Pakistan to top Halal Food exports: Kurd: Pakistan Observer

Pakistan to top Halal Food exports: Kurd

Islamabad—Federal Minister for Livestock and Dairy Development Mir Hamayun Kurd has Pakistan will soon top in exports of Halal food. The Minister said in an interview that the government is adopting scientific methods for the production of livestock and dairy development and soon Pakistan would become no.1 country in the world, especially in Europe. The Federal Minister while talking about European Union restrictions on the export of fisheries, he said that the main cause of these restrictions is that previous governments have not given proper attention to this sector.

He said that a group of European Union will visit Pakistan in August and there is strong possibility that they would not only lift the restrictions but the visit will also give a boost to the fisheries sector. The visit would also help increase the exports of Pakistan. The minister said around 80% of Pakistani population depends on livestock directly but the non-technical staff in the previous government failed even to make country self sufficient.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan to top Halal Food exports: Kurd: Pakistan Observer

Gulf looks overseas for food sources: SFGATE

Adam Schreck, Associated Press

In the dunes around this sun-scorched desert village, where camels still plod along dusty roads an hour south of Dubai's skyscrapers, they're making the wasteland bloom.

Row upon row of bell peppers grow plump in a temperature-controlled greenhouse. Lilies and roses bud nearby, and strawberries are on their way, all thanks to sophisticated water-saving irrigation.

Yet even high-tech establishments like the Mirak Agricultural Services farms here and elsewhere in this riverless country will never feed the region's rapidly growing population. It's that realization that is persuading wealthy Gulf Arabs to look far beyond their shores for more fertile acreage - tens of thousands of acres, in some cases.

There are simply too many mouths to feed and not enough water. Lush urban landscaping and ambitious agricultural projects here and in Saudi Arabia - which once spent so much on farm subsidies that it exported surplus wheat - are quickly draining aquifers, including some that are millennia old and cannot be refilled.

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USDA Attache: Pakistan's 2007-08 Rice Exports Surge: Ali Baba

Editor: Sharon Li
6 Nov 2008 09:49:09 GMT

Unfettered by government intervention or an export ban, Pakistan rice exports surged in MY 2007/08 to an estimated at 4.2 million metric tons, positioning Pakistan to overtake the United States as the world's third largest exporter of rice, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture attache report posted Wednesday on the Foreign Agricultural Services Web site.

Access to last season's strong international prices encouraged farmers to move additional planting area to rice, and as a result, MY2008/09 rice production is estimated to reach a record 6.3 million tons.

In light of this year's bumper crop and the softening of international prices, the Government of Pakistan has announced its intention to purchase one million tons of domestic paddy in an effort to support local prices. The trade is wary of any government intervention in this highly successful, private-sector led market and has responded cautiously to the government's rice procurement scheme.

RICE Production

Based on Government of Pakistan (GOP) data, Post's estimate of MY 2006/07 rice production was increased (5 percent) to 5.45 million metric tons (MMT), the MY 2007/08 production estimate was increased (4 percent) to 5.7 MMT, and the MY 2008/09 estimate increased by (12.5 percent) to a record 6.3 MMT. An expansion in area planted to rice coupled with timely rains and reduced pest activity contributed to this year's record crop production level.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: USDA Attache: Pakistan's 2007-08 Rice Exports Surge: Ali Baba