42 Mid-Career Management Course, National Institute of Management Lahore.

FAISALABAD Jan 29: The cutting-edge technologies for small farmers comprising 90 percent of farming community is need of the hour to increase per acre productivity, said University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Sarwar Khan. He was talking to 42 Mid-Career Management Course, National Institute of Management Lahore. The delegation was led by Hina Khalid. Prof Dr Muhammad Sarwar Khan also called for promoting the high value crop. He added that commissioned research need to be promoted to address the real agrarian challenges of the country. He also stressed upon the need to bring research to the doorsteps of farmers, for which agricultural scientists and experts will have to play their active role. He said that the university has introduced high-yielding and potential varieties of Genetically Modified sugarcane including Insect-resistant transgenic sugarcane and Herbicide-tolerant transgenic sugarcane. These sugarcane varieties are carrying superior traits like input-responsiveness, early maturing, top borer-resistance, herbicide-tolerance and high-number of tillers. It is the second GM sugarcane varieties after the Brazil across the globe. He said that the university had developed varieties of climate resilient wheat with the support of Washington State University will prove to be a milestone. He said that the UAF had introduced new varieties of soybeans which are being promoted among the farmers to get rid of the import. He said they had developed of chickpea for irrigated land. He said that UAF, being the first agricultural institution in the subcontinent, was playing a significance role in the uplift of the sector. Talking about internationalization, he said that university was housing Pak Korea Nutrition Center, Center for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security, Chinese Confucius Institute, D8 Center, and ISTA Seed Lab.