USAID Agribusiness holds training on potato seed in Pakistan

The Agribusiness Project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF), organized a week-long technical and managerial training on Seed Potato Production Technologies at the Horticulture Research Institute, National Agriculture Research Center (NARC) in Pakistan from March 24 to 28.

The 23 participants included farmers and other stakeholders from selected potato-growing valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The five-day training was envisaged to familiarize them with the latest production technologies, demonstrate modern crop management practices and enable them to cultivate their own seed potato to reduce their dependency on high-cost imported seeds.

Deputy Director, EGA, USAID, Randy Chester presented completion certificates to all the participants on Friday, the last day of the training. Reaffirming USAID’s commitment to economic growth in Pakistan, he said: “The USAID aims to help the agriculture sector by focusing on areas where a lot of value can be added. Since the northern part of Pakistan is ecologically suited to growing seed potato, we are focusing on these areas for seed potato production. These are comparatively poor areas and the introduction of technology and knowledge will help not only fill part of the seed gap but will also help alleviate poverty.”