‘Increase cereal yield to prevent food insecurity’

International seminar organised at UAF

FAISALABAD: Declining production of pulses is exacerbating malnutrition and food insecurity, speakers at an international seminar organised by the University of Agriculture (UAF) said on Tuesday.

Kadambot Siddique of the University of Western Australia stressed the need for innovative strategies to increase legume production. He called for devising and applying more eco-based solutions to reduce malnutrition. Siddique said a new set of challenges were confronting the world due to climate change. He said the unavailability of essential inputs was a pressing concern in the nation.

UAF Faculty of Agriculture Dean Muhammad Arshad said pulses could be cultivated with minimal inputs. He said farmers preferred to cultivate other crops over pulses. Arshad said this trend was worrisome. He said pulses were rich in nutrition and there was a need to promote them. Arshad said the challenges confronting farmers must be addressed through research. He said this would make it possible to effectively overcome them.

Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (AICAR) Research Programme manager Evan Christen said availability of water, salinity, cereal production, crop diversification and management practices were among the key issues in the agriculture sector that had to be addressed. He said the centre had been engaged in providing research and development and technical capacity building skills, technical support and timely R&D interventions to buttress development programmes.

Ayub Agricultural Research Institute Director General Abid Mehmood said several formidable challenges including food insecurity, poor productivity and malnutrition had been confronting the nation. He said the centre had been actively trying to increase productivity levels in the sector by introducing new seed varieties and utilising state-of-the-art technology.

UAF Office of Research Innovation and Commercialisation Asif Ali Khan said collective action was needed on part of all stakeholders to improve the sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2015.