Agri experts warn of aggravating hunger, food insecurity From Our Correspondent FAISALABAD: Agriculture experts from different countries have warned of aggravating hunger, food insecurity and decreasing agri production worldwide if tangible efforts are not made to fight the climate changes. Inaugurating a five-day workshop titled “Climate Changes Resilient Agriculture Systems” arranged by UAF’s Centre for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security here on Monday, Malaysian High Commissioner Dato Dr Hasrul Sani Bin Mujtabar said that the climate changes were the real challenge which, were playing havoc with lives of the people, livestock and agricultural sector worldwide. He urged the researchers, farmers, governments and all the stakeholders to join hands to mitigate the increasing impact of climate changes. He urged the need to strengthen the academia and research ties between Pakistan and Malaysia. He applauded the measures being taken on part of the UAF for education and agriculture. He said that the faculty of University of Putra Malaya was teaching the UAF students through videoconferences that would open up a new avenue of cooperation with other Malaysian universities. UAF Vice-Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that agriculture was the most worst-hit area. He said that the Paris conference on climate changes had also started from November 30 that would come up to the solution to the issue. He said that Pakistan, which was worst hit by the climate changes, was among the lowest contributor to carbon and greenhouse impact. He said that due to recent floods and other climate events, Pakistan during the last half decade, had suffered losses to the tune of $20 billion. He said that we had devastating impact of increasingly erratic weather and patterns whereas the flood pattern had also changed. He said that in green revolution, short stature and duration crops were introduced and now, it was time to develop and adopt climate change resilient crops. He was of the view that the rice crops emitted greenhouse gases. He suggested to change the eating patterns of those countries totally depending upon rice as they were facing the highest rate of blindness due to the deficiency of Vitamin A. CAS-UAF Chief of Party Dr Bashir Ahmad said that the pace of climate change was faster than expectations, resulting in high costs associated with climate-related disasters. The industrialised countries around the world had contributed most to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, he added. He said that the climate changes and melting glaciers were the areas of concerns for which we had to expedite our efforts. He said that Pakistan was blessed with tremendous natural resources. We had to utilise these resources rationally to face the future challenges, he added. Asian Productivity Organisation Secretary General Mari Amano, in his video message, called for making joint efforts for sustainable agriculture amid climate changes. He said that by 2050, the world population would touch to 10 billion for which we had to provide the food. He said that the climate changes were badly affecting the agriculture sector. CAS-Climate Change Chair Head Dr Ashfaq Ahmad Chattha said that during the current decade, the world had witnessed rise in temperature that would further aggravate the situation. APO Senior Programme Officer Dr Muhammad Saeed said that the workshop would come up with the solution to address the issue. NPO representative Rabia Jameel and Dr Sohail Sajjad also spoke on the occasion.
