LAHORE: Climate-smart agriculture is the only way to cope with the climate change and minimise the damages caused by the pesticides and fertilisers, said Najam Mazari, chief executive officer (CEO) of ChiltanPure International, a company dealing in 800 plus organic food items and chemical-free healthcare and cosmetics products.

“We need to adapt and build resilience to climate change, increase crop productivity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We should focus on research and development to introduce crop varieties that could bear the hardships of climate change and use atmospheric nitrogen for proper growth,” he added.

For him, there was a need to minimise the usage of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides to overcome environmental and health hazards.

“It is not just an issue of saving environment and avoiding exposure of humans to hazardous chemicals. We need to minus synthetic fertilisers, pesticides and chemicals preservatives to provide safe and healthy food for human consumption,” Mazari said, adding that the world was returning to the organic food and Pakistan should not lag behind.

“We need to encourage and support production of chemical-free natural products and organic food for the local consumption. Excess production can help earn the much-needed foreign exchange through exports to the global market having potential of billions of dollars,” he said, adding that the agriculture sector, in general, and the organic food and natural products, in particular, have enough potential to help overcome the trade deficit of the country.

“The worth of the US market for organic and nature-based products is more than $60 billion. India is the major shareholder of this huge market. Focusing only on the US market can help earn huge foreign exchange for the country,” the ChiltanPure International CEO said and suggested the government to encourage business of organic and nature-based products, as it has the potential to take the country out of the prevailing economic crisis.

Mazari was born and brought up in a traditional Baloch family in Quetta. After doing ICS from Tameer-e-Nau College, Quetta, he moved to Lahore for higher education and graduated from the Forman Christian (FC) College Lahore, a chartered university. He then secured an MBA degree from the University of Management and Technology (UMT). He studied aromatherapy (scent/perfume therapy) and became Pakistan’s first certified aromatherapist.

After completing his education, Mazari sets up an IT company, Chiltan Tech but within two years he shifted his focus to organic food and later to other natural products.

Now, ChiltanPure has been ISO 9001:2015 certified with 800 plus skin, hair and food products.

Following are the excerpts of an exclusive talk with him:

Your first venture?

On completing my education in 2013, I established Chiltan Tech to try my luck in the IT business. Despite having relative education, I could not get desired results, maybe due to the lack of interest in webhosting or such things. In the next two years, I managed to earn around Rs0.3 million. At this stage, I decided to switch to the business of my liking. I set up a small office for ChiltanPure and started selling honey to online customers. On getting good response, I gradually included more organic food items in the list. With the passage of time, I started dealing in other natural products such as health, skin and hair care. Now, the company is dealing in more than 800 organic products, including food, herbs and cosmetics.

Your biggest achievement?

I am a self-made man who started from the scratch and managed to take ChiltanPure to unprecedented heights with honesty, dedication, handwork and proper customer care. Launched with the seed money of just Rs0.3 million, ChiltanPure has become a reliable household brand within seven years.

We are selling more than 800 food items, skin and hair care and general health booster products.

For the first time in Pakistan’s history, I have published a book on 100 edible, skincare and haircare organic and pure oils. The book “100 Miracle Oils for Health and Wellbeing” reveals the advantages of essential, infused and carrier oils for aromatherapy, healthcare and the wellbeing.

Why you chose organic products business?

I spent my childhood and early life close to the nature. My love and passion for the nature forced me to leave the field relating to my education and go for the business of nature-based products. The use of fertilisers and pesticides for the crop growth and chemicals for preservation of the end products is harmful both for the environment and the human health.

My goal is to meet the needs of the people and the planet by using pure and simple ingredients and time-tested manufacturing processes in all the products.

The organic products are prepared and processed without synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or additives. Eating organic foods and avoiding pesticides and toxins can improve the overall health and lead to a healthier and better lifestyle.

Tell something about ChiltanPure? Future plans?

Set up in 2015, ChiltanPure is now Pakistan’s renowned domain for organic and natural products.

It is a platform, where you can find high quality products and information about beauty, good nutrition and fitness. We offer pure and organic skin, hair and body care products. We want to promote a healthy lifestyle and ensure the people get enough nutrition and flavour by eating what is beneficial for them.

Besides providing hundreds of organic and natural products through online and known retail outlets, ChiltanPure provides a private labelling business, which enables multiple organisations to produce high quality products. It also collaborates with the private labelling businesses for the brand Nur by Juggun.

ChiltanPure owns 10 brands that are marketed on Mamas Jan, the online store that offers consumers pure and organic skin, hair and body care products.

Now, I am planning to set up Chiltan Foundation for encouraging cultivation of high value minor crops. This organisation will convince and educate the farmers to turn to growing herbs, spices and medicinal and aromatic plants along with the traditional crops. I am committed to change the lives of the people with profitable farming.

Your take on e-commerce?

It is an effective means for business, which gained considerable growth during the pandemic. I successfully used this mode in the beginning of my business career due to the relevant educational background. Initially, the entire business depends on e-commerce. Now, ChiltanPure has placed products on leading retail outlets. Still about half of the business volume depends on e-commerce.

E-commerce has a huge potential and, as such, there is a need to promote this business mode.

Challenges being faced by the agriculture and dairy sectors? Possible way forward?

We are fast losing agricultural land to housing societies. Moreover, there is an issue of low productivity and quality due to the affordability of inputs, which include raw materials, advanced technologies, information and advisory and financial services.

The conventional crops continue to dominate the sector, with a slow pace of diversification towards fruits, vegetables, flowers, oilseeds, pulses, beans, grains and valuable minor crops like medicinal herbs and spices.

The prevailing scenario is forcing an agrarian country like Pakistan to import a number of food items. We must draw a red line to save enough agricultural land and to ensure food security. Then, the only pragmatic approach can be to take measures to enhance yield to feed an increasing population and increase exports.

The farmers could get a higher yield by using certified seeds and quality inputs and adopting best farming practices. The government should focus on research to develop high-yield seed varieties for wheat, rice, cotton, and other crops.

Crop diversification and value addition is the need of the hour. The government should identify suitable areas and encourage cultivation of oilseeds and valuable minor crops. The previous government adopted a policy of encouraging cultivation of olive oil in Chakwal district. Similarly, it talked about growing hemp plants to get CBD (Cannabidiol), which got undue and unjustified criticism. Now, there is no such debate on viable options for import substitution or increase in exports of agricultural products.

There is also a need to develop storage and transfer facilities to minimise wastages in the agriculture and dairy sector. The government should develop linkage between the farms and the industry to promote value addition and packaging. It will strengthen the agriculture sector that will ultimately help increase the exports of the value-added agriculture products.

How can agriculture sector help reduce the trade deficit?

The trade deficit is really a serious issue, as we rely on imports to fulfil our energy and food needs. There are enormous opportunities to substitute imports of oilseed, pulses, beans and grains through promoting cultivation and the use of modern technology.

Through diversification and investment in the value-added products, Pakistan can increase exports of fruits, vegetables and processed food items.

The government should identify areas and encourage the sowing of palm oil, sunflowers and other oilseeds to save precious foreign exchange in the days to come.

We spent around Rs180 billion on the import of tea in the last fiscal year. From Mansehra onwards, we can cultivate tea, which will help decrease the import bill for tea.

A large portion of milk is wasted due to a lack of awareness and the dearth of necessary infrastructure. Technical and financial support for the small farmers can help minimise milk wastage in the rural areas. The processed milk and the value-added milk products can help earn good foreign exchange for the country.

Your take on the hazards of excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides?

Synthetic fertilisers and pesticides are harmful for the environment and human health. It is like spending money to pollute the environment, killing friendly pests and putting the health and sometimes even lives of the farmworkers at risk. The consumption of the end product can cause serious health hazards. The lack of knowledge on the part of the predominantly uneducated small farmers is the main reason behind the unwise use of fertilisers and pesticides. There is a need to develop new high-yield crop varieties, which can use atmospheric nitrogen for plant growth.

We should also encourage the use of natural products such as neem, salt, sugar and Vitamin E for the preservation of food items.

Your take on the impacts of climate change on agriculture and possible ways forward?

Climate change has emerged as the most serious issue. We are not sure when we will have rainfall or drought, which is affecting our sowing season. There is a need to make our agriculture and water sectors more resilient to the impacts of the climate change.

The mitigation and adaptation should go simultaneously to achieve the desired results. We need to increase green cover and build dams. We also need to focus on research to introduce heat- and drought-resistant and water-efficient varieties.

What are the water challenges and possible consequences?

Water scarcity, water pollution, over-abstraction of groundwater, water governance, wastage and unsustainable water use in the rural and urban areas are the major issues. Continuing the prevailing practice will prove disastrous for the country.

There is a need to ensure judicious use of water resources, improvement in the efficiency of the agriculture sector by adopting practices such as drip irrigation and replacing water guzzling crops with less water consumption and drought-resistant varieties.

Water metering is the only option to minimise wastage in major cities and conserving the precious resources for the coming generations.

Your take on the adoption of genetically-modified organism crops?

Yes, the world is fast accepting GMO crops, which is also part of our food chain. But in my opinion, we should resist anything that is formed by violating the natural process. We are not aware about the hazards, as this technology is relatively new at this stage. There are incidents of world knowing the hazards of a specific product after decades and even over a century of usage.

For instance, the world is banning the skin whitening creams, using lead and mercury as ingredients.

We had already seen the hazards of the fertilisers, pesticides and chemical preservatives use. Now, the people are talking about GMO products. The organic food and natural products are healthier and time tested. As such, we should stick to the nature and adopt organic way of life instead of going for the shortcut of GMO products.