Adnan Faruqi
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Pakistans spending on farm research lowest in Asia
LAHORE, April 21: Spending on agriculture research in Pakistan is lowest even by regional (Asian) standards, let alone the world ones, says Punjab Agriculture Research Board (PARB) Chief Executive Dr Mubarik Ali.
Speaking at a consultative meeting with members of the Agricultural Journalists Association (AJA) here on Saturday, he said this lack of funding deprived farmers of higher productivity benefits.
Instead of investing on research and innovation, Pakistans agriculture sector is focused on increased use of inputs, including fertilisers, pesticides and water, which led to stagnation in productivity, he said.
Agriculture production is not picking up and Pakistan has to import billions of rupees worth of pulses, fruits and vegetables every year.
Citing the example of other regional states, he underlined that Pakistan had the lowest spending on agriculture research among almost all world key nations and it was too in decline.
He pointed out that the country was investing between 0.25 to 0.29 per cent of agriculture GDP on research, whereas India was investing 0.4 per cent, Bangladesh 0.35 per cent, China 0.6 per cent and Japan 2.5 per cent. On the other hand, developed world was investing 2 to 3 per cent on R&D, he added.
The PARB chief claimed that inappropriate use of funds, obsolete research infrastructure and little or no incentives for innovation were impeding agriculture growth in the country. The root cause of problems include little investment on research, inappropriate investment, lack of coordinated planning, lack of monitoring and evaluation, focus on routine rather than problem-solving research, little incentive to be innovative and last but not the least little commercialisation of research, he elaborated.
He said Pakistan was on the lowest side when it came to investing on R&D and a major chunk of investment, around 85 per cent, went to administrative expenditure, like salaries, transport and maintenance of research facilities.
He appreciated the role of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Punjab government for revamping the education and research facilities in the country. However, he said, after the passage of 18th Constitutional Amendment, the HEC role had been marginalised, which resulted in neglect of educational and research institutes. Grants now had been reduced, ultimately affecting research work, he maintained.
Highlighting the significance of R&D, he said: These are scientists and research institutes efforts that the country is producing nearly five times more grain when it is compared with the levels of pre-partition. It is the fruit of research that per capita consumption of food products has increased 15 to 20 per cent, while spending on food has dropped from 85 per cent to 65 per cent during last several decades.
Speaking about the initiatives taken by the PARB, he pointed out that though the board had been revamped in 2007, but it had to spend initial two years in making rules and regulations. However, now it had been working effectively and efficiently and had received 372 research proposals, out of which 65 had been approved by the technical working group after rigorous deliberations.
To overcome research related problems, he said, the PARB was now poised to plan, coordinate, fund, monitor and commercialise specific agriculture research outputs in Punjab, the biggest agrarian economy of the country. He said breakthrough had been made in developing CLCV resistant cotton varieties at experiment level and its field trials were being initiated. He added that various approaches had been employed to overcome problem of CLCV, which had emerged as one of the potent threats to this cash crop. Issues such as control of Bacterial Leaf Blight-BLB for paddy, major progress in bran oil extraction, citrus waxing through indigenous resources, first ever propagation of date palm by tissue culture, successful olive propagation and value addition technique and productivity enhancement of buffalo through efficient management were highlighted on the occasion.
Prof Talat Naseer Pasha, vice-chancellor of University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), said research work in education institutions was now being better coordinated and expedited after setting up PARB. He added that special attention now had been given to livestock and dairy sector. He expressed the hope that such efforts would help address one of the key issues of the agriculture sector in most efficient way.
Dr Tariq Bucha, president of Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP), stressed the need for increasing interaction between scientists and farmers.
He added that farmers, being ultimate beneficiary of research, should be fully involved in identifying research projects besides creating linkages at grassroots.
Safraz Khan, vice-president of Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP) said small farmers, being biggest share holder in farming and dairy sector should be given priority in research work. He said various aspects of agriculture research should be properly discussed with representatives of farmer organisations.
Pakistan
LAHORE, April 21: Spending on agriculture research in Pakistan is lowest even by regional (Asian) standards, let alone the world ones, says Punjab Agriculture Research Board (PARB) Chief Executive Dr Mubarik Ali.
Speaking at a consultative meeting with members of the Agricultural Journalists Association (AJA) here on Saturday, he said this lack of funding deprived farmers of higher productivity benefits.
Instead of investing on research and innovation, Pakistans agriculture sector is focused on increased use of inputs, including fertilisers, pesticides and water, which led to stagnation in productivity, he said.
Agriculture production is not picking up and Pakistan has to import billions of rupees worth of pulses, fruits and vegetables every year.
Citing the example of other regional states, he underlined that Pakistan had the lowest spending on agriculture research among almost all world key nations and it was too in decline.
He pointed out that the country was investing between 0.25 to 0.29 per cent of agriculture GDP on research, whereas India was investing 0.4 per cent, Bangladesh 0.35 per cent, China 0.6 per cent and Japan 2.5 per cent. On the other hand, developed world was investing 2 to 3 per cent on R&D, he added.
The PARB chief claimed that inappropriate use of funds, obsolete research infrastructure and little or no incentives for innovation were impeding agriculture growth in the country. The root cause of problems include little investment on research, inappropriate investment, lack of coordinated planning, lack of monitoring and evaluation, focus on routine rather than problem-solving research, little incentive to be innovative and last but not the least little commercialisation of research, he elaborated.
He said Pakistan was on the lowest side when it came to investing on R&D and a major chunk of investment, around 85 per cent, went to administrative expenditure, like salaries, transport and maintenance of research facilities.
He appreciated the role of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Punjab government for revamping the education and research facilities in the country. However, he said, after the passage of 18th Constitutional Amendment, the HEC role had been marginalised, which resulted in neglect of educational and research institutes. Grants now had been reduced, ultimately affecting research work, he maintained.
Highlighting the significance of R&D, he said: These are scientists and research institutes efforts that the country is producing nearly five times more grain when it is compared with the levels of pre-partition. It is the fruit of research that per capita consumption of food products has increased 15 to 20 per cent, while spending on food has dropped from 85 per cent to 65 per cent during last several decades.
Speaking about the initiatives taken by the PARB, he pointed out that though the board had been revamped in 2007, but it had to spend initial two years in making rules and regulations. However, now it had been working effectively and efficiently and had received 372 research proposals, out of which 65 had been approved by the technical working group after rigorous deliberations.
To overcome research related problems, he said, the PARB was now poised to plan, coordinate, fund, monitor and commercialise specific agriculture research outputs in Punjab, the biggest agrarian economy of the country. He said breakthrough had been made in developing CLCV resistant cotton varieties at experiment level and its field trials were being initiated. He added that various approaches had been employed to overcome problem of CLCV, which had emerged as one of the potent threats to this cash crop. Issues such as control of Bacterial Leaf Blight-BLB for paddy, major progress in bran oil extraction, citrus waxing through indigenous resources, first ever propagation of date palm by tissue culture, successful olive propagation and value addition technique and productivity enhancement of buffalo through efficient management were highlighted on the occasion.
Prof Talat Naseer Pasha, vice-chancellor of University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), said research work in education institutions was now being better coordinated and expedited after setting up PARB. He added that special attention now had been given to livestock and dairy sector. He expressed the hope that such efforts would help address one of the key issues of the agriculture sector in most efficient way.
Dr Tariq Bucha, president of Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP), stressed the need for increasing interaction between scientists and farmers.
He added that farmers, being ultimate beneficiary of research, should be fully involved in identifying research projects besides creating linkages at grassroots.
Safraz Khan, vice-president of Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP) said small farmers, being biggest share holder in farming and dairy sector should be given priority in research work. He said various aspects of agriculture research should be properly discussed with representatives of farmer organisations.
Pakistan
