Punjab Agricultural Minister Ahmad Ali Aulakh on Monday called for stepping up efforts to persuade farming community about adopting modern practices to ensure food security

Punjab Agricultural Minister Ahmad Ali Aulakh on Monday called for stepping up efforts to persuade farming community about adopting modern practices to ensure food security. He chaired a session of University of Agriculture Faisalabad 37th Senate Meeting. UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan also spoke. Registrar Muhammad Hussain presented the agenda before the House and Treasure Muhammad Ashraf Mumtaz tabled the budget before the House. The minister said that thirty three million acre of agricultural land in Punjab out of 50 million acre is being cultivated. He said that a lack of communication between experts and farmers was hampering the process of increasing per acre. He said that the Punjab government was taking all-out efforts to increase the per acre production that was the need of the hour. Talking about agricultural reforms, he said that the government had distributed 30,000 tractors among the farming community with the subsidy of six billion rupees. He said that as a result of Punjab Wheat Competition, per acre wheat productivity has jacked up. The contest was meant to motivate the farming community to apply the latest practices at their field in the competitive atmosphere. The winner of the contest has produced 80 mounds of wheat from an acre that is a hallmark. He said that provincial government has made heavy investment to improve the Supply Change management and storage capacity to face up the challenges of modern world and reduce the post harvest losses. Talking about educational reforms, he said that the Punjab Government has provided scholarship worth 10 billion under the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund to support the talented and needy students. He said that launch of Danish School, distribution of laptops and solar lamps will help the students to get the access to modern researches and knowledge. In the welcome address, Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan praised the Punjab government for the giving the funds of Rs 500 million in the last five years to the varsity. It was the first time that UAF got the funds from provincial government. He also added that the provincial government has approved the establishing of a sub-campus of UAF in Layyah with a special focus on forest management. He said that Punjab government is also providing the fund for setting up of UAF sub campus in Burewala in order to giving an opportunity of quality education facility to the dwellers at their doorstep. He said that the University research portfolio has gone up to 2 billion in a half decade that was 300 million in 2008. He said that the UAF has worked on the agenda of 2030 vision to meet the needs of 30,000 students with quality education at the main campus. The House elected Prof Masood Sadiq Butt and Prof Dr Asghar Bajwa as members of syndicate for three years. Higher Education Commission Adviser Dr Riaz Hussain Qureshi, Additional Secretary Finance Muhammad Arshad, Livestock Additional Secretary Mansoor Qadir, Agri Planning Additional Secretary Ahmad Ali Zafar, Prof Emeritus Dr Bashir Ahmad, Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Khan, MPA Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan and other notables attended the meeting.