Importance Of Horticulture In Pakistan

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Agriculture is one of the biggest sectors of Pakistan. This sector is considered to be the center of development and economic growth of in Pakistan. Being a dominant sector, its GDP contribution is about 21.4%. In this sector 45% of the country’s force is employed (1). The total area coverage by the country is approximately 79.60 million hectares, about 37.10% area is cultivated, 11.5% area is cultural waste and 31% area is non-arable. The horticulture sub sector is one of the most important sectors of agriculture. Horticulture is the science of cultivating fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants. The area under the use of horticulture sub sector is less than 2% (2). According to Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, the total …show more content…

The increasing demand food in country resulting from population growth leads to the usage of pesticides by farmers. In Pakistan 665 metric tons (MT) of pesticide was consumed in 1980 which increased to 69897 MT in 2002 (4). This elevated utilization of pesticides has not resulted in increase of crop yield but has shattered the growth of bio-control agents in the agro-ecosystems which contains the populations of natural enemies of the insects and pests. The growth of natural bio-control agents have turn down up to 90% during the last decade (5). The excessive application of pesticides leads to the accumulation of pesticides residues in the food commodities which pose serious human health impacts. Furthermore, pesticide resistant pests are created that have never been discovered before. Other effects include soil, water and air contamination, demolition of natural predators, parasites and other non-targeted creatures including wildlife …show more content…

Literature Survey
In Southern part of Province of Punjab a study was conducted to determine the residual concentrations of three pesticides belonging to Organophosphate group in vegetables. The samples were analyzed using Multi-residue analysis using HPLC with UV detector. The results revealed that 33.0% of the samples were infected with pesticides. The results showed that about 8% of the samples examination hold remains of pesticides higher than the Maximum residual levels (MRLs)

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