ISLAMABAD: A resolution adopted at the conclusion of two-day Balochistan Kisan mela condemned in strong terms the proposal of Capital Development Authority (CDA) to convert agricultural research land of National Agriculture Research Council (NARC) into a housing society.
A farmer representative of Qalat, Agha Jan presented the resolution to the participants of the mela, stating that farmers of Baluchistan condemn the CDA proposal and urging the government to reject such summary.
Besides farmers of various districts of the Baluchistan province, the mela was attended by CM Baluchistan Dr. Abdul Malik and Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Sikandar Hayat Bosan, the Provincial Minister of the Agriculture and Cooperatives, Sardar Muhammad Aslam Bizenjo. FAO Country Representative Patrick T. Evans were present on the occasion.
The Mela was organized by Food and Agriculture Organization in collaboration with government of Balochistan and Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) featured several programmes including a conference on Agriculture Development of Balochistan.
The resolution stated that the NARC was the only agriculture institute of international standard in the country. Whenever there arise any problem in agriculture in the country, this institute had played central role to overcome the problem, it said adding “We the farmers of Baluchistan and of other small provinces mostly depend on NARC for getting new skills, technologies and solution of our problems, because there is no well-equipped agriculture institute in our province.
Speaking on the occasion, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan said that the federal government has initiated several agricultural development projects in the province of Balochistan to uplift this sector and raise income of the farmers.
He said the government was aware of the problems of farmers in Baluchistan and is formulating programmes and projects to address these issues. He also announced that his government will provide agriculture trainings to 1,000 farmers from Balochistan at the National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Islamabad.
He informed the participants that government has approved the Seed Act and now it is up to the provincial governments to implement the Seed Act at provincial level.
Chief Minister Balochistan, Abdul Malik while speaking on the occasion urged the federal government to help exploit the agricultural resources of the Balochistan province for the betterment of farmers. He said that the provincial would extend all support for all the projects launched for the development of the province.
Sardar Muhammad Aslam Bizenjo while addressing the participants said that “majority of the population in the province is engaged in agriculture for their livelihoods. To enhance agriculture development and crop productivity in the province, provincial government is launching 2015/16 as the Year of Agriculture in Balochistan”.
On the occasion, the FAO country representative Patrick T. Evans said that his organization was currently implementing two programmes in 14 districts of Balochistan to help increase incomes of resource poor rural men and women through building capacities of farmers to benefit from increased crop and livestock production and improved marketing and organization. He said FAO was supporting the government of Balochistan in the formulation of the Balochistan Agriculture Policy and Strategy and will also be providing support with the implementation of this policy”.
INP
