Seminar on Balance Use of Fertilizer

Speakers at a seminar on Wednesday urged the farming community to ensure balanced usage of fertilizer in their fields as per recommendation of agricultural experts in order to increase agricultural productivity. The seminar titled Balance Use of fertilizer for Quality Produce was arranged by Institute of Soil and Environment Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad and International Potash Institute (IPI). The session was chaired by UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan. . UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan addressees seminar on Balance Use of fertilizer arranged by Institute of Soil and Environment Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad and International Potash Institute (IPI) Addressing on the occasion, Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that imbalance usage of fertilizer is costing the country millions of rupees. The fertilizer utilization is increasing in the country but the proper ratio of fertilizer is being ignored, resulting in low income of farmers. He said that it is a serious matter that agricultural production had been stagnant in the major crops for the last 10 years. On the other hand, the population is increasing with a large pace. He stressed the need to take measures as in the next decade, the demands for food will increase manifold. Director General Extension Punjab Dr Anjum Ali Bhuttar said that the Provincial government was making all-out efforts to educate the farming community about the latest methods. He said that extensions department was giving the information about the latest technology transfer through cell phone. Prof Dr Zaheer Ahmad Zaheer said that said that the balanced usage of fertilizer will not only save the money of farmers but also increase the production. IPI coordinator Dr Abdul Wakeel said that potash usage in the agricultural land was very low. The balance use of potash would increase the productivity. Dr Muhammad Rasheed, former DG Agricultural Research Punjab, said that UAF in collaboration with the Punjab Agri Extension Department had developed fertilizer model , giving the guidelines to the farming community about proper fertilizer usage. Dr Nisar Ahmad, former Chief (NFDC) Planning Commission urged the scientists to produce tangible researches to address the issue of farming community.