FAISALABAD The City

Innovative strategies for enhancing
food legumes production urged
From Our Correspondent
FAISALABAD: It is need of the hour to use innovative strategies for enhancing production of food legumes.
It was said by Prof Dr Kadambot Siddique from the University of Western Australia while addressing an international seminar titled ‘Innovative strategies for enhancing production of food legumes’ organised by the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, here on Tuesday. Dr Siddique said that pulses production was decreasing in the country, resulting in aggravating the issues of malnutrition and food security. He called for devising and applying more eco-based approaches in managing the issue of malnutrition. He said that the world was facing new challenges due to changing weather pattern and climate changes. He said that pulses need relatively less water to grow. He added that lack of availability of essential inputs were the serious concern for the country. UAF Faculty of Agriculture Dean Prof Dr Muhammad Arshad said that pulses could be grown on relatively less fertile land and less water. He said that pulses were being ignored and farmers were diverting to other crops. He said that issue of farming community must be addressed through research work to fight the agricultural challenges effectively. ACIAR Research Programme Manager Dr Evan Christen said that the ACIAR was working with Pakistan to provide R&D and technical capacity building, technical support and carefully targeted R&D interventions to underpin development programmes. Agriculture (Research) Director General Dr Abid Mehmood said that the country was facing complex challenges including food insecurity, malnutrition and productivity. He said that they were actively working on the issue of increasing agricultural productivity with new varieties and modern technologies. UAF Office of Research Innovation and Commercialisation Director Prof Dr Asif Ali Khan called for collective efforts among the different departments and stakeholders for the uplift of agricultural sector.