TAXILA: A large number of farmers, including women, from all four districts of Rawalpindi Division on Thursday showcased their innovative value-added products at the 8th annual “National Peanut Festival” held in Attock.

The festival had been organised jointly by the Agri Tourism Development Corporation of Pakistan, Groundnut Research Station, Attock, Barani Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Ghazi Barotha Taraqiati Idara (GBTI) and the National Rural Support Programme, says a press release.

The festival was organised to effectively exhibit the knowledge, practices and successful experiments of farmers, researchers, scientists, marketers and all other stakeholders involved in groundnut production.

In the festival, farmers, including women, from all four districts of Rawalpindi Division showcased their innovative value-added products, such as agricultural implements, olive jam, olive pickles, olive oil, peanut oil, peanut butter, peanut sweets and peanut milk.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Agri-Tourism Development Corporation of Pakistan Tariq Tanveer said the agri-tourism had a great potential to play a role in Pakistan’s economy. He was of the view that agri-tourism enabled the public to visit working farms, ranches, or wineries to buy products, enjoy entertainment and participate in field activities.

Deputy Director District Agriculture Department, Attock, Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal said 92 per cent of peanuts were cultivated in Punjab, seven per cent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and only one per cent in Sindh. Similarly, he said, the Rawalpindi division shared 87 per cent of peanut cultivation in Chakwal, Jehlum, Attock, and Rawalpindi districts.

Deputy Commissioner, Attock, Rao Atif Raza, said entrepreneurship and innovative ideas and skills among youth had become the need of the hour to alleviate poverty in the country.

Mr Raza also said the agriculture sector had been facing tremendous challenges and pledged to form an action plan to address issues related to the marketing of groundnuts to farmers and to promote local products through female entrepreneurs.

Former federal secretary Hamid Ali Khan, former DG Olive Foundation Dr Zafar Iqbal, a progressive farmer Malik Ejaz, Principal Scientist Peanut Research Station Manzoor Hussain, CEO Pak Olive Yusuf Shah, Member District Council Malik Riazuddin, Director Bari Ashraf Samara and other experts also shared their experiences on this occasion.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2023