SHERGARH: Through training around 50,000 farmers and promoting the cultivation of high-quality hybrid seeds across 200,000 acres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Petal Seeds Company has achieved a major milestone, helping increase maize production in the province by approximately one million metric tonnes.
This was stated by Mohammad Mushtaq Safi, chief executive of Petal Seeds and Zarghun Corporation, while briefing a delegation of the KP Agriculture Department led by Secretary Dr Bakhtiar Khan, which visited the company’s central office, research centre and production units here on Sunday.
Mushtaq Safi said the company focused on four key areas - research, marketing, field operations, and production. “The company is not only providing high-quality hybrid seed resilient to the challenges of climate change, but is also actively training farmers,” he added.
He said the company’s field workers have so far reached 35,000 farmers individually, educating them about land capacity, crop selection, and the use of appropriate seed, fertilizer and pesticide to maximize production. In addition, around 500 training sessions were conducted, which were attended by 15,000 farmers. In total, 50,000 farmers have been provided training across the province.
He further said that research trials were conducted at 500 locations, while commercial trials were organized at 300 sites, describing this as another major achievement of the company.
“The core motto of the company is to increase crop production and ensure farmers’ prosperity. But, these targets cannot be achieved without government support,” he stressed.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Bakhtiar Khan said that the private sector was playing a vital role in agricultural development and that the future of agriculture lied in private enterprise. He stressed that collaboration between the public and private sectors would help make the country self-sufficient in agricultural production, leading to national progress and farmers’ prosperity.
During the visit, the delegation toured various sections of Petal Seeds Company and inspected display stalls showcasing different varieties of high-quality seeds and agricultural inputs. Officials reviewed the products in detail and discussed their effectiveness, quality and importance for farmers.
The delegation also visited the machinery section, where they examined modern systems including gravity separators, seed treatment units, and seed packing mechanisms. They were given a comprehensive briefing on seed cleaning, grading, treatment and packaging processes.
Dr Bakhtiar Khan said that the conditioning, research system and germplasm at the company were outstanding. He expressed his satisfaction that the seed being produced by the company was resistant to the worsening challenge of climate change, which has been hitting the province hard. He assured full government support for further improvement and future success.
