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Sunflower seeds give best nutritional quality
SUNFLOWER seeds are power-packed with
healthy fats, protein, fibre, minerals, vitamin E, and
phytochemicals - all important to the nutritional quality of
diet. While the vibrant, strong sunflower is a recognised
worldwide for its beauty, it is also an important source of
food.
December 2006
Changing
priorities in farm sector
ACCORDING to the State Bank’s Annual Report,
agriculture sector showed dismal performance in the last
fiscal. The share of this sector in the total GDP growth has
been further marginalised.
December 2006
Bottlenecks in rice marketing
MEAGRE marketable surplus of small farmers
together with their weak financial position makes it
difficult for them to withhold the produce for better
prices, while the remoteness from the organised markets
generally influence farmer ‘decision to sell locally at
comparatively low prices.
December 2006
List
of ZTBL defaulters
Zari Taraqqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) here on
Thursday provided to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) the
list of 47 industrialists who were written off Rs4.48
billion under the October 2002 remission of the State Bank
of Pakistan for write-off of irrecoverable loans and
advances.
November 2006
Taking the bull
by the horns
If everything goes according to the script,
Pakistan will reap a record wheat crop next year. Farmers
firmly believe that the wheat output will surpass the
official target of 22.50 million tons fixed for the next
crop, which will be ready for harvest in April.
October 2006
Punjab farmers unhappy over cane prices
THE government has finally given in to the
pressure of the powerful lobby of sugar millers, who are
heavily represented in the Parliament as well as in the
federal cabinet and conceded most of the demands, the
industry had put forward as a pre-condition for starting
cane crushing.
October 2006
Falling export of textile products
THE textile industry has been hit by falling
export trend. Most of the exporters seem to
be nervous which has raised alarm bells for
the country’s economic managers
October 2006
Food
deficit and farm productivity
GROWING population and declining water resource have created
food deficit. The cereal deficit alone may increase to 25
per cent by 2025, while China will enjoy a surplus of over
three per cent despite having population, several times
higher than ours.
September 2006
Causes of sugar
crisis
Sugarcane is the second largest non-food crop after cotton and
ranks fifth in respect of acreage. Prolonged drought and
heat stress decreased its production by 22 per cent in
1999-2000, and further 17 per cent in 2000-01.
September 2006
Cotton
crop hit by rain and pests
Towards the close of the third week of this month, the Punjab
agriculture minister was reported to have directed the
Extension and Pest Warning Wing officials to be, “alert and
remain present in the fields to have a close watch over the
situation created by the monsoon rains for the cotton crop”.
August 2006
Marketing
of farm produce faulty
PAKISTAN is now shaking off age-old practices and adopting
some degree of scientific approach in agriculture. This
change has brought appreciable dividends to the big farmers
but the small ones have been left behind.
August 2006
Integrated weed management in rice
WEEDS reduces the yield and quality of a crop. It also raises
the cost of production. In case of paddy, the yield drops by
15-20 per cent and sometimes, even 50 per cent.
July 2006
Risk
to food security from environmental degradation
THE World Commission on Environment and Development has warned
that unless we change our lifestyle, the world will continue
to face environmental damage and human suffering.
July 2006
Land
degradation — a threat to agriculture
Pakistan is facing a number of environmental threats, of
which, land degradation appears to be the worst.
June 2006
The neglect of
agriculture
THE share of agriculture in 1947 was 53 per cent of the GDP
which now has declined to 23 per cent. This sector deploys
44 per cent of the total labour force, while 68 per cent
rural population depends on it, directly or indirectly.
Agriculture contributes over 70 per cent to export.
May 2006
Environmental hazards of pesticides
ABOUT 25 million agricultural workers in developing countries
suffer from pesticide poisoning each year that includes a
significant number of women, says the World Health
Organization (WHO).
March 2006
Bird flu
scare hits chicken sales
People are reluctant to purchase chicken over the last two
days after the news that bird flu has hit neighbouring
countries, especially India and Iran.
February 2006
Sugar prices hit all-time high amid supply crisis
Sugar remained in the limelight on the Karachi wholesale
commodity markets during the previous week. The prices
soared to new peak levels amid panic consumer buying due to
the pressure on supplies.
February 2006
Is
the on-going sugar crisis artificial?
THE issue of soaring price of sugar was placed on the desk of
the President of Pakistan, the all powerful General Pervez
Musaharraf, on February 7; the issue was then over a year
old and had already attained unprecedented.
February 2006
Rice-Wheat System Sustainability Concerns and Soil-Borne
Pathogens
Rice and wheat are grown in a continuous in Indo Pak on more
than 12 million hectares stretching across Bangladesh, India,
Nepal and Pakistan. Concerns have emerged in the recent past
regarding the sustainability of the rice-wheat system.
January 2006
Fertilizers and Environmental Pollution
Fertilizers are organic or inorganic substances, either
natural or synthetic, used to supply elements (such as
nitrogen, phosphate and potash) essential for plant growth.
January 2006
Reforming
faulty wheat policy
Recently two articles came out in Dawn – one titled “Flawed
wheat policy” that argued that the wheat policy was flawed
because there was more reliance now on the private sector.
January 2006
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