Technologies termed vital for agriculture sector

ISLAMABAD: Without using technologies and improvement in capacity of scientists and extension services agriculture sector cannot be developed on sustainable basis, a minister said on Wednesday.
Scientists should not only work for innovation and introduction of new technologies, but should also work for disseminating these technologies to farmers, said Sikandar Hayat Bosan, federal minister for National Food Security and Research, addressing a two-day South and West Asia Plant-Wise Regional Conference.
A UK-based not-for-profit inter-governmental organisation CABI organised the conference. Experts from different member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the United Kingdom are participating in this moot.
Bosan said growth in agriculture sector is a key to overall economic development and ensuring resilient and healthy population in South-Central Asia region. Pests and diseases and poor farming practices are affecting crop productivity, he added.
Minister Bosan said the overuse of pesticides and other chemicals is a major issue facing the agriculture sector. He lauded CABI for setting up 280 plant clinics in districts of Punjab and Sindh. However, he called for the same facilities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan to facilitate farmers.
Chairman Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) Dr Iftikhar Ahmad said PARC will coordinate with CABI and support all of its programs designed for the development of agriculture sector of the country.
Director General Agriculture Punjab Anjum Butter said CABI plant clinic program has been proved successful in Punjab and beneficial for farmers to make their fields more productive.
Regional Director CABI Dr Babar Bajwa and CABI representative Dr Ashraf Boswali gave a detailed presentation about the organisation’s operations in Pakistan and other regional countries.
Dr Bajwa informed the participants about various initiatives taken by it for the development of agriculture sector.