'10 percent crops destroyed by pests and diseases'

From five to 10 percent of the crops in the country are affected owing to attacks of various pests and diseases.
This was stated at the inaugural session of the international symposium on biodiversity of nematodes in Pakistan. The three-day moot was organised by the National Nematological Research Centre, University of Karachi.
The Chairman of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Dr Badaruddin Soomro, was chief guest while the vice-chancellor of Karachi University, Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, presided.
In his inaugural address, the PARC chief pointed out that the government of Pakistan has approved a five-year project of Rs 197 million for carrying out research towards pest management.
He said that results of this research would be taken to the farmers on his field and this would help ameliorate the lot of the farmers. Dr Badar said that it was extremely important that the agriculture sector performed its proper role for the sustenance of national economy.
The PARC chief said that effective improvement in agricultural productivity depends on appropriate crop protection from pests and diseases. Among these the nematodes, being in the soil, are too difficult to control.
He commended the work of the scientists who have come up with various varieties of crops.
Dr Soomro said that the cropped area in Pakistan is limited, "and we are faced with the problems of salinity and water-logging" by which irrigated agriculture is inevitably badly affected. Moreover, the population is increasing at one of the highest rates in the world which necessitates that the productivity of agriculture be considerably enhanced.
He said that PARC with international support took the initiative of integrated pest management in the country and the results are quite encouraging.
It was also stated that PARC attaches great importance to nematode diseases and their studies and has supported a number of research projects in this connection.
The PARC chief said that agricultural production is a complex system where the ecology, environment and socio-economic factors are vigorously interacting in a dynamic systems. One crucial input for increasing productivity is the latest package of appropriate technology developed through indigenous research "without which we are not likely to achieve much success".