By Ayesha Mudassar,

ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan works on formulating a strategy in consultation with the relevant stakeholders to focus on home-grown manufacture of agriculture implements through adoption of cutting-edge technologies to enhance productivity and unleash the sector’s export potential.

Eng Asim Ayaz, policy manager at Engineering Development Board (EDB), told WealthPK that work had been initiated on the formulation of agriculture implements manufacturing policy with standardisation of technical requirements for 78 agriculture implements.

“Key recommendations for the policy include eliminating duties and taxes on plant and machinery imports, establishing testing centres in the country, promoting labour skills and offering subsidised financing to the local manufacturers,” he added.

Talking to WealthPK, Nazakat Nawaz, a scientist officer from the National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC), said that a quality control and regulatory body needs to be established to ensure the quality of locally-manufactured agriculture implements.

He said that Pakistan can generate billions of dollars in export of agriculture products provided a favourable working environment and supportive regulatory framework are put in place. “Agriculture production remains below bar due to application of traditional management practices,” he pointed out.

Dr. Nurullah, the principal scientific officer at NARC, told WealthPK that Pakistan needed to implement modern technology and tools to improve per acre yield to save the foreign exchange incurred on import of food products.

“The main reason behind seed import is the lack of advanced technologies used for seed development and multiplication. Adoption of agricultural technologies in seed development will encourage smart farming and smart farm production,” he underscored.

During the fiscal year that concluded on June 30, 2022, imports of agricultural machinery and implements increased by approximately 18.32% compared to the imports during the same period of last year.
Investment in modern technologies is essential to boost output, lower costs and save time, and most importantly, to compete in the global markets.

Awareness and training courses for the industry owners and proprietors in the use and implementation of innovative technologies is a must for boosting productivity and capturing the export market.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk