Iraqi educational institutes and the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) are likely to start a joint venture on various projects to boost the agricultural productions of both countries.
Iraqi Ambassador Rushdi Mahmood Rasheed on Tuesday addressed an international symposium on "palm dates: domestication, distribution production and marketing" as the chief guest, which was arranged by UAF Institute of Horticulture Sciences at new senate hall and presided over by UAF Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan.
The ambassador said Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture would invite a delegation of agri scientists from the UAF soon, adding that with a joint venture of their institutes and UAF, both countries would start working together on the horizon of agriculture that would result in enhancing agricultural production.
Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said Asia was the major producer of the dates and North Africa was standing at the number second, while Pakistan was being ranked at number fifth in the list of dates' producers. He said the date was the most important fruit in arid region.
He said India and France were the biggest importer of the said fruit while Tunisia, Iran, UAE, Iraq and Saudi Arabia were the biggest exporter of the dates while the major producers of the dates included Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Pakistan and Algeria.
He stressed the need to increase production of dates in Pakistan, as the production was being ignored, and added that with a focus on Balochistan with regard to dates' production the country could earn millions of rupees. He briefed the audience about the dates' production with a case study of Oman.
Dr Jean-Christophe from France, Dr Adeel Abdul Soad from Horticultural Research Institute from Egypt, Dr Mark Hoddle from University of California, Dr Manzoor Hameed from UAF, Attiq-Ul-Ahmad from Agriculture Research Institute (ARI) DI Khan, Abdul Qayum from ARI DI khan, Dr Jaffar Jaskani from UAF and other notable spoke on the occasion.
Dr Jean-Christophe said the Persian Gulf was at the heart of the date palm history. He informed the audience about the working and performance of Institute of Research Development, and said the institute conducted integrative studies on the date palm. He stressed the need for biodiversity and keeping in view the ecology.
Dr Adeel Abdul Soad said Sindh was the biggest dates producing province in Pakistan with the share of 45.4 percent of the total dates' yield, while Balochistan was getting 44.8 percent of total share, Punjab 7.9 percent and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was getting only 1.9 percent of total share. Dr Mark Hoddle threw the light on Red Palm Weevil, the world's most palm pest that had killed a million of palms across the globe including Pakistan. He informed the audience about the management strategies, and said Pakistan had a knowledge gap that must be filled and the farmers must be aware of latest agri technologies.
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