Islamabad, Mar 14 (IANS): In its efforts to enhance agricultural productivity, the Pakistani government has been focused on using modern technology to meet domestic demands and enhance exports, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Syed Murtaza Mahmud said.

"There is a need to improve agricultural productivity through farm mechanisation and promote agricultural credit for rural economies, especially to purchase modern technologies," the Minister added on Monday while addressing a seminar on agribusiness here.

The use of productive irrigation methods like drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, optimum use of intermediate inputs like fertilisers, seeds and pesticides for better produce of crops are required, he said, adding that converting raw produce into value-added products can promote agribusiness.

Murtaza said low-cost enterprise development programmes like honey bee keeping and floriculture are being promoted in order to create employment opportunities for rural youth, Xinhua news agency reported.

The government has also been organising training programmes to provide knowledge on the application of gain-sharing tools and share best practices to make agribusiness enterprises more productive and profitable, the Minister added.

He further noted that the challenge at the moment is to better integrate small-scale farmers into markets so that they can make the agricultural sector stronger.