The Punjab government, in collaboration with the World Bank, is launching a massive water project in a bid to curtail water losses and promote modern farming techniques like drip irrigation for meeting the water needs of farmers.
This move was prompted by the numerous challenges faced by the agricultural sector including climate changes, low productivity and water shortage, which demanded combined efforts and enhanced cooperation among scientists as well as initiating public-private partnership, said Punjab Agricultural Secretary Mushtaq Ahmad.
He was talking to the teaching staff of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) on Tuesday. “UAF expertise is likely to add value to the programme,” he said.
The provincial government has also kicked off a project for improvement of value addition in supply chain to enhance the quality of farm products and bring them on a par with international standards.
“Time has come to bring about a green revolution as we are living in a different regime and facing various kinds of threats. Green revolution will address some emerging challenges including environmental issues, water scarcity and land degradation,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad stressed the need for increasing investment in higher education as it was showing a declining trend.
He pointed out that only 6% of population of Pakistan was going for higher education while the ratio was 14% in India and 40% in Malaysia. At present, he said, the university was running 235 research projects worth Rs1.168 billion.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2012.
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