Agricultural training: 25 professionals leave for Australia

Award recipients will go to University of Western Australia to receive training in agriculture studies.

ISLAMABAD:

Australian High Commissioner Peter Heyward on Monday bid farewell to 25 Pakistani professionals who were heading off to his homeland on agriculture training scholarships.

The Pakistani professionals have been awarded scholarships through the Australia Pakistan Agriculture Scholarships (APAS) Short Course Awards programme, according to a press release issued by the Australian High Commission.

The award recipients will go to the University of Western Australia to receive training in agriculture studies with emphasis on areas of irrigation and water resource management.

Speaking at a pre-departure briefing for the award recipients in Islamabad, Heyward said that the APAS short course provided a short-term study opportunity for professionals and academics who were working in the agriculture sector.

“The studies will increase their knowledge of irrigation and water resource management and help them support better resource use on farms when they return,” he said.

The recipients were from across Pakistan, but many of them belong to parts of Punjab and Sindh where rural communities rely on agriculture as their primary source of income, the Australian High Commission said in a written statement.

In 2013-14, Australia will provide around AU$76 million (Rs7 billion) in development assistance to Pakistan, the high commission stated. The focus of the assistance will be on health, education, governance, trade and agriculture.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2014.