HYDERABAD: The Vice Chancellor Sindh Agriculture University Dr. Fateh Marri has said that the effects of rains and floods will continue to be seen for a long time therefore better planning is needed to complete projects for rehabilitation of agriculture and people in Sindh. He expressed these views while addressing to the three days capacity building training workshop on the preparation of resettlement action plan under “Institutional Strengthening of Project Coordination and Monitoring Unit (PCMU)” for Water-related policies and Practices, focusing Sindh Water and Agriculture Transformation (SWAT) Project.
The workshop is hosted by Sindh Agriculture University TandoJam in collaboration with Project Coordination and Monitoring Unit, Planning and Development, Government of Sindh. The workshop has been organized to train the officers of different departments of Government of Sindh, including Agricultural Research and Extension, Agricultural Marketing, Irrigation, Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority, AWB, Planning and Development and others for improving water management and agriculture in the future. Dr. Fateh Marri said that rehabilitation of agriculture in Sindh and the infrastructure destroyed due to floods should be restored keeping in mind the potential disasters. Besides, better use of water and underwater agricultural resources need to be solved on a prospective basis. He said that due to lack of proper strategy in the RBOD and LBOD projects, the project has not yet reached completion as a result of which the floods of 2010, 2011 and 2022 could not be dealt with. He said we have to adopt alternative methods of agriculture while experimenting with canal agriculture as well as arid agriculture’ .
Ghulam Mustafa Ujjan, General Manager SIDA informed that experts as well as administrative heads and delegates from various institutions have been invited to this workshop. The training workshop will yield positive results especially for flood victims and irrigation related matters, he said. Dr. Islamuddin Rajput, Director, Agricultural Extension said that the Sindh Agriculture University and the agricultural and extension institutions of the province will jointly formulate new proposals for the maintenance of agriculture and irrigation. Manzoor Ahmed Baloch, Director General, Agriculture Marketing Sindh informed that due to floods, agricultural production and especially agricultural costs have increased, while certified seeds are also a major issue. Dr. Muhammad Ismail Kumbhar, Director, University Advancement and Financial Assistance said that plans, projects, budget and expenses will also be determined for this occasion. Dr. Jam Ghulam Murtaza Sahito, training organizer said that this was the first of the four trainings to be organized by Sindh Agriculture University in collaboration with PCMU and Sind planning and development department. There will be nine interactive technical sessions in this training workshop for university experts, agriculture, irrigation, P&D and SIDA officials, followed by question-and-answer sessions, he informed. Dr. Tahmina Nagraj, Sarfraz Ahmed Bhutto, Dr. Zahid Oad, Ayaz Ali Jalalani, Miss Afshan, Miss Shakeela Leghari, Aftab Memon, Tariq Dahraj and others also spoke on this occasion.