The country is losing grains, fruits and vegetables worth billions of the rupees due to insects attack, and different agro diseases in the fields, said University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Iqbal Zafar.

The country is losing grains, fruits and vegetables worth billions of the rupees due to insects attack, and different agro diseases in the fields, said University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Iqbal Zafar. He was addressing at the annual dinner of Department of Entomology University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). He was flanked by Faculty of Agriculture Dean Dr Muhammad Amjad, Department of Entomology Chairman Dr Jalal Arif, Dr Mansoor Sahi and other notables. He said that amid the situation of climate changes, the agriculture sector was facing numerous challenges. He said that new diseases were breaking out for which we have to expedite the efforts for fight them and for the development of the country. He added that the Department of Entomology UAF is playing role in the uplift of the agriculture sector by overcoming the attacks of insects on the field. He also announced that the Department would be elevated to the status of the Institute keeping its importance in view. He urged the scientists to pace up efforts to fight the woes of the common man and the agricultural sector. He lauded the Entomology Department for conducting a survey on the directives of Punjab Government in the cotton belt on pink bollworm and whitefly. The Entomology Department has won two projects on pink bollworm and whitefly from Punjab Agriculture Research Board. He said that modern practices must be promoted and practiced in the fields to fight the attack of different insect on the field. He praised the measures of Punjab government for the uplift of the sector and to promote the modern techniques and practices. He hoped that the projects will help yield improvement, increase in export, decrease in import , improvement in input use efficiency and etc. Dr Muhammad Amjad said that the Entomology Department is the partnered with the Punjab Government to eradicate dengue. He was of the view that amid the situation of climate changes, the demands for entomologists were increasing, He viewed that there is a need to produce skilled manpower in order to increaser the per acre yield. The country was blessed with tremendous resources, he said, adding that we are not tapping the potential. Dr Jalal Arif said that the Department was making all out efforts to fight the agro diseases in the field that will not only increase the productivity but also alleviate the poverty from the country. He said that the HEC had awarded overall 26 projects worth Rs 67 million to the Entomology Department and they had completed 12 whereas work on 14 projects is on. He said that 28 PhDs students of the department had completed part of their research in different countries with the HEC funding worth 28 million. Dr Mansoor Sahi said that agriculture was the backbone of our economy that was directly linked to poverty alleviation.