HYDERABAD: Dr. Fateh Marri, Vice Chancellor, Sindh Agriculture University, said that the unavailability of adequate food has become a cause of concern worldwide, and developing countries need to ensure the use of technology to increase per acre yield, reduce post-harvest losses and protect certified seeds to combat food shortages.

He was addressing the opening ceremony of training on “Dry Chain Technology and use of Seed Banks” under the auspices of the Department of Agronomy (SAU), in collaboration with the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Agricultural Linkage Program (ALP) of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, on Thursday.

Dr Marri said that in many parts of the country, people do not even have access to two meals a day, so the experts have to introduce the sustainable agriculture and save the indigenous seeds, he said adding that the agronomists perform their responsibility to train the farmer community about post-harvest losses, to preserve the pure seeds and long-term implementation of seed and food processing technologies.

Dr Aijaz Ahmed Soomro, Chairman, Department of Agronomy said that hybrid seeds have replaced our indigenous and hereditary seeds, due to which our local seeds are being depleted, and the lack of seed protection has led to food shortages, so modern methods of protecting seeds from seasonal effects and pest infestations have to be implemented.

Dr. Irfan Afzal, an expert from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, said that the youth participating in the training would be taught seed safety and food security, so that the general public, including farmers, could be educated. He briefed 50 stakeholders of the university on the scientific methods of storing grains, and seeds, mitigation of post-harvest losses, use of hybrid and hereditary seeds, and sustainability of local seeds.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022