Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Asim Munir on Monday stressed on the need for Pakistan to become economically self-sufficient and end its reliance on foreign loans, calling for “throwing out the begging bowl.”
Addressing the inauguration of the Khanewal Model Agriculture Farm as a guest of honor, he said the Pakistan Army was proud to serve its nation. The Army and the public both draw their strength from each other, he said, adding that the armed forces would not rest until Pakistan had been steered out of prevailing crises.
“Pakistanis are a proud, zealous and talented nation. All Pakistanis must throw out the beggar’s bowl,” he said, emphasizing that Pakistan had been blessed with resources that no power in the world could remove. Noting that security and the economy were interlinked and indispensable to each other, he said the model farm in Khanewal would trigger an agricultural revolution in the country.
Similar model farms would be established nationwide, he vowed, adding they would be on modern standards and benefit small farmers.
According to a statement issued by the Information Ministry, the Khanewal Model Agriculture Farm is Pakistan’s first such completely automated facility and a flagship of the Green Pakistan Initiative earlier announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It said the Green Pakistan initiative was a “unique opportunity” for all stakeholders to collaborate for a sustainable and profitable future, claiming it was already attracting investments.
The statement said Pakistan’s agriculture sector holds immense potential, which can be harnessed through mechanized and modern farming practices. Noting that the agriculture sector contributed 23 percent to the GDP despite employing just 37 percent of the labor force, it said the productivity yield must be increased to transform the economic landscape.
Apart from the prime minister and COAS, the event was attended by the ministers of finance, defense, planning and development, food security and Research, and information and broadcasting. The chief secretaries of all provinces, agricultural experts, notable farmers, senior Army officials and foreign dignitaries from various countries were also present at the occasion.
Maj. Gen. (retd.) Tahir Aslam, the managing director and chief executive officer of FonGrow—a subsidiary of Fauji Foundation—said the modern corporate farming project would take Pakistan’s agriculture to new heights. “Our main focus area has been import-substitution farming so that domestic production can eventually replace billions of dollar worth of imports,” he said, adding FonGrow was developing a model that foreign investors could later replicate. “We strive to expand corporate farms to 100,000 acres for cultivating wheat, cotton, oilseed crops, soybean and sesame in different districts of the country. The Green Initiative eyes corporate farming at one million acres of land by fostering partnerships with various foreign and local players,” he added.