FAISALABAD:University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) will play a leading role to fulfill the dream of “Green Pakistan Initiative” program like 1960’s Agricultural Revolution in the country and for this purpose work on genetic innovations, genome editing, value addition, precision agriculture and new innovative technologies are being pursued.
This was stated by UAF Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan while addressing a delegation of the 37th Mid-Career Management Course of the National Institute of Management (NIM) Lahore, in the Syndicate Hall.
Dr Iqrar said, “Our agricultural landscape has great potential to enhance volume of agricultural produce through value addition and other parameters.” Being an agricultural country, it was a great challenge for agri scientists to control the import bill of edible oil and other commodities as Pakistan was spending 10 billion US Dollars per annum for this purpose, he added.
He said, “In order to harmonize with international standards in cotton production, we need to introduce climate resilient seeds along with precision agricultural innovative techniques.”
He was of the view that mechanization should be adopted to enhance the productivity and the agri scientists must introduce affordable technologies for small farmers.
The VC said that GMO crops were important for increasing productivity. The university was making progress on new varieties of sugarcane, soybean, chia seed, chikpea and canola, as well as new high yielding wheat variety with the support of American Washington State University.
He said that the poultry industry in the context of malnutrition and protein providing factors was a success story. He said that the livestock sector could be developed through new revolutionary steps in order to maximize the production of meat and milk.
Faculty member and the group leader of National Institute of Management, Lahore, Dr. Mohammad Farooq lauded the standards of research being adopted by UAF and said that in the context of food security the scientists from this university could play a pivotal role through their modern approaches.
He praised the educational and research activities in the university and stressed the need for its promotion among other universities.
Dean Faculty of Food Nutrition and Home Sciences, Prof. Dr. Masood Sadiq Butt, Dean Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Prof. Dr. Rizwana Rizvi, Dean Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Qamar Bilal, Principal Officer Public Relations and publication, Professor Dr. Muhammad Jalal Arif, Director External Linkages Dr. Muhammad Saqib, Estate Officer Rana Muhammad Shehzad and Professor Dr. Aamir Jameel were also present in the meeting.