MULTAN: Secretary Agriculture South Punjab Dr Faisal Zahoor said that 68% country’s population was facing shortage of micronutrients in their diet and efforts were being made to promote nutritional crops especially zinc, iron and boron rich wheat.
He said this while addressing a workshop on nutritional rich wheat at Lodhran, held under auspices of Agriculture Department and an NGO, on Tuesday.
The secretary agriculture urged the farmers to focus on wheat varieties rich with zinc, boron and iron. These elements are of vital importance in humans’ daily diet. These varieties of wheat not only have immunity against diseases but also have high productivity to empower farmers economically.
“The present government is taking steps to address the lack of nutrients in food commodities and ensure food security at national level”, said Faisal Zahoor. Farmers are being encouraged to grow wheat varieties rich in essential nutrients like zinc, iron and boron.
He informed that many projects are in progress to promote agriculture under the National Agriculture Emergency Plan which would surely help in increasing per acre production. He instructed agriculture experts to guide farmers about balanced and proportionate use of fertilizers for more production.
He also ordered strict action against sellers of fake fertilizers and pesticides. On this occasion, Additional Secretary Agriculture Task Force Imtiaz Warriach, Deputy Secretaries Dr Muhammad Iqbal, Haider Karar and other officers were also present.
