CPEC will open new avenues in Pakistani agriculture sector: Expert
Multan: Hydroponics Expert at Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture (MNSUA), Professor Dr Nazar Farid has said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will open new avenues in the Pakistani agriculture sector.
In the hydroponics technique, the vegetables and fruits are grown vertically and there is no need for soil for the germination of high-value crops, Dr Nazar Farid maintained in a statement released on official media.
About how Pakistani farmers will earn from this costly technique, Dr Nazar said that CPEC would be operational very soon and many international corporate companies would start business in CPEC.
He added that the marketing of high-value crops would enhance across the region in the next few years.
He stressed that the promotion of hydroponic vegetables and fruits can help fetch foreign exchange as it has immense nutritional value along with cosmetic beauty and is also a favourite choice of people in European countries.
Regarding the hydroponics agriculture technique, the expert observed that it was a method of growing plants in a water-based, nutrient-rich solution.
Hydroponics does not use soil, instead, the root system is supported using an inert medium such as coco coir, perlite, rockwool, clay pellets, peat moss, or vermiculite.
He informed that MNSAU had imported coco coir, and peat moss in order to train university students in hydroponic agriculture technique.
Although hydroponic is costly at the initial stages and there is a need to search out specific markets for the consumption of high-value vegetables and fruits, he mentioned.
At the international level, there are so many markets and hydroponic vegetables in Europe. People are ready to pay for nutritional-rich vegetables and fruits. The prices of hydroponic vegetables are higher as compared to other vegetables grown in soil, he remarked..
Dr Nazar Farid pointed out that it was costly because farmers have to spend more on inputs for hydroponics.
There are two types of cost, one is on infrastructure and the second is operational cost. However, hydroponics has many health benefits. Every nutritional ingredient to feed plants is given in a calculated way. At different stages of plants, the requirements of plant feeds are different. For hydroponics crops, neat and clean irrigation water is used, he observed. At MNSUA, Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant has been installed for irrigation to the hydroponic unit.
About high-value crops, he informed that high-value crops have had greater demand throughout the years. Mostly, these are used in salads, he informed. Tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, spring onions, peppers, spinach, strawberries, blueberries etc are commonly grown in hydroponics.
The experts stated that Netherlands, USA and China were earning huge amounts by exporting these crops.
