FAISALABAD:University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan on Tuesday said that UAF in collaboration with Washington State University was working on high-quality and climate resilient wheat varieties that would increase production which was facing stagnation for the last some years due to climate changes.
He was talking to the delegation of 32nd Senior Management Course National Institute of Management (NIM) Peshawar. The delegation was led by Nafees Rahim.
Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad said that it was need of the hour to disseminate modern technology for the farming community to meet food needs of ever growing population.
“In the context of climate change, we will have to introduce heat tolerant varieties”, he said and added that the research should be transformed into the goods and service that would help address different agricultural challenges.
He said that the country was importing edible oil worth $4 billion per annum. Therefore, the UAF was trying to provide skilled manpower with special focus on agricultural and rural development, he said, adding that with the intervention in maize, the national production had gone up manifolds.
He said that various projects approved last year for UAF included Pak Korea Nutrition Center, Women Facilitation Center, Quality Seed Production Center, National Handball Academy, Pilot Project for Precision Agriculture and Capacity Building Center.
The UAF was also working on numerous research projects on competitive ground, which would provide a base for developing agriculture on a scientific basis by solving the problems of farmers, he added.
He said that UAF was also declared an Agriculture Park by the Special Technology Zone Authority.
This university also inked more than 165 MoUs with different international institutions, which would open new avenues for agricultural development, he added.