If housing societies leave any land for agricultural purposes, it’s time it should be used for trying out new things. By new things I do not mean trying out new agri techniques. Those are necessary and sooner or later, we must switch over to less water intensive methods of irrigation. What I want to point towards is expanding diversity in the type of vegetables we grow.
Consider mushrooms. Practically every restaurant that you go to has mushrooms on the menu. Even desi restaurants have mushrooms incorporated into dishes. However, most of that mushroom is imported. Why are we paying such heavy import bills for a fungus that is relatively easy to grow? All that is needed is an indoor space, mulch or compost or wood chips, and spores to start the first round. Later on, spores can be collected from the crop to grow the next one. There are eight mushroom types that can be grown in this method.
Infact, mushrooms can be grown by individual homes and then sold directly to restaurants. It’s a good way of earning a side-income as the fungus is not particularly difficult to grow or harvest.
The other thing that needs attention is olives. After the successful cultivation in Chakwal, olive growers should be given more incentives to branch out and try more products made from olives like tapenade. The eventual goal can be growing enough olives to be able to export the oil and other products. That olives grow in baraani (arid) land is an added advantage. We can utilise land that is lying in waste.
Unusual vegetables that are used in western or far-eastern food can be another source of revenue. Rocket, one of the most common ingredients in salads, is easy to grow. Infact,a sub-species of rocket grows in the wild in Pakistan in abundance. Yet no one here knows about it and does not try to cultivate it. Other vegetables and herbs that can be grown with ease include snap peas, gallangal, parsley and kale.
The government should also look into expanding the type of vegetables it does grow. We currently grow only ‘dry’ varieties of sweet potato. The orange one, the ‘moist’ variant, is far more adaptable for cooking. Yet we have to import that in if we want it. The dry variants we do grow are good for shakar qandi we eat on roadsides. However, the moist ones are good for frying, baking and cooking.
These are just a few ideas. The agriculture sector can look into expanding what it already does. It’s time we start thinking of the agri sector as a source of potential export revenue. And not just with tomatoes or onions or green chillies, but other vegetables too.
