Canadian High Commissioner Tarik Ali Khan holds discussions with Federal Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain on collaboration in growing canola, breeding hybrid seeds, and livestock genetics, while the Canadian Agriculture Minister is scheduled to visit Pakistan next month to discuss further investments in agribusinesses.
Pakistan is now looking towards one of the most advanced countries in agriculture in order to tackle an expensive import issue. Pakistan and Canada Canola cooperation discussions have started, as Pakistan is trying to foster its relations in agriculture sector with Canada in order to enhance the production of its oilseeds crops and cut down import bills of edible oil worth about $5 billion annually.
Pakistan is targeting canola because
Even though Pakistan is a country where agriculture forms one of its economic pillars and which is highly reliant on edible oil imports, Pakistan is still focusing on the canola cooperation between itself and Canada. The federal minister for national food security and research, Rana Tanveer Hussain, met with the Canadian high commissioner, Tarik Ali Khan, to discuss canola cooperation and other agricultural matters.
“Pakistan spends almost 4-5 billion USD each year on the importation of edible oils and is working on policies that will help it increase its domestic oilseed production.” Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research
The needs of Pakistan from Canadian agriculture experts
As per Hussain, Islamabad is interested in getting its benefits from Canadian experts on canola production, seed development, mechanization of farming processes and agricultural research in order to decrease Pakistan’s dependency on imports. He pointed out that although agriculture sector makes up 25 percent of Pakistan’s GDP and provides employment to millions of people, the country wants to gain from Canada’s experience in increasing its agricultural efficiency.
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Canada certainly adds much credibility to the above collaboration
Canada is among the top agri-exporters of the world and it is the largest producer and exporter of canola which is an oilseed product, discovered through Canadian research and used extensively around the world as cooking oil and animal feed. Canada is also renowned for its expertise in seed research, farm machinery and livestock genetics.
Beyond canola: An agricultural collaboration of larger dimensions
The collaboration of Pakistan and Canada is not restricted only to the cultivation of canola. According to Hussain, Pakistan aims to expand its collaboration with Canada in various fields such as breeding of hybrid seeds, livestock breeds, embryo transfer techniques, feed formulation, meat and dairy processing, packing and other value chains in agriculture an ambitious list that indicates the intention of Pakistan to upgrade several layers of its agriculture industry together at once.
Export possibilities being emphasized by Pakistan
Other than lowering the cost of importing products, Hussain further highlighted that there are various possibilities that can be realized from the export of several agricultural products by Pakistan.
According to the Canadian diplomat, the Canadian government is reaching out to the agriculture-focused provinces and business interests of Canada to consider investing in Pakistan’s agriculture and livestock sector. The Canadian minister of agriculture is due to visit Pakistan in July, and this will be a chance to enhance cooperation and find ways for collaboration in the agriculture sector.
The two sides further spoke about cooperation in the area of animal health systems and disease prevention programs, along with other steps that are being taken in order to help Pakistan comply with international standards necessary to qualify for export to premium markets. This is one of the critical aspects of the dialogue because of the country’s ambition in exporting halal meat and milk products.
Nayab Fatima is a university graduate and an emerging media professional with a strong passion for journalism, research, and independent reporting. She specializes in developing well-researched, fact-based, and analytical news stories covering a wide range of sectors, with particular expertise in technology, telecommunications, aviation, and the automobile industry.
