Islamabad: Chinese solar technology forces are moving towards green revolution, in the unpopulated areas of Attock District, Gwadar Pro reported on Monday.
Investors from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have long been buying low-cost uncultivated lands in the sparsely populated areas of Attock district, with the aim of converting these barren fields into agricultural and livestock farms.
However, this trend has gained momentum in recent years following the introduction of affordable and efficient Chinese solar technology in the country.
Freed from the constraints of the electricity grid, which has a sparse network in these areas, and lacks an irrigation system, farm investors are now opting for cheaper, off-road lands to develop larger farms with the help of this solar technology.
Fahim, from Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bought 2,500 kanals of cheap land for Rs 20,000 per kanal in an uninhabited hilly area along the bank of the Indus River, several kilometers from the Ingra-Kalabagh road in Jund tehsil.
He installed several solar power plants to irrigate olive seedlings using a drip irrigation system.
“It is difficult to access the land, but look at the size of the farm and the expected yield once these trees mature and start producing olives,” Fahim told Gwadar Pro during a recent visit to his farm.
Many others have also developed various farms in the surrounding areas, powered by Chinese solar technology, while corporate agricultural investors are starting to take notice.
A few years ago, Arshad Hussain from Swat bought more than 300 kanals of neglected land a few kilometers off the Jind-Attock road and planted citrus plants, which are irrigated by a well-functioning pipe with Chinese solar technology.
“I intend to buy more land here to establish an apricot orchard,” he said. He also owns a buffalo farm that spans more than 100 canals in the region.
This trend has further intensified since the completion of the Hakla-Di Khan Expressway, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative, which has provided easy access to investors from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Many families from different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have moved to Attock to manage their agricultural lands.
There are many stories that illustrate this powerful trend of cultivating uncultivated land with the help of Chinese solar technology.
“This trend is so strong that it could mitigate the negative effects of rapid urbanization on farmland in Punjab,” noted one observer.
He added that the scale of cultivation of these abandoned lands, made possible by Chinese solar technology, is so large that it can be said to exceed the rate of urbanization.
