Gilgit’s farm file just got a longer horizon. Chief Minister Amjad Hussain has pressed for an effective agriculture policy to lift self-sufficiency, widen support for local farmers and landowners, and raise productivity across Gilgit-Baltistan — remarks made during a briefing by Agriculture Secretary Usman Ahmed on the proposed Gilgit-Baltistan Agriculture Draft Policy 2027–36, according to the Daily Independent.
What the draft is for
The framing is practical: more output, better quality produce, and clearer facilities for the people who already work thin terraces and short growing seasons. Expanding agricultural land in the region is also on the agenda, the report said — a hard ask in a geography of rock, glacier, and irrigation channels, but one the chief minister said was receiving attention.
Implementation after approval, he argued, should raise farm output and improve the quality of what GB markets can sell.
Crackdown language on inputs
On the agriculture secretary’s recommendation, Amjad Hussain directed authorities to take legal action against the sale of substandard fertilisers and agricultural pesticides in Gilgit-Baltistan. Deputy commissioners were told to act with agriculture department officials in their districts — a signal that the policy talk is meant to reach the shop floor, not only the assembly file.
Mushrooms, disasters, timelines
The chief minister also asked the Agriculture Department to give special attention to mushroom production, citing strong international demand. He said necessary amendments would be made to the disaster management policy so crop losses from natural disasters can draw compensation and relief — a live issue in a region that lives with cloudbursts, GLOFs, and washed fields.
He appreciated work already done on the draft and directed that, after amendments, it be improved with clear timelines and details of the resources needed for implementation. The revised policy, he said, should go to the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly at the earliest for approval and prompt rollout.
Why it matters up here
GB’s food story is never only about yields. It is about winter stock, import dependence, and whether a valley’s landowners can stay on the land when input quality fails or a flood takes a season. A 2027–36 frame is long by news-cycle standards; the short-term tests are assembly timing, enforcement on fertiliser shops, and whether mushroom and land-expansion lines become budgets rather than bullets.