By Qudsia Bano ISLAMABAD, Feb 09 (INP-WealthPK): Potato has become an important crop for both farmers and consumers in Pakistan over the years. It is the fourth most extensively produced food crop after wheat, rice, and maize, providing the farmers with good yields and handsome profits and generating a handsome foreign exchange. Though potato is grown countrywide, Punjab is the leading potato producing province followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. Okara, Sahiwal, Kasur, Sialkot, Sheikhupura, Jhang, Narowal, Pak Pattan, Gujranwala, T.T Singh, Khanewal, and Lahore in the Punjab province account for over 86 percent of potato acreage and output. The average yield in Pakistan is around 10 tons per acre (25 tons per hectare) compared to developed countries with 60 tons per hectare. Pakistan is growing a number of varieties and the main varieties are Santa, Mozika, Astrex and some others, with the first two varieties being the most commonly grown in the country. Seven seedlings have been developed by the Potato Research Institute, Sahiwal, out of which three varieties – Kashmir, Satluj and Punjab – were recommended for approval in the 81th meeting of Experts Sub-Committee of the Punjab Seed Council on July 12, 2021. Since potato is a lucrative crop, a big number of farmers have made heavy investments. Owing to the increased investments, the potato export has surged in the recent years. In 2018, Pakistan exported 120.9 million tons of potato to Afghanistan, Russia and the Middle East. According to the Ministry of Commerce, potato production countrywide increased by 10 percent from $78 million in 2019-20 to $86 million in 2020-21. The current markets of Pakistani potato are Afghanistan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Gulf Cooperation Council and Russia, while the new potential markets are China, European Union, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar. The following table shows the export volume to different countries. https://www.tridge.com/intelligences/potato/PK/export According to the Potato Research Institute (PRI), Sahiwal, potato production in Pakistan has increased 164 times from 28,000 tons to 4591.8 thousand tons from 1947 to 2017-18. In Punjab, potato is grown on 180.6 thousand hectares with a production of 4402.6 thousand tones with an average yield of 24.4 t/ha during 2017-18. Although the average yield of potato in Pakistan is higher than the world average, it is far lower compared to the developed potato producing countries like New Zealand, the Netherlands, France, Germany etc. Low productivity of the crop is due to several biotic, abiotic stresses, and the relatively limited allocation of land. Different biotic constraints, including pathogenic diseases such as late blight, early blight, bacterial wilt and viral infections have a tremendous impact on potato production. Temperature extremes, nutrient deficit soil, poor irrigation water, lack of availability of quality seed potatoes are among the abiotic stresses which pose challenges to potato productivity. Moreover, allocation of significantly lower area for potato cultivation than other crops is also among the important underlying issues which result in substantially low yields. The yield can be significantly improved, through the use of latest technologies, new varieties, modern farming practices and precision agriculture. The Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) is striving to bring technical and revolutionary transformation to agriculture through sensible and equitable policies that balance farmer demands. During a discussion in October 2020, the PARC officials informed the Federal Secretary Ministry of National Food Security & Research that the Council had aided farmers in a variety of ways to increase crop productivity. Chairman of PARC Dr Muhammad Azeem Khan explained that due to disease attacks on the local potato types, the government was forced to purchase seed potatoes of the eighth generation from Holland, which costs millions of euros. Now that Pakistan has the ability to manufacture virus-free potato tubers locally, the country will be able to save the hard-earned money spent on the import of this important product. According to Dr Azeem Khan, the PARC had been able to increase the production of disease-free potato seeds based on the capacity of its cold storage, after which a potato tissue culture laboratory was established for the first time in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chilas, allowing the farmers to become self-sufficient and economically stable through better yields. In an interview with the Associated Press Pakistan (APP) in July 2021, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Food Security Jamshed Iqbal Cheema said Pakistan had been importing potato seed from different countries since 1980. “In order to get optimum yields of disease-free potato, the departments concerned of the government have decided to use Gilgit-Baltistan for growing virus-free potato. He said the country was currently producing 5.7 million tons of potato. “Domestic consumption of potato is increasing at an annual rate of 10pc since 2005. The consumption would increase further when the country enters the food processing zone. The increasing trend of fast food has led to an increase in the potato consumption,” he said, adding that potato was going to be a crop bigger than rice and other staple foods in future.