Islamabad (Khyber Mail): A four day international workshop on Improving Agricultural Productivity through Mechanization has started on Monday.
National Productivity Organization (NPO), Pakistan in collaboration with Asian Productivity Organization (APO), Tokyo, Japan has organizinged the workshop at a local hotel in Lahore, which will be attended by 19 overseas participants from 10 APO member countries, 07 local participants and sessions will be delivered by the international resource speakers from Japan, Thailand and Pakistan.
The main aim of this workshop is to promote understanding of the latest technologies and measures for mechanization in agriculture, policies and frameworks to support mechanization on small farms. Farm mechanization is viewed as a package of technology to ensure timely field operations, increased productivity, reduced crop losses and improved quality of grain or product.
Sikandar Mustafa, Chairman, Millat group of companies and Millat Tractors as chief guest in his opening remarks appreciated the APO’s role in the development of Asia-Pacific region. He further deliberated that it is time to revitalize our commitment and to strive to achieve APO’s vision of “Inclusive, innovation-led productivity growth in the Asia-Pacific”.
He welcomed the international delegates and conveyed his gratitude to APO and NPO for addressing this important topic. He said that working in tandem with APO, Pakistan will be able to find solutions to long-standing issues of the productivity.
He said NPO is facilitating to strengthen the ministry’s mandate through its vision “Economically Productive and Globally Competitive Pakistan”. NPO is solely responsible for Productivity & Quality enhancement in Pakistan.
Toshinori Mitsunaga, program officer Asian Productivity Organization, Tokyo, Japan expressed his sincere gratitude to the Government of Pakistan for their sincere efforts to continue Productivity Movement. He appriciated the APO & NPO team for their efforts for productivity enhancement in the region.
CEO NPO, Muhammad Alamgir Chaudhry thanked the chief guest and APO Program officer for their presence and time. He welcomed all the participants and resource persons. He said with an estimated 48 million hectares of arable land, there exists a sizeable potential for improving efficiencies, yield, and productivity of the agriculture sector with better farm equipment and machinery. The Government of Pakistan is committed to support this sector, with the hope that the country can increase yields and exports of primary crops, fruit and vegetables, poultry, and dairy products and in doing so become an important supplier for the region. To achieve this objective, the government is encouraging increasing private-sector interventions, investment by offering several direct and indirect assistance programs.