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SAU, PARC organise seminar on production of palm oil on coastal areas

HYDERABAD: National and provincial agricultural experts and researchers expressed deep concern over Pakistan's rising edible oil import bill, exceeding $5 billion annually, and the unusually high per capita consumption of over 24 kilograms of oil. They emphasized that the lack of marketing, oil extraction, and processing units for palm oil remains a major obstacle in attracting local farmers to cultivate this important crop. They shared these views while addressing a seminar titled 'From Nursery to Field – Best Practices for Oil Palm Seedling Transplanting and Management,' jointly organized by Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) Tandojam, and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) under the Agriculture Linkages Program (ALP), held at the Senate Hall on Tuesday. Dr. Inayatullah Rajper, Dean of the Faculty of Crop Production at SAU, emphasized that palm oil is an important crop for Pakistan. He stated that alongside ongoing research, there is a crucial need to generate market demand to ensure farmers recognize its significance and are encouraged to cultivate it. Dr. Rajper highlighted that the challenges facing palm oil cultivation must be addressed promptly. He pointed out that, similar to castor oil—which is widely used in the global aviation industry but often overlooked domestically—palm oil also requires greater attention and acceptance among consumers. Dr. Mazharuddin Keerio also urged policymakers, government, and industrialists to invest in and establish oil palm processing units. He emphasized the need to launch promotional campaigns for this purpose, conduct research on new hybrid varieties, and called on research institutions to advance work on tissue culture varieties. Dr. Zakir Hussain Dahri, Director General of PARC's Southern Zone Agricultural Research Centre (SARC), stated that so far, the habit of using soybean and palm oil for food has not been developed; these oils are primarily used in detergents and soaps for industrial purposes. He noted that an average person consumes 24 kilograms of oil, 26 kilograms of sugar, and 3 kilograms of salt annually, while in other countries, consumption is less than half of these amounts. He further added that Pakistan imports edible oil worth 5 billion dollars annually. Dr. Allah Wadhayo Gandahi, Principal Investigator of the project, stated that farmers show little interest in cultivating palm oil due to the absence of dedicated oil processing mills and the lack of market demand. He emphasized that if coordinated efforts are made in research, policy, and infrastructure, palm oil cultivation in the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan could become a key pillar of Pakistan's agricultural development. He recommended promoting public-private partnerships, ensuring policy and institutional support, and integrating palm oil into national oilseed development programs. Dr. Nizamuddin Depar, Head of Soil Sciences at the Nuclear Institute of Agriculture, declared that Sindh's agro-climatic conditions are conducive to oil palm cultivation. He advocated for collaborations with Khairpur's Date Palm Institute to boost research in tissue culture. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025