International Seminar on Climate Change

Speakers of an International Seminar on Climate Change expressed their concerns that Pakistan is in a severe grip of climate change and unless it does not take adaptive and mitigating measures, the situation would become more vulnerable as the country may face the yield reduction of major crops from 7 to 45 percent in the next four decades that would further intensify the issues of food security. The speakers were Dr. Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry EX DG Pakistan Meteorological Department, UAF Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan, Dr. Ghulam Rasul Deputy DG PMD, Mr. Momin Ali Agha Special Secretary Agriculture Govt. of the Punjab, Prof Dr. Gerrit Hoogenboom AgMIP Resource Person (ARP) WSU, USA. Dr. Abduk Qayyum Sulehri, Country Head SDPI, Islamabad, Dr. Xue Chun Wang, and Yuei-An Liu, Dr. Noor ul Islam Khan DG Research Punjab, Dr. Asif Ali Khan Director ORIC, UAF, Dr. Zahir A Zahir and Dr. Shehzad M. A. Basra. The AgMIP Kickoof workshop and three-day International Seminar was organized by Agro Climatiology Lab of the University here in New Senate Hall on Monday morning. Addressing the participants as chief guest, Dr. Qamar ul Zaman Chaudhry said that PMD used to work as navigation agency in a traditional way but since it started working for agricultural community, it received tremendous appreciations and recognition. He urged the gathering to play pivotal role in mitigating the impacts of climate change and be focused on taking adaptive measures. Prof Dr. Gerrit Hoogenboom AgMIP Resource Person (ARP) WSU, USA urged the need to translate climate forecast into decision support for agriculture, as in recent past, he said “we see a high level of interest in weather, and climate change but this interest has to be developed locally”. He said research alone is not sufficient but participatory approach for co-learning and dissemination involving a wide range of talent and institution would harvest the benefit manifolds. Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan UAF VC, in his welcome address, asked the scientists to develop crop and fruit verities of short duration with heat tolerance that would, he said enable the farmer to get three crops in a year than stuck with two. He said UAF during the last five year, doubled the academic programs and was at a verge of de-doubling it in the coming years with a desire to enroll 30 thousand students up to 2030. He said his office remains sending the faculty outside for professional updates either participating in short/long term training, workshop, symposium or seminar “all the time half of our faculty remains abroad in pursuance of higher studies or other professional engagements” he added. Dr. Khan said that UAF vowed to move from south to north and desires to open its offshoots in Lahore and Gujranawala Divisions. Mr. Momin Ali Agha Special Secretary Agriculture Government of the Punjab said that his office is working on drafting Future Agricultural Framework for the next decades by considering the impact of climate change that needs to be addressed through integrated approach of all stakeholders. He said due to traditional way of crop reporting, and climate change, this year the Punjab missed the wheat production target. Dr. Abduk Qayyum Sulehri, Country Head SDPI, Islamabad urged the need for sustainable production and consumption of all resources, as the country, he said, has to face energy and gas shortage due to non serious and irresponsible behavior that led the country towards depleting the energy and gas resources. He emphasized that any policy in the country needs to get ownership from all three stages of the government right from federal, provincial and local governments that would effectively serve the objectives. He was of the view that human activity and in-sustainable production as well as consumption pattern cause the climate change. He said out of four types of securities at global, regional, national and human level, the later is very much compromised for the sack of other securities that resulted in rising poverty, unemployment, law& order in the country. He urged the government to squeeze some money from other sectors and put investment on agriculture, food security, and climate change. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad Chatha emphasized to put the Pakistan Meteorological Department under Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security so that an integrated approach could be initiated. Dr.dRDDDHe also urged the Punjab Government to set up a Punjab Agriculture Environmental Monitoring Network with two or three weather station in each district that would help projecting crop productivity using integrated crop and economic modeling techniques. Dr. Chatha also underscored the need to redefine the agro-ecological zones in the country by keeping in view the climate change so that the climate smart crop varieties could be introduced accordingly. Dr. Noor ul Islam Khan DG Research, Government of the Punjab said that Pakistan, on the bases the material it had, is far batter than the many advanced countries as our verities are more heat tolerant than theirs that provide us competitive edge just we need to develop new verities with less water and short duration sugarcane. He urged to shift green houses and nurseries in the northern areas of the country. Dr. Ghulam Rasool, Chief Meteorologist PMD, described the climate change an outcome of anthropogenic behavior. He said that methane remains in the air for about 12 years and sulfur affects the environment for more than 300 years. He said every year, we witness 2ppm rise in Co2 and rising trend of temperature, thus 2010 was declared a warmest year of recorded so far. Dr. Asif Ali Khan emphasized to redesign the plant so that canopy may tolerate the heat stress. Dr. Zahir Ahmad Zahir advocated the use of organic waste by integrating the chemical inputs that, he said, besides increasing the yield manifold but also uphold the plant and soil health. Dr. Shehzad M A Basra, Dr. Xue Chun Wang, Dr. Yuei-An Liou also spoke on the occasion. RECOMMENDATIONS OF CONSULTATIVE SESSION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND AGRICULTURE POLICY HELD AT UAF Global climate change is threatening the level of crop production required to feed the future generations. Tackling with this changing climate is a top priority global agenda currently. Pakistan is more vulnerable to this climate change. Increase in events of extreme weather conditions, erratic monsoon causing floods / drought, projected recession of glaciers threatening the water flows in the Indus river system are the more prominent indicators of climate change in Pakistan. Increase in temperature particularly during reproductive phase and increase in saline water / salt-affected area due to sea water rise are threatening the sustainability of crop production in the country. In order to ensure the sustained food availability, it was direly needed to address the issue of climate change and agriculture policy with the participation of international national and scientific community. The resource persons of the ‘consultative session on climate change and agriculture policy’ participants during International Seminar on Climate Change have deliberated on the issues of changing climate confronting crop plants and finding ways and means of improving them for existing and upcoming environmental changes. In the light of deliberations made at the conference, the recommendation committee recommends that, Remote sensing and GIS are effective Information Technology tools, but their usage is at a very limited scale. There is a need to make effective use of this technology in precision agriculture. Efforts should be initiated to decrease the water losses, increase the water storage facilities, and to propagate the efficient irrigation systems and use of recycled waste water. Emission of greenhouse gases may be cut down with joint efforts of researchers, industrialists and the farmers. Digital simulation modeling may be used for weather forecasting. Establishment of Punjab Agriculture and Environment Network may be very helpful to strengthen the weather forecasting system in the Punjab province. Abrupt and unforeseen climatic changes and declining water / land resources are affecting the cropping systems / patterns. Studies are required aiming at exploring the flexible/adjustable cropping patterns / systems. Alternate climate-resilient crops like Stevia, Camelina, and Quinoa etc., may be introduced for assuring food security for future generations. Drought, salinity and heat stress are the most important environmental stresses hampering crop productivity. Attention should be paid on the screening and selection of promising materials for cultivation in the affected areas. Tailoring short duration varieties of major crops may help to escape the terminal stresses and may offer the opportunity of increasing cropping intensity. Resource conservation is need of the time on the eve of declining resources, conservation agriculture practices should be evaluated, demonstrated and disseminated Use of biofertilizers may be propagated to improve the nutrient use efficiency and crop performance in the conditions of changing climate