Agricultural scientists have stressed the need for collaborated efforts and enhanced work on climate resilient, high yielding and fortified varieties in order to ensure food and nutrition security amid the challenges of changing climate, ever-increasing population and productivity.
They were addressing the inaugural session of a two-day conference titled emerging technologies for crop improvement jointly arranged by Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics; and Center for Advanced Studies, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan presided over the session and said that there is a huge gap between the productivity of progressive farmers and traditional farmers. “We have to promote the latest trends in order to enhance per acre productivity,” he added. He said that the country imports wheat whereas ten percent in the average productivity will make us self-sufficient. He said UAF is developing climate resilient wheat varieties in collaboration with Washington State University that will bring tangible results. Founding Director Wheat Genetics Resources Center, Kansas State University US Prof Dr Bikram Singh Gill called for utilizing plant breeding to cope with climate changes. He said that the centers gene bank, which maintains more than 5,000 wheat genetics stocks, and offers opportunities for researchers to develop new genetic research quickly improves crop yield, quality and food security.
Dr. Kulvinder Singh Gill, a well-known scientist from Washington State University, USA, said that the world’s record of maximum wheat production is 17 tons per hectare, while the worlds average production is limited to only 3 tons. He said that world record maximum yield of rice is 22 tons per hectare while the average yield is only 4 tons. He said that in his project, develop high yielding varieties of heat tolerant, heat tolerant germplasm from the heat stressed areas are collected and their field trials have been conducted in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Egypt. He said that field trials of new varieties are also being carried out at UAF which will yield positive results. Sydney University Australian scientist Dr. Richard Trerthowan briefed about achieving higher yields with high-breed of wheat.
Dr. Alex Johnson from the University of Melbourne, Australia, said that two billion people in the world are suffering from iron deficiency whereas zinc and other essential nutrients deficiency was widespread. He said that they are collaborating with researchers at UAF to explore the potential of genetically modified iron wheat. Director Program and Projects Department Islamic Organization for Food Security Dr. Zulfiqar Ali said that only 7 of the 57 OIC countries are meeting the food security goals while the rest of the countries are facing food insecurity. He said that in 2019, the OIC countries were facing a food deficit of 65 billion dollars, while low hanging food worth 300 billion dollars went waste due to unavailability of food processing and other factors. Pro-Vice Chancellor UAF Dr Muhammad Sarwar Khan said that to face the agricultural challenges, “we have to foster modern trends and solid research.” He said that the UAF is taking all possible steps in this regard. He said that the country is blessed with four seasons and fertile land. Dr. Nazir of Tajikistan; Chairman Plant Breeding and Genetics UAF Dr. Azeem Iqbal Khan, Dr. Rizwana Maqbool, Dr. Raheela Rehman, Director Research Dr. Jafar Jaskani, Principal Officer Public Relations Dr. Jalal Arif and other notables attended.
