FAISALABAD City News

‘40pc country population is malnourished

despite having surplus food’

From Our Correspondent

FAISALABAD: It is a matter of concern that 40 per cent of the country population is malnourished despite having surplus food, said University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan.

He was addressing a workshop on the Higher Education Commission Technology Development Fund arranged by the UAF’s US Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security at New Senate Hall. He said that the country was having surplus wheat up to 10 million ton, besides being one of the largest producers of milk and meat. Despite it, malnutrition was hitting 40 per cent population, he added. He said that affordability issue and lack of awareness were aggravating the problem. He said that the research should not be piled up in the libraries and it must be transformed into goods and services to address the problems of a common man. He said that the HEC had initiated a scheme for technology development worth Rs 2.9 billion in which the UAF researchers should come up with research proposals to ensure the food security. He said that the UAF competitive research grant portfolio was the highest in the country, which was touching to Rs 2.5 billion. He added that agriculture was facing stagnation for the last many decades. He said that the post-harvest losses were 35 per cent.

USPCAS-AFS Chief of Party Dr Bashir Ahmad said the agriculture growth was declining whereas the population was increasing at a large pace. He stressed the need to take tangible steps to face the situation. Finance and Grant Manager Shahzad Zaheer said that the technology won’t work if it was not profitable for the industrialists. ORIC Director Dr Muhammad Aslam and Dr Abdur Rasheed also spoke on the occasion.

CERTIFICATES DISTRIBUTED: Fesco (O& M) Chief Engineer Sheikh Amil Hussain Siddique along with social welfare group chairman Shahnawazul Hassan distributed certificates among the students, who completed their solar energy technical course at a local technical training centre.

Speaking on the occasion, Sheikh Amil said that imparting technical education to the youths was imperative to overcome the economic problems. He also visited various sections of the centre and appreciated interest of the students in their training classes. He stressed that these facilities should be extended to the middle class students so that after completing their technical education at the centre, they could get jobs.

The social welfare organisation chairman said that the deserving students were being imparted training in repair of refrigerators, motorcycles and mobile phones. He said that the deserving students were given monthly stipend and provided tool kits after completion of their courses so that they could start their own small business.