Tangible research foolproof agricultural solutions high yielding seed value additions in agricultural produces adoptions of latest practices and quality education are inevitable to ensure food security earn foreign exchanges reduce import bill and to alleviate poverty from the country said University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ashraf.

He addressed a reception dinner organized by Academic Staff Association UAF at staff club. Unveiling his vision Dr. Ashraf vowed to revitalize the teaching and research portfolios thereby to be placed in the 500 best universities of the world by credible and acclaimed ranking systems of the world. In a bid to reduce the import bill of the country he said that the varsity is going to submit a proposal to HEC for setting up a seed processing unit at campus adding that farmers are desperately looking for quality seeds which is not available in the country due to non-availability of indigenous seed technology. He asked the faculty to come up with value addition technologies in organic foods so that farmers be trained in a way to preserve and do some value addition to earn more money. Dr. Ashraf urged the agricultural engineers to make some reverse engineering of the small agricultural implements for small farmers adding that Chinese are efficiently looking after small land holdings with small farm machinery. He applauded the services of Prof. Dr. Zafar Iqbal Randhawa who he said, had devolved a major chunk of powers to deans level and express willingness to further devolve the remaining powers to that level which he hoped will eliminate the bottlenecks in smooth running of affairs. He said that university had taken up the issue of the development of climate resilient seeds for the food security and increasing per acre production. The step will not only increase the productivity but also lower down the import bill. He said that seed production unit will also be set up at the campus. Dr. Ashraf vowed to hold a series of selection boards to make appointments against the positions already advertised and to release new advertisement of new positions in the days to come that he hoped will further boost the moral of the faculty. and staff. He said strong academia-industry linkages are vital for developing knowledge based economy. He urged academia, and researchers to provide solid solutions to fight issues of common man, industry and farming community. He said new and demand driven disciplines and degree programs will be launched for producing skilled manpower that is a guarantee of a bright future. He urged the faculty members to work on innovative ideas and to fetch fruitful research projects for uplift and sustainability. He urged the UAF researchers to develop new varieties keeping the climate changes and new trends in views. He added that the agriculture is the backbone of our economy contributing 20 percent to the Gross Domestic Product. He said that new staff induction and promotion matters will be addressed at the priority basis to ensure education quality. He urged the university teaching staff to refurbish the skills of students empowered with ideal characters. He said that new initiatives will be taken to move the varsity in world three reliable ranking including QS Times Higher Education Ranking and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). He said that steps are afoot to ensure the state of the art facilities for the students and faculty. Dr Zafar Iqbal Randhawa Dr Mehmood Randhawa Prof. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad Chatha and Dr Amir Jamil also spoke on the occasion. Parliamentary Secretary Railway Mian Farrukh Habib MNA Sheikh Khuram Shehzad, MPM Shakeel Shahid Mian Khayal Kastro Ch. Nazar Latif DG Research Punjab Dr. Abid Mehmood VC GCWU Dr. Sofia Anwar Vice Chancellor GCUF Dr. Nasir Amin and other notables were also present on the occasion.