Gilgit Baltistan Agriculture Minister Muhammad Kazim Masem on Tuesday said that a sub-campus of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad should be established in Gilgit Baltistan to increase agricultural productivity and produce the trained manpower there in the agriculture field.
He was talking to University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Asif Tanveer at the meeting room of Vice Chancellor Secretariat.
He said that although Pakistan was blessed with four seasons, fertile land, and one of the best ecosystems, we are unable to tap potential from our climatic diversity in order to enhance our agriculture production. He said that agricultural experts and scientists should devise a comprehensive strategy and conduct research to combat different issues in the agricultural sector.
He said that we were far behind in modern agriculture practices, value addition etc that was a matter of grave concern. He said that in the post-harvest losses, the country was losing 40 percent of its production. He added that the country can earn heavy foreign exchange by exporting agriculture goods after meeting the international standards. He said that the country was producing one of the best tasting fruits like apricot, mulberry, citrus, grapes and cherry etc but owing to non-availability of value addition, they are not getting benefit from the products. He said the diverse climatic conditions in Gilgit-Baltistan coupled with variations in altitude has led to an equally wide array of vegetation and ecological zones. He said that they would call the UAF scientists there to collaborate with the farming community and agricultural experts to make the advancement in the agricultural avenue. He invited the vice chancellor and experts of agriculture, horticulture, agriculture sciences, energy and others to visit the GB to explore the potential of GB agriculture.
He said that the services of the farming community were remarkable who worked day and night to provide the food for us. He also urged the University to increase GB students’ seats in the UAF admission criteria. UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Asif Tanveer said that the establishment of a subcampus in GB will prove a milestone to address the different agricultural related issues there. He said that the university is running three-sub-campuses in Okara; Burewala and Toba Tek Singh. He added that the university had given birth to different universities including University of Veterinary Sciences Lahore; PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi and Ghazi University. He said that the university was used to conduct the training of the different provinces’ farming communities. He said that the same arrangements for the GB farming community would also be arranged.