Sindh Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor Dr Bashir Ahmed Shaikh has described agriculture as vital for the survival of human beings in view of rapid growth in population. In his welcome address at the three-day national conference on 'Agriculture and animal science', he said the world population was expected to reach the 8.6 billion mark by the year 2025 as compared to six billion people recorded in 1999 with 83 percent living in the developing countries with uncertainty to meet their growing demand of food.
Dr Bashir said the Conference was convened to discuss the problems and prospects of agriculture sector and to lay down the future course of research and development activities to meet the challenges.
He said that sustainable agriculture movement was the only solution of the environmental and social problems caused by the conventional agricultural system and practices.
The Agriculture University VC said though the production of fibre crops and poultry products had increased due to new farming technologies and application of pesticides and fertilisers, but unfortunately some bottlenecks including adverse ecological and social impacts, soil erosion, decline in soil fertility, ground water contamination, increased cost of production, decline in returns to families and closure of services in rural communities were identified during the process.
He said Sindh Agriculture University aimed to provide leadership for the changes and development to meet the challenges through research, teaching and extension programmes.
Earlier, Sindh University's Vice Chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui inaugurating the conference said the investment in the education, health and social sector by the federal and provincial governments was very much essential to uplift the common man's living standard that kept declining in Sindh since last few years due to shortage of water as such, more than 70 percent rural population lied below poverty line.
He said the water shortage; water logging and salinity, desertification and reduction in rangelands that had already squeezed the yields in agriculture were challenges for scientists and universities of the country.
He said that there was immense need to develop and introduce modern technology to sustain and increase the agriculture productivity by providing leadership and alternate methodologies to sustain and elevate the socio-economic level of farming communities who felt depressed of the consequences and land degradation, soil erosion, environment pollution and water shortage.
Mazharul Haq said that those challenges could be addressed through efficient utilisation of available water resources, introducing crops and cropping systems to suit the availability status and adoption of highly efficient irrigation system.
Referring to development of coastal area, Sindh University VC said that our 700-km long coastal area was full of marine resources but unfortunately those resources were continuously under threat due to disposal of polluted and toxic wastes, and also due to flow of water down Kotri that had changed the bio-diversity of the coastal area.
He said that situation required integrated coastal area management planning to recycle and reuse the industrial waste and civic effluent.
Mazharul Haq emphasised the need for immediate and structural measures in agriculture sector to deal with the short and long-terms challenges.