ISLAMABAD: The worldwide shortage of food grains coupled with high food prices is driving leading food companies and investors from the UAE to Pakistan in search of lucrative deals in the agriculture sector in of one of the world's major food exporters.

With the entire world passing through an era of record food prices, and an acute food shortage predicted in the near future, leading Gulf investors are planning joint ventures and direct investments in Pakistan's farm and livestock sectors, Express TV reported.

Big UAE companies are also planning to develop their own farms for wheat, rice, sugar, cotton, fruits and vegetables in Pakistan, said Bilal Pasha, Commercial Consul at the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai.

He said: "A few big companies from the UAE have shown keen interest in setting up big corporate farms in Pakistan. Big food traders and manufacturers from the UAE, such as Al Ghurair Group, Emirates Investment Group, Effco from Sharjah and Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Group, are going to play a vital role in Pakistan's agricultural field. Some dairy companies from the UAE and Saudi Arabia are also setting up big diary farms inPakistan."

Companies from Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries are also keen to invest in agro-industries in Pakistan, he added.

MAF is setting up two shopping malls in Pakistan and the group is also keen to procure most of the fruits and vegetables required for its GCC shopping malls from Pakistan, Pasha said.

"The top three private equity investors from the UAE are negotiating for big investments in Pakistan's agricultural sectors," he added.

He said provincial governments own the land in Pakistan and can grant 100 per cent ownership to foreign investors. The required minimum size of a "corporate" farm is two acres and the minimum investment is $500,000.

While Pakistan has received a substantial share of GCC investments in financial services, telecom and real estate, co-operating in the agriculture and dairy fields will be a win-win situation for both parties.

Pakistan has some of the highest returns in the sector and the GCC imports 90 per cent of its agricultural and dairy needs, Pasha said.

The Pakistani Government is keen to promote production to face food shortages and to boost exports from the country.

The Pakistan Consulate and Market Access Promotion (MAP) Services Group from Bahrain are jointly organizing the Middle East-Pakistan Agriculture and Dairy Investment Forum in Dubai on Tuesday.

About 30 leading Pakistani agricultural and diary companies will be participating in the forum and meet their UAE counterparts to negotiate joint venture projects in the agricultural and diary sectors.

According to Map, Pakistan's agricultural sector grew by 4.6 per cent in 2006,compared to 3.1 per cent growth in India and Malaysia. Map also said return on investment in some dairy and agricultural products in Pakistan is the best not only in the region but also worldwide.

Government officials from Sindh and Punjab, two major agricultural provinces of Pakistan, the Pakistan Investment Board and other officials will also interact with representatives of the Gulf Financial institutions and private equity fund managers.

According to Pasha, Pakistan is the world's largest producer of oranges. It is the fifth largest producer of milk and has the worlds third highest livestock count.

It ranks in the top five producers in the world of mangoes and dates. Additionally, crops such as cotton, rice and sugar have earned, directly or indirectly, more than 70 per cent of the total national export income.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=44469

I said it before....X-people need food and only Y-people will be willing to provide in a fair manner. Industrial manufacturing is good and all, but our agriculture production should increase as well. Pakistan should ensure that it can produce its own food and fuel for its people regardless of sanctions, international market issues, etc...we should remain beyond the Western run market. We should focus in on our export offers on things that the majority of the world needs to economically progress and reduce neo-colonialist strain. Pakistan should pin-point opportunities in exporting low-cost+high-quality medical equipment; ensure a steady flow of food; knowledge & technology in human-productivity related systems...keep the cost attractive, cut the strings and just watch.

Sounds interesting. Hopefully they can help raise the production (yield) per acre and the production per farmer within the country. The production per acre within the country needs to be raised drastically (for example, wheat production per acre could quite easily be 4 times what it is now, as compared to other countries). An increase of production per farmer would help lower poverty, and inevitably increase literacy levels (as children will be able to go to school rather than stay home and farm). An increase of overall production will help keep prices low, while at the same time increase profits for each farmer. Gulf countries at the same time would be able to secure a guaranteed source of food (at a relatively low price).

Agriculture & dairy investment forum starts in Dubai today

LAHORE (PR) - The second Middle-East Pakistan Agriculture & Dairy Investment Forum will be held in Dubai on April 29 (today).
The forum is a series of two events, the first of which was held in Lahore in November 2007. Tetra Pak Pakistan is the platinum sponsor of the event.
The forum is a follow-up road show for the Pakistan agri-dairy sector, whereas the objective of the Lahore forum was to help consolidate and facilitate agriculture and dairy investors, local partners and financiers in boosting investment for value-added agriculture and dairy sectors
Expressing his views about these events, Azhar Ali Syed, MD of Tetra Pak Pakistan highlighted the huge business opportunities in the area of providing safe food to 165 million consumers in Pakistan, particularly in dairy and juice products.
He drew the attention of investors to the fact that Pakistan produces and consumes about 34b litres of milk annually; however, less than 5% is processed and packed. During the last five years Tetra Pak Pakistan’s dairy customers grew more than 25% annually.
The growth rate, however, slowed down in 2007 to 10%. Consumer demand for safe processed and packed milk remains high but the dairy processing industry is finding it difficult to collect good quality milk at a reasonable cost since there are over 14 million dairy farms with average herd sire of 3 heads.
“We believe that the dairy sector in Pakistan can benefit from an influx of investment. Dairy farming practices and infrastructure are largely primitive and backward leading to production inefficiencies resulting in lack of good quality milk available to processors,” Syed said.
“What is needed under these circumstances is an influx of financial, technical and skilled human capital in all areas of the milk supply chain, especially in mega dairy farms.
These farms can provide good quality milk, increased efficiency and a pool of best practices for the industry. GDP per capita of Pakistan is growing. This is the right time to invest,” he added.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/Apr-2008/29/bnews8.php

Seedless kinnows export : Pakistan trying to meet European countries’ demand



KARACHI: Pakistani exporters are working on a plan to export seedless kinnow to European countries to meet their demand by 2011, said chairman Fruit and Vegetable Processors and Exporters Association (FVPEA) Monday.

Pakistan is looking forward to produce citrus having 4-6 seeds each as compared to 20 to 25 seeds, which is the main Europeans demand.

Europeans say seeds cause stomach disorder, Pakistani exporters said. "Every seed of kinnow has a specific chemical material that some times disturb stomach," said Mateen Siddiqui, chairman FVPEA.

The production of seedless kinnows was the result of the public-private partnership by Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Citrus Research Institute of Government of Punjab and Sunder Agricultural and Fruit Farm.

Pakistani kinnow was not given much importance in European countries due to containing around 20 to 25 seeds each piece. He said these kinnows would not be hazardous for the human health in any way as the methods used for its production include natural selection as well as the genetic manipulation.

The European countries mostly import citrus from USA, New Zealand and some of Arab states besides Spain and Morocco.

He said, "If we move professionally and meet quarantine requirements, we can grab the market volumes as we are already meeting the Iranian Plant Protection Organisation requirements of conforming the installation of data loggers in the cold storages.

He said there was need for conducting joint experiments to test fruit flies sterilization at 50C for 14 consecutive days in order to get certified by Department of Plant Protection, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock.

An official of Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) said Pakistan produces 95 percent of total world kinnow production. It is the sixth largest producer of Kinnow (mandarin) and oranges in the world, with 2.3 million tonnes. It is being estimated that the country may have a record export of 250,000 tonnes of kinnows this year.

The plants of seedless kinnows are produced through tissue culture and the government has sold 110,000 million saplings to the growers so far. Almost 400-450 saplings of seedless kinnows were being sold every day to the growers.

He said a plant of seedless kinnow costs Rs 100 against Rs 20 for the one with seed, he added. expressed hope that country would succeed in increasing kinnow export by virtue of seedless fruit.

World citrus exports are valued $2.125 billion in which Pakistan's share was $31 million that was around 2.5 percent. This is due to export of citrus to low priced countries.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?p...24-6-2008_pg5_2

Pakistan can benefit from an influx of investment in agriculture related sectors.

There is only 1 solution to the food problem ---
.
..
...
LESS PEOPLE


Lower the rate of population growth, encourage contraceptives, encourage people to have less children and provide better for the ones they have.

Only China seems to have realized this with their 1 child policy, Pakistan should start a 2 children policy. Yeah Yeah I know it would be impossible to enforce. If people are more educated about the above mentioned steps the pop. growth rate would go down.

The solution is more farming not less people.

Solution is proper distribution...doesn't help with the Zardaris, Arabs, Anglo-Saxons and Chinese 'owning' land in Pakistan.

Bro add to that mismanagement, corruption, illiterates in charge of major decision making and you have gone full circle in identifying just what is wrong with Pakistan. If we were a capable and industrialised state with high productivity in our agricultural sector we could easily support a population four times what we have now.

Too much wastage during transportation and storage and top of it, is corruption and too few research..

I think its a bit of everything which you guys have mentioned above.

Supply side - distribution costs, too many middlemen, transporation costs
Demand side - too many people to feed (population boom), government inefficiency and corruption

Pakistan seeks $125m Saudi credit for fertiliser

Friday, June 27, 2008
By Aftab Maken

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government is negotiating with Saudi authorities for reviving another credit facility of $125 million for fertiliser import, The News has learnt.

A team of the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) is working out a strategy for the revival of Saudi credit facility for the import of nitrogenous fertiliser (urea), official sources of the EAD told this correspondent.

Pakistan nearly availed the existing Saudi credit facility of $133 million, which the kingdom pledged after the devastating earthquake in 2005 and Pakistan imported urea fertiliser as the country faced urea deficit in the last couple of years.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in a meeting with the King of Saudi Arabia in the first week of June discussed economic cooperation between the two brotherly countries.

The Economic Affairs Division is devising modalities for operationalising the facility for at least two years because two urea fertiliser plants, one each of Fatima Group and Engro Chemicals, would be commissioned in 2010 and the country would be self-sufficient in the commodity, an official well aware of the development said.

The government is also importing 350,000 tonnes of urea for the ongoing Kharif season to meet the shortfall and the TCP has placed tenders for the import of the commodity.

Out of the total consumption basket of 7 million tonnes of fertilisers, 5.4 million tonnes are urea fertilisers while the remaining 1.6 million tonnes are phosphorous and potassic fertilisers.

For urea fertilisers, the country bristles with local production of 4.8 million tonnes and 0.6 million tonnes shortage is met through imports.

Source: http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=120712

Mangoes chock full of vitamins

Mangoes have a lot of vitamins and eating one or two a day will provide sufficient nutrition to the body without increasing weight.

“Weight loss typically involves the loss of the fat, water and muscle nutrition,”

Diabetes, blood pressure, joint pains, infertility, sleep apnea, depression, heart attack and cancer are all attributes of overweight and obesity, said Dr Saeed Sheikhani, the Professor of Medicine Hamdard University “By practicing a healthy life style, one can enjoy the advantages of being the right weight,” he said. Slight modifications in diet and regular exercise can keep one healthy and slim. A healthy diet, regular exercise, minimum stress and non-addiction to tobacco and alcohol are essential components of a healthy lifestyle. “Obesity is an elusive problem which has major impact on the social and emotional wellbeing of an individual. Specific, measurable and realistic objectives should be pursued for integrated weight management,” he advised the participants.

Dr Salman Azim defined obesity as the increased fat composition in a body compared to its total weight. He said that due to brisk physical activities, the body’s demand for energy increases and the accumulated fat in the body begins to burn in form of calories. Being overweight and obese were results of an energy imbalance in the body for a long period of time. This arises when the number of calories consumed is more than the number of calories used by the body. He said that weight gain involves the combination of consuming too many calories and not spending enough of them through physical activity.

1.7 Million tons mangoes produced

RAHIM YAR KHAN: The annual mango production in the country is estimated at 1.7 million metric tons, with Rahim Yar Khan district accounting for over 0.4 million metric ton of the fruit, almost a quarter of the total national produce.

Talking to APP at the 3-day ‘Mango Show 2008’, DO agriculture Imtiaz Ahmed disclosed that today Pakistan ranks at number five in the world for mango production, and stands at number seven in the export of fruit to world markets.

“This export ranking, which was almost nil 10 years ago, has occurred with the introduction of proper fruit storage know-how, increased facilities, the use of latest post-harvest technology, greater grower trader liaison and positive marketing policies,” he observed.

He lauded the fruit and vegetable development project and other similar programmes introduced by the government. “With government support, our mango export ranking will rise to the top three positions,” he added. The DO said that the Mango Show 2008 was a huge success, where stalls were set up to show the world varieties of delicious mangoes produced in this region and across the country. APP