Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain has said government envisions enhancing agriculture based economic growth for the benefit of the poor.

Chairing the federal Committee on Agriculture, in Islamabad, he said Pakistan has immense production potential in agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors. He stressed the efficient utilization of production resources by adopting modern technologies, establishing realistic marketing systems, and minimizing trade barriers for sustainable economic growth.

Rana Tanveer Hussain said the government is making efforts to assist farmers by providing inputs at affordable prices and ensuring better prices for their produce to bridge the gap between production costs and output prices in favor of farmers.

Reviewing performance of the Rabi crops, the Committee observed that Wheat production for the current year is estimated at 29.69 million tons from an area of 9.6 million hectares. The increase in production is 5.4% over the last year.

Onion production is estimated at 1.92 million tons, tomato production at 627.47 thousand tons and potato production at 8.1 million tons.