How much has been improved in terms of agricultural research, seed certification, provision of agricultural machinery and technical assistance to farmers? Large-size agriculture departments, after spending billions of rupees, why are the results contrary to expectations? How is the performance of Ministry of National Food Security & Research in availability of food items in abundance and at affordable prices?

Mumtaz Ahmed Bhatti                                                                                                                               

There is a vast area of fertile land in Pakistan and it is our bad luck that agricultural commodities cannot be produced in Pakistan as per requirement. Even today, many items including meat, wheat, sugar, tomatoes, onions have to be imported to meet the shortage of food. This question arises in the mind of every person of Pakistan, whether our livestock and agriculture departments do not have the capability or resources, due to which they could not show better performance in terms of food production. According to the federal and provincial governments that resources are being provided to the Livestock and Agriculture Departments as per requirement, anyone who doubts can read the Federal PSDP and the ADPs of the four provinces. It can be seen in PSDP and ADPs that funds of billions of rupees are being provided to NARC, seed certification, livestock and agriculture departments. Many projects have been completed at the federal and provincial levels and several projects are ongoing.Whether there is proper monitoring of the completed and ongoing projects and objectives for which the projects were completed have been fulfilled or not.The people of Pakistan should know about PSDP and ADPs projects whether the projects are succeeding or failing. The projects about which information has to be conveyed to the public are the Federal PSDP projects Cage Culture Cluster Development Project, Calf feedlot fattening in Pakistan, Establishment of consumer sourcing seed authenticity system and Strengthening of Labs of FSC&RD, National Oilseed. Enhancement Program, National Peste Des Petits Ruminants (PPR) Eradication Programme: Phase 1 – Risk Based PPR Control In Sheep and Goats of Pakistan, National Program for Enhancing the Command Area in Barani Areas of Pakistan, National Program for Improvement of Watercourses in Pakistan – Phase II, Prime Minister’s initiative for Backyard Poultry, Prime Minister’s initiative for Save the Calf, Productivity Enhancement of Rice, Productivity Enhancement of Sugarcane, Productivity Enhancement of Wheat, Promotion of Olive cultivation on commercial scale in Pakistan -Phase II, Promotion of Trout Farming in Northern Areas of Pakistan, Strengthening / Up-gradation of Agriculture and Livestock Research System of Arid Zone Research Institute, Umerkot-Sindh, Water Conservation in Barani Areas of KP. Projects of Punjab ADP Extension Service 2.0 Farmer Facilitation through Modernized Extension, Promotion of fruits production in Punjab through provision of certified plants, Rehabilitation of Old Bulldozers for Sustainable Land Development Work to Ensure Food Security, Upgradation of AARI Infrastructure,Faisalabad, Research & Development on Fruit Crops

in South Punjab through Establishment of Fruit Research Institute at Bahawalpur, Establishment of Center of Excellence for Olive Research and Training (CEFORT) at Barani Agriculture Research Institute Chakwal, Promotion of Mechanized Agriculture for Increasing Crop Productivity, Privatization of Agriculture Extension Services to Enhance the Service Delivery, Establishment of Centers of Excellence for Wheat, Rice, Sugarcane, Maize & Millets, Provision of Missing Infrastructure in 10 Agriculture Produce Markets, Promotion of High Value Agriculture through Solarization of Drip & Sprinkler Irrigation Systems,Projects of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial ADP Gomal Zam Dam Command Area Development and On Farm Water Management for High Value and High Efficiency Agriculture Project, – Introduction of Certification Facilities for Quality Assurance and Creation of Market Linkages for Agriculture Interventions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, – Provision of Interest Free Loan to the Farmers of Command Area under Gomal Zam Dam – Command Area Project, Establishment of Trout Villages in Malakand and Hazara Division, Development of Cold Water Fisheries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Provincial Share-PM’s Agriculture Emergency Program), Development of Reservoirs for Fisheries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Sindh ADP projects Establishment of Agro-Export Processing Zone for Export of Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers & Allied Processing Products from Local Farms / Processing Units to Overseas Markets, Provision of Agricultural Land Development Machinery & Equipments (On Subsidized Rate), Sindh Irrigated Agriculture Productivity Enhancement Program Phase-I Project (World Bank Assisted), Additional Lining of Watercourses in Sindh. Balochistan Provincial PSDP Projects KACHHI CANAL COMMAND AREA DEVELOPMENT, REHABILITATION OF GOVT: AGRICULTURE FARMS, PROMOTION & DEVELOPMENT OF OLIVE CROP IN BALOCHISTAN, ON FARM WATER MGT & EFFICIENCY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.Whatever the success rate of the projects is, it is important to bring it to the public as there is a widespread perception among the public that the completed and ongoing projects under the National Food Security and Agriculture Departments have been complete failures. The main reason for the failure of these projects is high level corruption. If there was no corruption, the benefits of these projects would have been available at cheaper prices of food items. Misperception is widespread among the public because there is no media projection of the progress of agricultural projects.Unnecessary and excessive pesticide spraying on crops has fatal effects that ultimately cause various diseases in people, this is a question mark on the efficiency of plant protection and pest warning.How much role are playing in availability of food items the completed and ongoing projects under the Ministry of National Food Security & Research and  agriculture departments ?I will write an investigative article on the completed and ongoing projects very soon.