Agricultural experts from 14 countries warned of aggravating hunger, food insecurity and decreasing agricultural production worldwide if tangible efforts were not made to fight climate changes with mitigating strategies and climate resilient agriculture system

Addressing the inaugural session of five-day workshop titled "Climate Changes Resilient Agriculture Systems", arranged by Centre for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (CAS-UAF) as Chief Guest, Malaysian High Commissioner Dato Dr Hasrul Sani Bin Mujtabar said that climate changes was the real challenge which is playing havoc with lives of the people, livestock and agricultural sector worldwide. He urged all the nations to expedite their efforts to fight with the challenge. He urged the researchers, farming community, governments, industry and all the stakeholders to join hands to mitigate the increasing impact of climate changes. He said we have to put the interest of mankind first than the national interest. He also stressed upon the need to strengthen the academia and research ties between Pakistan and Malaysia. He applauded the measures being taken on the part of UAF for education and agriculture. He said that the faculty of University of Putra Malaya was teaching the students of UAF through video conferences that will open up new avenue of cooperation with other Malaysian Universities. UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that agriculture is the most worst hit area. He said that Paris Conference on climate changes had also started from November 30 that will come up to the solutions of the issue. He said that Pakistan, which is worst hit by climate changes, was among the lowest contributor to carbon and green house impact. He said that due to recent floods and other climate events, Pakistan during the last half decade, had suffered losses to the tune of $20 billion. He said that we had devastating impact of increasingly erratic weather and patterns. Whereas, the flood pattern has also changed, he added. He said that in green revaluation, short stature and duration crops were introduced and now, it is time to develop and adopt climate change resilient crops. He was of the view that the rice crops emit green house gases. He suggested to change the eating patterns of such countries totally depending upon rice as they are facing the highest rate of blindness due to the deficiency of Vitamin A. CAS-UAF Chief of Party Prof Dr Bashir Ahmad said that the pace of climate change is faster than expectations, resulting in high costs associated with climate-related disasters. The industrialized countries around the world have contributed most to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. He said that climate changes and melting glaciers were the areas of concerns for which we have to expedite our efforts. He said that Pakistan was blessed with tremendous natural resources. We have to utilize these resources rationally to face the future challenges. Asian Productivity Organization Secretary General Mari Amano in his video message, called for making joint efforts for the sustainable agriculture amid climate changes . He said that by 2050, the world population would touch to 10 billion for which we have to provide the food. He said that the climate changes are badly affecting the agriculture sector. CAS-Climate Change Chair Head Prof Dr Ashafq Ahmad Chatha said during the current decade, the world has witnessed a temperature rise that would further aggravate the situation. He said under the changing climate, the farmers will face serious challenges such as droughts and flood wreaking havoc on agriculture, fisheries, livestock and poultry that need a climate change - resilient agriculture, livestock, poultry, fisheries and aquaculture system to be put on place. Senior Programme Officer APO Dr Muhammad Saeed said that the workshop would come up with the solution to address the issue. He said his organization was a partner of UAF in organizing training workshops on livestock, poultry, agronomy and other disciplines. NPO representative Rabia Jameel and Dr Sohail Sajjad also spoke on the occasion.