Climate research centre in limbo

Funds yet to be released for plan conceived in 2015

JARANWALA:

A climate change research centre could not be made functional in the past eight years set up because of lack of funds and apathy of the Punjab government.

The plan to set up the centre under the supervision of the Ayub Agricultural Research Institute had been launched in2015.

According to sources, an outlay was proposed for the project costing Rs119.13 million in 2016 to purchase laboratory equipment, machinery, furniture, fixtures, chemicals, apparatus, glassware, information technology equipment and transport, recruit staff and construct a building for offices and laboratories for the research centre, as well as weather stations.

A summery had been forwarded for the approval of the funds in 2016.

The sources said the authorities concerned had again forwarded the PC-1 of the project in August this year, with the estimated cost of Rs399.94 million. However, the required funds have not been provided by the provincial government.

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The Principal Scientist of the Soil Sciences and Research Institute, Dr Abid Niaz, said the climate change research centre had been planned to mitigate the increasing impacts of the phenomenon on crops’ growth, yield and market supply chain system that directly affected the prices of commodities.

He said climate change and related extreme events had also affected the social system of the farming community as well as health of the population. The issue should be addressed on a top priority basis for sustainability of the agricultural systems and lives of the farming community, he said.

The scientist said the research activities related to climate change and smog were ultimately related to crop sustainability, resilience and adaptation, environment assessment, mitigation, heat tolerance, drought stress. They will generate basic data regarding the climate change and help address the issue of food security in Punjab.

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He said several estimations and concept reports had been sent to Punjab government to include the far-reaching project in the Annual Development Programmes, but to no avail.

He elaborated that according to the Global Climate Index 2017, Pakistan is the seventh most vulnerable country to the climate change in the world among 180. “Agriculture is the lifeline of our economy and the impact of changing temperatures is expected to be most lethal in this sector,” he added.

He said the authorities in the agriculture department should provide the required funds at the earliest in the light of increasing impacts of climate change patterns and the looming smog risks.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2023.