 23 million hectares were being utilized due to water shortage. He said biological, hydrological, chemical and mechanical sectors must be mobilized to enhance the agriculture production. Only two per cent of the available energy in Pakistan was being used for the agriculture sector, he said.