Pakistan can earn heavy amount of money by increasing the process of adopting new technologies and state-of-the-art researches by farmers in their fields that is also essential to cope with the agriculture challenges. This was stated by University of Agriculture Vice Chancellor, Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmed Khan while addressing the an inaugural session of the Crop Physiology Department Week as chief guest on Monday at New Senate Hall, UAF.
The event was organised in connection with the ongoing golden jubilee celebrations of the university. Professor Dr Iqrar said it is prerequisite to expedite the practice of transferring the knowledge into goods and services as progressive farmers are getting 70 to 80 munds of wheat per acre while the traditional farmers were obtaining only around 25 munds per acre.
Pinning hopes on the university scientists and extension workers, the VC urged them to work on war footing for increasing the pace of work on outreach programmes. He informed that the university is conducting outreach programmes in which various teams of scientists visit villages in order to educate them about new technologies and researches and to persuade them apply in their fields.
UAF VC further said that government has announced a scheme under which tractors were distributed among the top producers of wheat per acre. Resultantly, top growers are getting as many as 80 munds per acre. It shows one can get the same amount of production if he adopts the latest information and researches and apply it, he maintained.
Faculty of Agriculture Dean Professor Dr Muhammad Ashfaq stressed the need to grow 'Moringa' a plant that has been declared a plant of 21st century by Nasa. He said it has seven times more Vitamin C than orange and four times Vitamin A than carrot and four times more calcium than milk. He said that with the use of the plant as fodder, we could increase the production of milk 43 percent to 65 percent. He added that it is also being used for getting bio-fuel as it seeds have a good quantity of bio-oil.
He disclosed that the department is also working on the introduction and assessment of climate resilient crops like Quinoa, Linola, and Camelina to meet the need of edible and food security in the country. He said that agriculture meteorological cell is another feature of the department which not only provides data for scientific community but also is a source for research on weather trends.
In his address, Dr Shahzad Basra threw light on the field of physiology lab, activities and future thrusts. He said that a Memorandum of Understanding was inked between Life Technologies and UAF to formulate marketable product of Moringa. He said that the farmer community is showing keen interest in the matter that can be gauged from the fact that the number of members of 'Moringa for Life' has risen to one thousand. Faculty of Agriculture Dean, Professor Dr Muhammad Ashfaq, Department Chairman, Dr Rashid Ahmad, Dr Shahzad Basra and Professor Dr Nazir Ahmad also spoke on the occasion.
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