The Center for Excellence in Agriculture will be set up at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad to address the issue of food security and malnutrition, said Muhammad Ayub Ch, Chairman, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council .

He addressed a seminar on slow pace of agricultural biotechnology adaptability: an analysis and way forward arranged by Centre of Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology (CABB) and Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization UAF. He said that the government had allocated record Rs287 billion for the agriculture sector to take it into mainstream economy. He said that special focus was being paid to flourish the sector and to address the problems of the farming community. He said with the tangible research work, we can’t only increase the per acre productivity but also combat the issues of hunger and poverty. He said hefty amount was also allocated to promote the culture of focused research. He said that the country was lagging behind in the biotechnology adaptability. And we have to take the measure to strengthen research on biotechnology. UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ashraf that many people across the gob one had lost their lives due to malnutrition and hunger. He said that it is the need of hour to adopt biotechnology to meet the demand of the increasing world. He said that genetically modified crops are as safe as non GM crops. He added that the world population will touch 9 billion of people by 2050 whereas the agricultural land was decreasing. He said biotechnologies innovation are spread over the every sphere of human needs including health, environment, agriculture and industrial application. Pakistan Biotechnology Information Center Director Dr Muhammad Iqbal Chaudhry said said that USA, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and India are the top five countries that planted the biotechnology. He said that out of 57 Islamic countries, only four including Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sudan are in the biotechnology commercialization. He said biotechnology can play an important role to increase production, decrease the production cost, and improve the living standards of general public. Dr Abdulla Kausar malik said that 21st century challenges include changing weather, increasing population, lack of quality seed, stagnant growth and others. He said that we have to promote the biotechnology to ensure the food security and to meet the demand. Dean Faculty of Agriculture Dr Muhammad Aslam Khan said that the university was making all out efforts to conduct the tangible researches. Director CABB Dr Muhammad Sarwar said that the country population will increasing with a large pace so we have to put a specil on biotechnology. Other notables also spoke.