LCCI organises seminar on biotechnology
Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 05:00	Written by Shumaila Ahmed	Wednesday, 12 December 2012 09:48
AHORE: Provincial Minister for Agriculture Ahmad Ali Aulakh has said that the government is spending sufficient amount of energy and resources for the promotion of biotechnology.
He was speaking at a seminar titled �Biofuel challenges and opportunities� organised by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday.
The minister said that the Punjab government had already handed over 1,500 biogas plants to the rural community at a subsidy of Rs50,000 per unit and the only objective was to promote alternate energy resources.
�Since more than 60 percent of the country�s exports belong to agriculture, biotechnology is of prime importance,� he said. �Electricity shortages have badly hit agriculture and industrial sectors and it is very unfortunate that the country is not availing the benefit of its biofuel potential, whereas by next year India would be fulfilling 20 percent of its total energy needs through biofuel.�
Also speaking on the occasion was LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar, who said that there was no doubt about the enormous potential of biotechnology in Pakistan. �It is rightly said that the 21st century belongs to biotechnology,� he said. �It is really unfortunate that no significant work has been done in Pakistan in this field. There is abundant availability of cultivable areas in shape of barren and waste land in Pakistan.
Courtesy: The News