HYDERABAD, Sep 21: An agriculture technology transfer institute will be established in Tando Jam by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (Parc) in collaboration with the agriculture extension wing, Sindh, to pass research findings to farmers.

This was stated by Parc chairman Dr Badaruddin Soomro, while speaking at the concluding session of the one-day workshop on “rethinking agriculture extension” at the Agriculture Reaserach Iinstitute, Tando Jam, on Friday.

This was forth and final workshop on the subject, which were also held at Faisalabad, Peshawar and Quetta, and aimed at evolving a national agriculture extension strategy.

Dr Soomro said that the technology transfer institutes would also be set up in the other provinces.

He said that the institutions would help in launching crop productivity enhancement campaign and dissemination of modern agriculture techniques besides developing strong links between university, research institutes and agriculture extension service.

He said that the researchers and agriculture extension officials had contributed a lot towards making the country surplus in wheat, sugar, rice and cotton, besides providing exportable surplus of fruit.

Earlier, while inaugurating the workshop, Sindh agriculture secretary Aftab Ahmed Qureshi emphasized the need for designing agriculture extension work in simple and practical shape, keeping in view the fact that a large number of farmers were illiterate, small and poor.

The extension officers and staff should be equipped with such communication skills so that the extension delivery was meaningful and in plane language, he said, adding that present state of agriculture extension service was not satisfactory.

On a query by a grower, he said that hurdles in the way of developing 5,000 watercourses had been sorted out and the scheme would be launched in a couple of months.

Qureshi advised the growers to form cooperative societies or village-based farmers’ organisations so that they got benefits of agriculture mechanization and other advanced technologies.

Dr Waqar Malik, member of Parc, said that concrete recommendations had come up from the four workshops on “rethinking agriculture extension”, which will be given final shape shortly.

He said that as a follow-up, a regional workshop would be held in India by the World Bank to finalise the agriculture extension strategy.

He said that the extension workers should work in collaboration with farmers’ organizations and NGOs at village level and help in development of female farmers’ organizations.

Anwar Ali Choudhry, deputy director general, National Agriculture Research Centre, said that the PARC would help the provinces in improving linkages and delivery of technology to farmers.

Dr Kazi Suleman Memon, director general, agriculture extension and research, Sindh, and Dr Ansar Ali Khan, consultant, PARC, also spoke at the workshop.

The workshop was attended by farmers, experts from the agriculture university and agriculture research, extension officers and representatives of NGOs, corporate sector and media.