University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan shows the book regarding history of UAF to German scientist Julia Poerting

Pakistan can earn foreign exchange by tapping its share in international organic food market after ensuring food security in the country. It was discussed at the meeting held between Agrarian Alternatives, Germany, Project Member Julia Poerting and University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan. Institute of Agri and Resource Economics Director Prof Dr Muhammad Ashfaq was also present on the occasion. Julia Poertring said that limited processing and storage capacity and large dependency over middlemen hamper to get full fruits for agriculture economy in Pakistan. She called for expediting steps to address the issues in a bid to flourish the sector rapidly. She said that organic agriculture was in the high demand in developed nations. In Pakistan, it is small but fast growing. Weak marketing system was the one of barriers, she said, adding that the organic food was the ecological friendly without the negative impact of pesticide on health. Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that food security was the major challenge for country as the 58 percent of the population are food insecure. He said that country was wasting 40 percent of the crops in the post harvest losses. He said that the exploitation of farming community on the hand of middlemen was serious concerns. He lauded the steps of the Punjab Government to establish the model agri markets to redress the suffering of the farming community. Talking about the organic food, he said that in Kashmir, olive, apple and mangoes were having the full potential for the international market. But, poor marketing was the main hurdle in this regard. He said that in Gilgit Baltistan, the organic dry fruit can attract the huge international markets. Prof Dr Muhammad Ashfaq said that the University is taking all out efforts to boost up the agriculture production in the country. He said that certified organic crops were also an area of concern for the country. He said that adoption of the modern agri practices was imperative to compete with the rest of the word.