ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for stronger coordination between federal and provincial governments to improve agricultural productivity, promote innovation, strengthen the livestock sector and expand Pakistan’s agricultural exports.
Chairing a high-level meeting on the promotion of agriculture and enhancement of agricultural exports, the prime minister directed authorities to take coordinated measures to increase the international market access of Pakistani agricultural products and identify new export destinations.
He also called on commercial officers serving at Pakistan’s diplomatic missions abroad to play a more active role in promoting the country’s agricultural exports.
Highlighting the importance of technology and digital tools, the prime minister directed the launch of an effective media campaign to inform farmers about a mobile application designed to monitor crops.
The meeting also emphasized value addition in agricultural products as an important avenue for increasing export earnings and improving the economic returns received by farmers.
“The agriculture sector plays a key role in the growth and stability of Pakistan’s economy,” the prime minister said.
According to a briefing, Pakistan’s agricultural exports reached US$5.18 billion during the last financial year, with rice, fisheries, halal meat, potatoes, sesame, tobacco, mangoes and maize among the country’s major agricultural export commodities.
Participants proposed the development of agricultural value chains to increase exports and improve competitiveness in international markets. China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Gulf countries were identified as important markets for Pakistani agricultural products.
The meeting also proposed making the National Agriculture and Food Security Council functional, with the chief ministers of the provinces representing their respective regions.
Digital tools for a changing climate
A proposal was also presented to establish a Digital Farmers’ Diary–Agri Stack, through which farmers and agricultural land records across Pakistan would be digitized. Information related to soil and water testing would also be incorporated into the digital system.
Such data-driven approaches could help improve farm-level decision-making at a time when Pakistan’s agricultural sector is increasingly exposed to climate-related stresses, including water scarcity, changing rainfall patterns, extreme heat and floods.
The meeting further proposed developing a Pakistan-Good Agriculture Practices (Pak-GAP) system aimed at promoting improved agricultural practices and increasing productivity and quality.
The government also discussed providing agricultural financing facilities to support exporters and expand the capacity of Pakistan’s agriculture-related businesses.
For a country highly dependent on agriculture for livelihoods, food security and economic activity, increasing productivity while adapting farming systems to climate pressures remains a critical challenge. Digital agriculture, improved water and soil management, stronger value chains and climate-resilient farming practices could play an increasingly important role in addressing these pressures.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, Minister for Climate Change Musadik Masood Malik, Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan, Minister of State for Finance and Railways Bilal Azam Khan, Minister of State for National Food Security Malik Rasheed Ahmad and senior government officials.
