Group of young scientists from Government College University (GCU), Lahore secured first international achievement of 2015 here on Friday as the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to the university's Nano-Leucite Fertilizer that produces healthy food and significantly increases the crop yield.
It was revealed by the Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Khaleeq-ur-Rahman through a notification to the university's academic and administrative heads including Director, Research Innovation and Commercialisation who will forward it to the country's leading fertilizer industries for future collaboration.
The Nano-Leucite Fertilizer invented by a group of GCU young scientists led by Dr Muhammad Akhyar Farrukh, Professor of Chemistry, is a revolution for green environment as it ensures minimum nutrient loss in food and increases overall production. Vice Chancellor Professor Rahman said that keeping in view the global food crisis, it is necessary to increase the food production.
He said fertilisers which are in practice now have a major disadvantage that 50 percent of nutrient contents loss due to leaching and also leads to ground water contamination. He said that Nano-Leucite Fertilizer, invented by the GCU scientists, is a specialised slow release nitrogenous fertilizer in which they have a minimum nutrient loss due to leaching.
The vice chancellor said stage had come at GCU where young scientists were talking about innovations and inventions. However, he said, there is dire need that these innovations and inventions were transformed into technology by the industry, so that Pakistan could develop and emerge on the world map as prosperous nation. He proudly said Dr Akhyar Farrukh, representing GCU, had got third US patent to his credit. Professor Rahman expressed gratitude to Higher Education Commission (HEC) for their support for registering the patent at the international level.
Dr Akhyar Farrukh said that this prestigious achievement was impossible without the expert advices by Professor Khaleeq-ur-Rahman as nanotechnologist, but he didn't take any credit for it. It is also pertinent to mention here that Professor Rahman and Dr Farrukh are also inventors of two nano-drugs used for fighting fatal infections. Dr Farrukh said GCU was establishing another state-of-the-art nanotechnology laboratory at GCU which would further enhance the research in this technically important filed.