The government is aiming for sustainable improvement in productivity and quality of crop commodities through development of improved varieties and hybrids through Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC).
The Ministry of National Food Security and Research informed in a written reply in Senate on Thursday that the ministry through PARC incurred Rs.14, 063.973 million including establishment cost from July 2013 till December 2017.
The agriculture sector grew at an average annual rate of 2.14 percent during last five years.
In the last five years, the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) has strived hard to increase the production of both major and minor crops in the country.
PARC through its coordination efforts with the NARS scientists released and recommended more than 120 varieties of different crops with commodity based distribution including 29 varieties of wheat, 59 varieties of rice, 8 varieties of sugarcane, 6 varieties of oilseeds, 7 varieties of maize and 6 varieties of pulses.
The trickledown effect of these research activities resulted in increased average yield per hectare and total production of these crops in the country.
The agriculture sector has notably contributed in generating a healthy growth rate in its own as well as national GDP during the five years.
