Daily Times

US Ambassador Donald Blome on Monday inaugurated a new five-year Climate-Smart Agriculture programme launched at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) which was designed to equip Pakistani farmers with innovative tools and practices to fight against climate changes.

A spokesman for the UAF said that the US-funded initiative would benefit farmers across Pakistan and the programme was launched at the UAF where the United States (US) had previously supported the establishment of a center for Advanced Studies in Agriculture.

He said that US Consul General Kristin Hawkins, USAID Mission Director Kate Somvongsiri and UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Sarwar Khan joined Ambassador Blome for the launching event with Pakistani representatives from government, academia and the agribusiness community.

The programme builds on the longstanding partnership between the United States and Pakistan in agriculture, exemplified by the groundbreaking work of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Norman Borlaug whose efforts in the 1960s significantly boosted wheat production in Pakistan.

Ambassador Blome said: “Through this initiative, the United States and Pakistan will collaborate to improve both crop yields and farmers’ livelihoods”.

For over 60 years, the United States and Pakistan had worked closely to strengthen agricultural output while promoting environmental conservation, he added.

Ambassador Blome emphasized: “Through projects like these, the United States is supporting a brighter, more prosperous, and climate-resilient future for the Pakistani people”.

Dr Muhammad Sarwar Khan, the UAF Vice Chancellor, said that the initiative would prove a hallmark to promote climate smart agriculture. He said that in 60s, Washington State University (WSU) Pullman a team of professors stayed in Faisalabad for ten years and developed the UAF.

Likewise, the USAID funded Center for Advanced Studies at the UAF set up in 2014 achieved tangible results for food security, he added.

He said that in the recent past, the UAF had introduced new varieties of various crops, including wheat, sugarcane varieties, soybean, maize and cotton that were compatible to the world productivity enhancement.