Agricultural scientists, experts and extension workers on Saturday vowed to step up collaborative efforts to address the issues of farming community, to make agriculture profitable and increase the productivity.

Agricultural scientists, experts and extension workers on Saturday vowed to step up collaborative efforts to address the issues of farming community, to make agriculture profitable and increase the productivity. They were addressing agricultural congress arranged at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) as an initiative of Punjab Government in which agriculture experts and extension workers across the country participated at the Iqbal Auditorium. Chairing the session, UAF Prof Dr Iqrar A Khan called for making the agriculture competitive, profitable and sustainable through enablement, efficiency and value addition. He lauded the steps being taken on the part of the Punjab and Federal Government for the uplift of the agricultural sector. He added that Punjab agriculture policy was being revamped that will address the woes of the farming community and will help increase the productivity. He said new agriculture policy is focusing on land and water reservation; yield gap; diversification, post harvest losses, market issues, gender mainstreaming and value addition. The farming community was facing tremendous problems, he said, adding that the government is making all-out efforts to address the issues. He said that by ensuring quality seed, machinery, balanced fertilizer and weed eradication, we cannot increase the productivity but also make the sector profitable. He said that at the time of independence, the country population was 35 million which had touched to 200 million. He also suggested increasing the investment in the skill development. He said that we are only focusing on five crops whereas we have the climate to grow more than 300 crops. We need a diversification to make the agriculture a profitable business. He showed his concern that the major crops of our production were facing the stagnation. The precise and rational use of the available resources can increase our productivity manifold. He said that small farmers can’t afford the machinery. There is the need to hand holding of the small farmers. He said that water is diminishing and we have to adopt the measures to promote the water efficient technology and cut the cultivation area of water intense crops. He said the country was losing 40 percent of fruits and vegetables in the post-harvest losses. He said the climate changes were not only a new phenomenon. He said that we have to take measures to fight the changing situation. He said that the wheat was being sown Oct 15 but now it sowing time had gone to Nov 15. He said that the quality seed was a major of concern and urged the scientists to come up with climate resilient varieties to ensure the food security. He said that the UAF had developed a Seed Science as major to produce the quality manpower. He said that with the continuous sowing of crops, the soil fertility is decreasing. There is a need to break the crop cycle and tangible initiatives to fight the issue. He said that farmers were being fleeced in the markets and there is need to revamp the system. He also praised the Punjab government for taking the initiatives of reforming the cattle markets system. He said that numbers of agricultural and cattle markets were the same as it was in 1947. He also said that social justice and gender mainstreaming would move the country towards the new direction of progress He said that the 50 percent of our women and children are facing the malnutrition. He said that we are using the wheat as the staple food which is full of gluten, causing obesity. He said that we have to diversify our food habit. He said that He said the UAF has developed a cotton germplasm PB-896 which is suitable for the machine pickers. He added that the with the Controlled Atmosphere technique, we can maintain the shelf life of the mango upto 40 days that can be exported to Europe. He added that in the field, outdated agricultural machineries were being used that are less efficient. DG Extension Anjum Ali Bhuttar stressed upon the need to develop the heat tolerant varieties. He urged the scientists to come up with the viable solution to the problems facing the farming community. He said that the country was blessed with the tremendous resources and there is need to tap the potential. He sid that DG Research Dr Abid Mahmood urged the farming community to get updated about the modern trends and varieties that will increase the productivity. He also suggested establishing a model market for the farmers as they were being exploited. He also praised the initiatives of government of the sincere efforts for the development of the agriculture sector. Muhammad Nawaz Shareef Agriculture University Multan Vice Chancellor Dr Asif Ali said that agriculture sector was directly linked to the poverty alleviation as the most of our population was depending upon the sector. He said the agriculture policy was a hallmark step that will bring the prosperity in the agriculture sector. He also lauded the efforts being made on the part of the government to uplift the sector with tangible initiative. Punjab Agriculture Research Board Chief Executive Noor-ul-Islam, Dr Makhdoom, Dr Hassan Munir Bajwa, Abid Waseem, Progressive Farmers Faisal Shah, Atif Zahid and other notable also spoke.