Commercial Cultivation Of Bio-fortified Crops Planned In South Punjab

MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Feb, 2022 ) :Secretary agriculture south Punjab Saqib Ali Ateel on Wednesday ordered to launch a pilot project in Khanewal for bio-fortified food crops production to encourage its commercial cultivation across southern Punjab.

In a meeting with a delegation of an NGO, Gain, Saqib said, the pilot project would be launched as a joint venture initiative with the NGO and promised all possible support from the agriculture department.

He said that results of the project would be shared with the agriculture department regularly.Secretary planning and development Shoaib Iqbal was present.

Secretary agriculture said that government was already running a multi-sectoral malnutrition program adding that malnutrition problem can be overpowered by bio-fortified food crops having zinc, Boron, iron and other minerals.

Saqib said that 68 per cent population of Pakistan and almost one third population of the world was deficient in micronutrients.

He said that all out steps were being taken to ensure food security and fortify food crops with micronutrients.

He said that Rs 300 billion agriculture emergency programme of Prime Minister Imran Khan would help achieve objective sooner.

He said that wheat varieties of agriculture research center in Bahawalpur including Nawab-21 and Sadiq-21 were rich in Zinc and iron and had resistance against diseases.

Delegates from NGO informed they were running bio-fortified crop programmes in five districts, four of them in south Punjab including Multan, Khanewal, Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Kham.

They requested that a malnutrition development platform be set up in south Punjab.