The Pakistan-China Joint Chamber for Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) has suggested that it grow Chinese kinds of potato in order to improve the quality of production without disease. PCJCCI officials – at a discussion in the PCJCCI Secretariat Lahore, mentioned the fact that Chinese potato varieties are known for their ability to resist disease and pests, which makes the potatoes a great resource to Pakistan to improve its germplasm of potato.

They recommended the creation and marketing of Tissue-Culture Laboratories, highlighting that Pakistan is an important exporter of potato and has a self-sufficient eating domestic potatoes, Gwadar Pro reported.

Moazzam Ghurki who is the president of the Joint Chamber said that the recent flooding had resulted in extensive destruction to various agricultural crops in Pakistan However, potato production was up to 7.937 million tonnes in the year 2022-23’s fiscal year, which is an increase of 35 percent over 5.873 million tonnes in the prior fiscal year. The increase was due to the reality that Punjab is a significant potato-growing area, was not affected by the flooding.

However, Pakistan imports 20,000 tons of potatoes each year which results in a high dependence on seeds from abroad and expensive production costs at the beginning in the range of 35-40% of these costs are allocated to the seeds.

Source: dailytimes.com.pk