LAHORE: Environmentalists, on Sunday, said that climate change due to global warming could affect agriculture sector and can lead to a problem of food security in the country.
There was a dire need to adopt measures on war-footings to create awareness among the farming community about the impacts of climate change.
Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) Deputy Director Muhammad Saleem Shaikh said the ministry had directed the provinces to take steps to cope with the impacts of climate change with particular reference to agriculture and livestock sectors.
He said that the agriculture sector acts a backbone to the national economy and contributes 21 per cent to the GDP of the country. It is a source of livelihood for 45 per cent people of Pakistan and it constitutes 75 per cent share of income from exports, he added.
Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) environmental expert Kashif Salik said that various studies showed that steadily rising temperatures were posing a serious risk to country’s efforts for achieving sustainable food security and meet food consumption needs.
He said that growth in production of crops was linked to temperature, adding that rise in temperature affects crops badly; therefore, it was a need of the hour to take steps to cope with the threat.
World Wide Fund for Conservation of Nature (WWF) former Senior Director Dr Ijaz said that crops suitable to climate should be grown in the areas which receive high rains so that they could give a good yield.
He said the farming community was persuaded to use modern methods of investment in the areas which were prone to climate change.
State of the art methods be preferred for energy production and use of biotechnology be increased so that carbon absorbing crops and seeds could be grown, he added.
Prominent environmentalist Mehmood Khalid Qamar said that deforestation was causing extreme climate hazards.
He mentioned that rapid tree cutting was the main cause of serious climate change, which includes a rise in sea-level, floods, higher than average temperature, a higher frequency of droughts and expanding desertification.
