ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi called upon all relevant stakeholders to maximise their efforts to increase percentage of insurance coverage in agriculture sector.

During meeting on crop Insurance organised by Federal Insurance Ombudsman (FIO) at Aiwan-e-Sadr he said crop insurance was essential for ensuring food security of country as well as financial vitality of farmers.

He expressed his concern that crop insurance volume in Pakistan was less than one percent whereas even in neighbouring countries it was was around 4-5 percent.

Punjab Minister for Agriculture Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi, FIO Dr Muhammad Khawar Jameel, representatives of State Bank of Pakistan, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan Banks Association, Asian Development Bank and senior officials of government attended meeting.

President said that crops insurance and related matters should be included in curriculum of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to sensitise and equip students regarding importance of crop insurance.

He said students should also be sensitised on risk management and shielding farmers from crop losses due to disease, pest attacks, drought and manmade or natural disasters.

He said that Higher Education Commission should take initiative in this regard and all relevant stakeholders should develop and enforce this curriculum.

He urged need to set up innovative technologies in agriculture sector including vertical farming, conservation of water, weather-resistant seeds and crops in controlled environment, which although required minimum investment but gave maximum benefits.

President said that all insurance companies and stakeholders should launch comprehensive and effective awareness campaign through all media to educate and inform relevant public regarding their products, benefits and risks attached to them before launch of products.

Meeting was informed that committee had been constituted under chairmanship of State Bank of Pakistan, which was looking at overall crop situation in country and including non-traditional crops and cattle into insurance portfolio.

Asian Development Bank representative informed meeting that ADB had instituted grant of 10 million dollar for research and development in sector of food security with international collaborations to give policy-based loans to affected farmers. He said that ADB would also include crop insurance in its portfolio to safeguard vulnerable farmers in crisis situations.

President Alvi appreciated idea of setting up an institutional framework at national level with its own secretariat to take stock of crops situation around country.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 10 2022

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.