FAISALABAD, April 17: The Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB) has celebrated its 30th birthday with an inventory of achievements ranging from 40 high yield varieties of various crops evolved with nuclear technology.

Presently, the NIAB is contributing Rs31.2 billion to the national exchequer through improved crops, raising the cotton crop output from four million bales to 12 million bales per year.

This was stated by Dr Ashfaq Ahmed, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for Strategic Programmes and former Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission chairman, while speaking to a gathering of scientists, engineers and other experts.

He said that Pakistan was the second highest recipient of technical assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

IAEA's special representative Dr Lagoda lauded Pakistan's work for peaceful application of nuclear technology to boost crops and use it in the health and industrial sectors.

She said that Pakistan had done praise-worthy job by investing nuclear technology for augmenting agriculture and using it in the social sector.

In his presidential address, Dr Ashfaq advised the scientists to open commercial windows for their findings, be accessible to the farming community and widely disseminate their findings for the benefit of the people.

He also praised the role of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) for proposing such projects to IAEA that aimed at harnessing nuclear technology for the public good and economic betterment of the country.

High yield varieties of various crops and establishment of nuclear medical centres were evidence that the technology was being invested in peaceful purposes.

He urged scientists and engineers to act as entrepreneurs and introduce business culture to their research pursuits for attaining higher efficiency and providing greater support to economy.

Dr Ahmed, who heads the Global Change Study Centre also, asked scientists to take up the challenge of the changes in global climate that were creating an adverse affect on Pakistan's agriculture and hampering the productivity of crops.

In his keynote address, PAEC Chairman Pervez Butt paid tributes to the leadership that steered the programmes of PAEC and NIAB and promoted a merit-based culture that had acted as an engine of success for the organization.He said the agriculture and industry compliment each other for the national prosperity and NIAB was working for progress in both fields. He also announced that PAEC was planning to come up with more nuclear power plants as they were cost effective and provided security of electricity supply.

Member (Bio-sciences) PAEC, Dr Kausar Abdullah Malik, said the most vital impact of research efforts of agriculture research centres set up under PAEC had been the evolution of high yield crop varieties that were produced by harnessing nuclear technology. These centres had helped control pests and reduce losses in crops due to pest attacks.

He said the government had approved the upgradation and expansion of NIAB at a cost of Rs189 million to boost its work and announced that a nuclear research centre would be set in Quetta in the near future.

Niab Director General Dr Mohsin Iqbal said that one of its cotton varieties, NIAB 78, alone had contributed an amount of about Rs31.2 billion to the national kitty.