Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Two-day’s conference was held at the National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad under the plan to increase the national production of wheat and integrated use of fertilizers. Mr. Zafar Hassan, Federal Secretary, Ministry of Food Protection and Research was the chief guest of the event. Agricultural scientists from all over the country, officers of the Department of Agriculture Extension and farmers participated in the conference. In the beginning, Dr. Muhammad Yaqoob, National Project Director (Wheat) explained the aims & objectives of the Conference. Addressing the inaugural secession of the two-day national conference on “Efficient integrated nutrients management technologies for enhancing wheat productivity in Pakistan”, Federal Secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research Mr. Zafar Hassan said that wheat was the main crop of the country, which was being grown over 22 million acres to fulfill local dietary needs. He said that average output of wheat in the country was recorded at 30 mounds per-acre, which was lowest as compared the output of developed economies of the world. He added that lower productivity of wheat was another challenge as it was insufficient to tackle with increasing demand of growing population, adding that under such circumstances, the responsibilities of local agriculture sector has further increased to maintain food safety and security. He further asked for enhancing the use of bio-fertilizer in order to reduce dependency on costly imported fertilizers, besides encouraging the production of organic agriculture products for profit maximization as well as protect the local eco-system and environmental degradation. Federal Secretary expressed the hope that the outcomes of the conference would be helpful for formulation of a comprehensive policy to enhance per-acre output of wheat, by sharing the knowledge and experiences of local as well as foreign experts. Speaking on the occasion, Chairman PARC Dr Ghulam Muhammad Ali said that the council was making efforts to extend the outcomes of its research and development to the door steps of farmers, adding that efforts were on to ensure provision of high yielding seeds verities to growers.
