Hyderabad: Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) and the Food Security and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE) have agreed to collaborate on student-led commercial projects, vermicomposting training for local women and the Agriculture and Food Security Innovation Challenge (AFSIC-2026), with FACE to provide financial support for selected initiatives.
FACE representative Muhammad Ahmed called on SAU Vice Chancellor Engr. Prof. Dr Altaf Ali Siyal on Wednesday to discuss joint research and the implementation of projects involving university experts, students and local women.
According to the SAU spokesperson, the university’s Registrar Ghulam Mohiuddin Qureshi and Advisor/Director of the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) Dr Aasia Akber Panhwer were also present at the meeting.
The participants discussed potential collaboration under AFSIC-2026, an initiative aimed at encouraging students, faculty members and researchers to develop practical and research-based solutions to emerging challenges in agriculture and food security.
The proposed areas of cooperation include climate-smart agriculture, food security, efficient water management, agricultural mechanization, data-driven farming, post-harvest technologies and prevention of food losses, value addition, soil-health restoration and sustainable agricultural practices.
On this occasion, Mohammad Ahmed briefed the Vice Chancellor that under the proposed student innovation component, FACE would receive five commercially promising project proposals from SAU students. Two projects would subsequently be selected for financial support, with an investment ceiling of Rs20 million, according to the participants.
He also briefed the meeting about a women-focused initiative under which SAU experts would train local women in vermicomposting with the support of FACE. The initiative is expected to create income-generating opportunities for participating women, with potential earnings of Rs20,000 to Rs35,000, depending on the scale and success of the activity.
The two sides also discussed project eligibility, financial assistance and disbursement mechanisms, proposal evaluation criteria, institutional responsibilities, procurement procedures, intellectual property and commercialization rights, monitoring mechanisms and the possibility of signing a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between SAU and FACE.
Dr Altaf Siyal welcomed the proposed collaboration and stressed the importance of partnerships among universities, industry and other institutions in translating academic research into practical, scalable and commercially viable solutions for Pakistan’s agriculture sector.
Dr Panhwar said ORIC would coordinate subsequent technical consultations and facilitate the development and implementation of future joint activities between SAU and FACE.
Later, Mr Ahmed held a technical meeting with the Dean, Faculty of Crop Production Prof Dr Inayatullah Rajpar and Dr Aijaz Hussain Soomro. The participants discussed research-based and practical solutions to key challenges affecting agriculture, food production and rural livelihoods.