Faisalabad
Chairman Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) Dr Muhammad Azeem Khan said on Monday that all-out efforts were being carried out to combat locusts and other agricultural challenges. He visited University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) and had a meeting with UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ashraf and other UAF agricultural engineers and entomologists.
He said that PARC will support the UAF to disseminate its locust spray machine, research and development work for fighting the agricultural challenges confronted the country. He also witnessed UAF newly developed locust spray machine was first of its kind in the country and termed it a hallmark step to combat locust. He also visited the work on bio pesticide at locust research lab.
He said that Federal government was planning a project worth Rs 500 million to catch the locust alive to use it as the poultry feed. UAF scientists should provide a complete research and development on locust nutritive values for poultry and its feasibility etc, he added. The chairman said that only 35 patents were registered in the field of agriculture across the country.He urged agriculture scientists to come up with the innovative ideas and registered those as patents.
UAF VC said that locust has emerged the second largest threat for the country after COVID-19 as it was posing a serious threat to the food security. He highlighted that according to the FAO as many as 38 per cent of the total agricultural area in the country had become the breeding grounds for the desert locust,adding that 97 percent of our farming community comprised of small farmers that were unable to adopt the mechanization which is hampering the process to boost up our agriculture.
He said that China had developed the small technology for small farmers and they from six kanals of land were earning income of 8000 dollar per annum due to proper mechanization. He stressed that we should also in need to develop such technology on that pattern that will boost up our agricultural productivity manifold.—APP
