BAHAWALPUR: Vice-Chancellor, Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB) Engineer Prof. Dr Athar Mahboob has said that the projects inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan during his visit to Bahawalpur will help in promotion of agriculture in the country.
He said that IUB, which was established during the rule of the Bahawalpur state, has now become a fourth-generation university.
The projects launched here are also improving the economic situation of the university. Renowned Cotton Breeder of Pakistan Prof. Dr Muhammad Iqbal Bandesha Dean Faculty of Agriculture is carrying forward the decades-long work of the Faculty of Agriculture.
He said that the future of Pakistan depends on the revival of cotton. Pakistan’s textile industry cannot compete with the international market unless it gets high quality and low priced cotton. Our agricultural scientists have made new inventions in cotton.
IUB has developed varieties of cotton that can withstand water shortages and harsh weather conditions. The university has developed varieties of cotton that are also resistant to sucking caterpillars and viruses. Our agricultural scientist, Prof. Dr Muhammad Iqbal Bandesha, has changed the shape of cotton leaves to produce varieties that have less spread and higher height. This will increase the number of plants per acre and increase the yield.
He said that we are moving ahead by targeting the rehabilitation of cotton in Pakistan. The Vice-Chancellor said that we have set up the National Cotton Breeding Institute, inaugurated by the Prime Minister. The aim is to form a whole team with Prof. Dr Muhammad Iqbal Bandesha. It will include researchers people from different agricultural sectors. He said that the Prime Minister was briefed at the National Research Centre for Intercropping. Dr Ali Raza, one of our agricultural scientists, specialized in intercropping from China and successfully applied it in Pakistan. The Islamia University of Bahawalpur has set up the centre in collaboration with Sichuan Agriculture University China that will introduce intercropping technology across the country in collaboration with the government of Pakistan so that the farmers may get the maximum benefit from it. Agricultural land in Pakistan is declining rapidly so we have to take advantage of intercropping technology as the nature has blessed us with abundant solar energy which is very important for this technology.
The IUB has focused on intercropping of soybeans and maize. Our goal is to reduce the import bill for edible oils, including soybeans used for poultry feed, using this technology. Fifteen years ago today, China’s edible oil bill exceeded 50 billion, then they became self-sufficient with intercropping technology. Today, Pakistan, which is spending 8 to 10 billion on imports, will spend the same amount on the welfare of farmers. Prof. Dr Athar Mahboob said that IUB has set a new trend in which we are providing the best environment to our scientists so that they can use their professional skills to create inventions that will earn Pakistan’s income. We provide the faculty members with the resources they need to work. We believe that our researchers should have state-of-the-art laboratories and provide them M.Phil and PhD scholars so that they can create new researchers and also provide full skills. Prof. Dr Muhammad Iqbal Bandesha, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture the Islamia University of Bahawalpur said that our target is to increase Pakistan’s cotton production to 16 million bales and from this production, we can earn up to Rs. 9.0 billion. So the next step is we have to introduce 2 technologies for how to achieve this. So the next step is to introduce the latest technologies to achieve this level. We can increase the number of plants per acre from 14, 000 to 35, 000 plants and we can further increase the production of cotton with this technology.