Islamabad:Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, has said that developing a competitive and inclusive value chain for pulses is critical for ensuring food security, improving nutrition and reducing Pakistan’s reliance on imports as only a 30 per cent improvement in the sector could significantly cut the country’s pulses’ imports.
Mr Tanveer was speaking as chief guest at a seminar on “Developing competitive and Inclusive value chains of pulses in Pakistan” organised here at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). This was second talk on pulses organised by the institute in less than a week.
Pulses fall among the cheapest sources of protein and an important crop for sustainable agriculture, the Minister said adding that strengthening the sector would directly benefit farmers and ensure national food security. He said that Pakistan currently produces around 0.7 to 0.8 million tons of pulses annually against a national requirement of about 1.6 million tons, which shows a major production gap that forces the country for their imports.
He stressed that promoting public-private partnerships, local seed production and value addition would help in strengthening the pulses sector and support small farmers. Improved market intelligence, crop preservation facilities and national quality standards are essential to attract investment and build a robust value chain.
Mr Tanveer opined that the government is focusing on strengthening agricultural research, extension services and climate-resilient seed varieties to improve productivity adding and added that Pakistan currently invests only 0.16 per cent of its GDP in agricultural research, compared to around 4.0 per cent by countries such as Korea.
He said climate change had emerged as a major challenge for Pakistan’s agriculture sector, leading to declining yields in key crops such as rice and wheat. To address post-harvest losses, he said the government was working on introducing modern Chinese harvesting machinery which could significantly reduce crop wastage. He emphasised that the government ensured stable fertiliser prices and adequate domestic production to meet farmers’ needs during the upcoming Kharif season.
Earlier, Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI said pulses had long been overlooked in policy discussions despite their importance for nutrition and food security. He noted that the Economic Survey of Pakistan reported a 16.1 per cent decline in Mash pulse production, while poor post-harvest handling results in around 25 per cent losses. He said research and policy reforms were needed to improve seed varieties, reduce losses and strengthen the value chain.
Australian High Commissioner Timothy Kane said agriculture was an important pillar of cooperation between Pakistan and Australia, thus the ACIAR had been working in Pakistan for more than two decades. He said crops such as chickpeas and lentils were not only affordable sources of nutrition but also helped improve soil fertility through nitrogen fixation. He said the ACIAR project on pulses focused on the entire value chain from farm production to processing and markets, while also promoting the participation of women and youth in the agricultural value chain.
