Need of the hour: ‘Struggling farmers need out-of-the-box solutions’

Experts say urbanisation, decreasing outputs alarming

FAISALABAD: In view of rapid urbanisation and alarming decrease in agricultural outputs in recent years, agriculture experts have stressed the need for devising out-of-the-box solutions to mitigate farmers’ plight.

“Quality education and research [that aims to find] tangible solutions to problems are the prerequisites for the development of any country,” said University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) Vice-Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan while chairing a meeting of the Graduate Studies Research Board on Tuesday.

“Strong academia and industry linkages will pave the way for addressing various issues like food security, poverty alleviation and [problems within the] health sector,” he said.

Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and contributes about 21% of the country’s GDP.

Dr Iqrar voiced concerns over the alarming decrease in agricultural land and the adverse consequences of rural-to-urban migration. “It is unfortunate [that] a farmer’s son doesn’t want become a farmer anymore,” he added.

At the doorstep

The UAF has established sub-campuses in Toba Tek Singh, Layyah and Okara-Depalpur offering a number of degrees programmes in agriculture, social, basic and management sciences.

Dr Iqrar said the sub-campuses would emerge as institutions where locals would be provided quality education at their doorstep about agricultural practices. He added the varsity could play a pivotal role in strengthening the agricultural sector.

The fees at sub-campuses are comparatively lower than the fee structure for students at the main campus. “This has been done to promote education in underprivileged areas,” the VC said.

International standards

The varsity is making all-out efforts to provide quality education at par with international standards, Dr Iqrar said. “The UAF is the mother of all agricultural educational institutions in the subcontinent. It has given birth to many agricultural institutions in Pakistan and India,” he added.

The current enrolment at UAF has surpassed 23,000. The institution offers 165 degree programmes with a special focus on agriculture and rural development.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2016.