Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) The Punjab government has launched a project of Rs. 6 billion named “National Program for Enhancing Profitability through Increasing Productivity of Rice ” in 15 rice districts of Punjab to promote mechanization, usage of certified seed and responsible use of pesticides to meet import tolerance standards (IT’s) especially set by EU & USA. Under this project, farmers are getting subsidy on purchase of certified rice seed, education on responsible and judicious use of pesticides etc. It is a complete package being given by the government to enhance the productivity of the rice in a sustainable way. The project is also aimed at promoting mechanization through subsidizing (50%) use of different machines such as transplanters for increasing plant population and other agricultural implements, said Director Agriculture (Extension) Gujranwala Mr Javed Iqbal while speaking at a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony. Syngenta Pakistan and Galaxy Rice (Pvt) Limited signed the (MoU) to impart training to rice growers on Pre-harvest intervals, product GAPs (Good Agriculture Practices) & application technology to bring change in farming practices to produce residue free rice. The training will sensitize farmers on importance of right application timing based on pest ETL (Economic threshold level) & PHI (Pre-harvest interval) to keep our rice grains free from pesticide residues.
General Manager Syngenta Pakistan, Kazim Hasnain and Managing Director Galaxy Rice Mr Shahid Tarer signed the document on behalf of their respective organizations. Tauseef ul Haq, Business Sustainability Head Syngenta Pakistan explained about Syngenta’s initiative on residue free rice production through Syngenta Rice Protocol. Kazim Hasnain highlighted that helping our farmers to produce safer food is the top priority of Syngenta Pakistan. We train more than 400,000 farmers every year on responsible use of pesticides that not only help farmers to stay safe but also contribute towards protecting our environment and improve the quality of the produce in parallel. Javed Iqbal said that the government would bear 50 per cent of the cost on the usage of different types of machinery such as transplanters, nursery raising machines, Rice specialized harvesters, rice straw choppers, rotavators and power sprayers. “It is aimed at converting this sector from the present status of conventional farm machinery into real ICT supported mechanization,” he added.
Managing Director Galaxy Rice Shahid Tarer said that 55 percent of Pakistan economy relies on agriculture and rice crop is one of the most important crops, which is earning precious foreign exchange for the country. He said monitoring of pesticides residue in rice crop is very important since Import Tolerances are being revised periodically by the European Union (EU), USA and Gulf countries for the last three to four years. He said that our products are going to the high-end market and we have to keep the pesticide residue below the IT standards set in these countries. Imran Sheikh Agri Business Head Galaxy Rice moderated the event. Chaudary Muhammad Rafiq Director Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku was chief guest. Mr Talfoor Hassan Assistant Director Pest Warning and Quality Control Gujranwala, Mr Tahir Naeem Head of Farm Advisory Centre Fauji Fertilizers Company Sheikhupura,Dr Javed Akhter Padhiar Deputy Director Agri Extension Gujranwala addressed the participants.
