{"id":32438,"date":"2026-03-10T06:34:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T06:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/?p=32438"},"modified":"2026-03-10T06:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T06:35:07","slug":"rs4-6-billion-project-proposed-to-modernize-seed-potato-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/rs4-6-billion-project-proposed-to-modernize-seed-potato-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"Rs4.6 billion project proposed to modernize seed potato sector"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>ISLAMABAD, Mar 10 (<a href=\"http:\/\/abc.net.pk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ABC<\/a>): The Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) has proposed Rs4.590 billion five-year initiative to modernize the seed potato sector in Pakistan.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>According to official documents available with <a href=\"http:\/\/wealthpakistan.com.pk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wealth Pakistan<\/a>, the project \u201cSeed Potato Production and Supply Centre (SPPSC)\u201d is scheduled to run from July 2026 to June 2031.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The center will be established at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) and executed through the National Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The center will serve as a national hub for localized, virus-free seed potato production. By deploying advanced tissue culture and aeroponics technologies, the project seeks to develop sustainable domestic capacity for producing virus-free foundation seed. A modern cold-chain and post-harvest infrastructure will also be introduced, targeting a reduction of 25-30% in seed losses during handling and storage.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)-based digital certification, traceability, and inventory management system will ensure transparency, real-time record-keeping, and quality assurance.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The nationwide seed certification and traceability system is expected to become fully operational under the project, strengthening regulatory oversight by formally integrating the Federal Seed Certification &amp; Registration Department (FSC&amp;RD) into seed certification and monitoring processes.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The initiative promises wide-ranging benefits for farmers. Domestic production of virus-free seed potatoes is set to increase significantly, reducing reliance on imported seed. Enhanced access to certified, high-quality seed is projected to improve productivity and profitability for over 10,000 farmers nationwide.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The fully constructed and operational center will feature a tissue culture laboratory, screen houses, a cold storage, and a seed packaging unit. Field multiplications will be carried out nationwide, ensuring broad-based distribution and impact.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Public-private partnerships will play a key role in scaling up seed multiplication, optimizing cold storage utilization, and strengthening distribution logistics. Capacity-building efforts will target more than 1,600 stakeholders \u2013 including farmers, technicians, and regulators \u2013 through structured training programs.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The project will draw on Korean expertise and best practices to support technology transfer and knowledge exchange.<\/div>\n<div>Strategically aligned with the 5Es Framework, the 13th Five-Year Plan, UN Sustainable Development Goals, and NAIGP, the SPPSC supports export growth and import substitution, promotes digital certification under E-Pakistan, strengthens cold-chain infrastructure, enhances productivity, and helps improve farmer incomes.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Once implemented, the SPPSC will mark a significant leap toward modernizing Pakistan\u2019s seed systems, bolstering food security, empowering farmers, and fostering sustainable agricultural growth.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD, Mar 10 (ABC): The Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) has proposed Rs4.590 billion five-year initiative to modernize the seed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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Desk","author_link":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/author\/adnan\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"ISLAMABAD, Mar 10 (ABC): The Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) has proposed Rs4.590 billion five-year initiative to modernize the seed [&hellip;]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32438"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32441,"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32438\/revisions\/32441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltimes.com.pk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}