Secretary Agriculture Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr. Muhammad Bakhtiar Khan, visited Akora Seed Company Limited in Nowshera and Olive Research Farm established in Sang Bhatti area of Swabi district

Secretary Agriculture Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr. Muhammad Bakhtiar Khan, visited Akora Seed Company Limited in Nowshera and Olive Research Farm established in Sang Bhatti area of Swabi district.
During visit to Akora Seed Company, the delegation was given a detailed briefing on the company’s research and development activities, collaboration with the Directorate of Agriculture Research and various matters related to agricultural development.
Secretary Agriculture also inspected different sections of company and expressed keen interest in the ongoing research activities.
Appreciating the company’s efforts, Dr. Muhammad Bakhtiar Khan said that agricultural research, provision of quality seeds, and promotion of modern agricultural technology are vital for the development of agriculture sector. He stated that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government highly values cooperation of private sector for agricultural development.
He termed it encouraging that Akora Seed Company Limited is the only seed company in the province having a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Agriculture Department in the field of agricultural research and development. Directors of Directorate of Agriculture Research, Director General Agriculture Research, Project Director Olive and other relevant officials also accompanied
Secretary Agriculture during the visit.
Later, Secretary Agriculture visited Olive Research Farm in Swabi, where he was briefed in detail about olive orchard management, production and performance of olive oil extraction units established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Various matters related to olive cultivation, modern agricultural practices and value addition also came under discussion during the visit.
Dr. Muhammad Bakhtiar Khan stressed need to enhance quality production in the olive sector, ensure effective use of modern agricultural technology and maximize benefits for farming community. He directed concerned authorities to accelerate practical measures for promotion of olives and further strengthening of value chain in order to boost agricultural development and increase farmers’ income in province.