ISLAMABAD: Chinese solar technology powers are leading towards green revolution, in unpopulated areas of Attock district, Gwadar Pro reported on Monday.
Investors from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province have long been purchasing low-cost uncultivated land in the unpopulated areas of Attock district, with the aim of transforming these barren fields into agricultural and livestock farms.
However, this trend has gained momentum in recent years following the introduction of affordable yet efficient Chinese solar technology in the country.
Freed from the limitations of grid electricity, which has a sparse network in these areas, and lacking an irrigation system, farm investors are now opting for even cheaper land off roads to develop larger farms with the help of this solar technology.
Faheem, from Mardan district in KP, has purchased 2,500 kanals of inexpensive land for as little as Rs20,000 per kanal in an uninhabited hilly area along the bank of the River Indus, several kilometers away from the Injra-Kalabagh road in Jund tehsil.
He has installed several solar plants to irrigate his olive saplings using a drip irrigation system.
“The land is difficult to access, but look at the size of the farm and the expected yield once these trees mature and start producing olives,” Faheem told Gwadar Pro during a recent visit to his farm.
Many others have also developed various farms in the surrounding areas, powered by Chinese solar technology, while corporate agricultural investors are beginning to take notice.
A few years ago, Arshad Hussain from Swat purchased over 300 kanals of neglected land a few kilometers off the Jund-Attock road and cultivated citrus plants, irrigated by a tube well powered by Chinese solar technology.
“I intend to purchase more land here to establish an apricot orchard,” he said. He also owns a buffalo farm spanning over 100 kanals in the area.
This trend has intensified further since the completion of the Hakla-D.I. Khan Motorway, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative, which has provided convenient access for investors from KP. Several families from different districts in KP have relocated to Attock to manage their farmlands.
There are numerous stories illustrating this vigorous trend of bringing uncultivated land under cultivation with the aid of Chinese solar technology.
“The trend is so powerful that it could mitigate the negative impacts of rapid urbanization on agricultural land in Punjab,” one observer noted.
The scale of cultivation of these deserted lands, made possible by Chinese solar technology, is so significant that it arguably surpasses the rate of urbanization, he added.
