Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Meeting of Variety Evaluation Committee (VEC) on rice was held at Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) Headquarters in Islamabad on September 2, 2019.
The meeting was attended by technical members from NARS system including the Director General, Federal Seed Certification & Registration Department, Food Security Commissioner from Ministry of National Food Security & Research. The representatives of seed companies including Chairman Seed Association of Pakistan also attended the meeting.
Muhammad Ayub Chaudhry, Chairman, PARC while speaking to the participants appreciated the role of private and public sector for taking interest in research and development of rice in the country.
He briefed about upcoming projects on rice under Prime Minister’s “National Agriculture Emergency Program”. He added that he is happy to see foreigners participating in the VEC meeting.
Presiding the variety evaluation committee meeting, Dr. Abdul Ghafoor, Member, Plant Sciences Division, PARC emphasized the role of quality seed for the productivity and profitability of farmers and appreciated the role of seed companies and public sector institutes for making efforts to improve the potential of rice hybrids/varieties in Pakistan.
National Coordinator (Rice) of PARC presented the working paper for all the thirty three proposals of rice hybrids/varieties for recommendation to the Federal Seed Certification & Registration Department.
The VEC recommended 7 rice hybrid varieties for commercial cultivation in the country. Representatives of seed companies appreciated the role of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council for setting the new bench marks for testing of rice hybrids/varieties in Pakistan for the benefits of farmers as well as rice sector in Pakistan.
