FAISALABAD University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan Friday expressed concern over shrinking agricultural area due to conversion of the farmlands into other uses and terming it a serious threat to food security.
He expressed these views during a meeting with a delegation of 48 mandatory training course, Staff Training Institute, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Principal Officer Public Relations and Publications UAF Dr. Muhammad Jalal Arif also attended the meeting.
Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that 33,000 students of the UAF were visiting the field under the supervision of teachers in the six divisions of the Punjab to inform the farmers about the agricultural recommendations. He said that Pakistan’s wheat production per acre is limited to only 32 maunds, for which climate resilient and high-temperature resistant varieties will have to be introduced. He said as per the model of UAF, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was also considering launching a wheat campaign.
He said th
at it is the need of hour to make the research available to the farmers instead of being an adornment of the libraries so that the goals of reducing poverty and achieving food stability can be achieved by promoting agriculture in line with global requirements.
He said that the UAF had introduced high-yielding varieties of soybeans, wheat and sugarcane, which will significantly increase production. He said that Pakistan imported edible oil worth $4 billion every year for which the cultivation of oilseeds will have to be increased.
Dr. Muhammad Jalal Arif told the delegation that under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan, the UAF had become one of the top 100 universities in the world.