Three decades can be a long time or a brief period - it is the way one looks at it. In the case of Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (Niab), it is a relatively a short period but one in which a number of achievements have been made.
But it is time to expedite the pace of research and ensure its application in the fields if Pakistan is to be saved from what is clearly the looming danger of food shortages in the future for a number of reasons.
Established in 1972, the primary objective of Niab has been 'conducting multi-disciplinary goal-oriented research on specific problems of agriculture and biology where use of nuclear technology has direct edge over other method'. It has certainly done some remarkable research and has been instrumental, among other things, in producing resistant varieties of cotton and quality rice seed.
While some organizations were set up under Niab to extend the reach of research, its really important work has been developing quality varieties of cotton, rice, chickpea and mongbean, among other crops and playing a role in increasing the produce of these crops. The first batch of varieties was developed in 1982 and since then it has been regularly coming up with new improved varieties.
The areas Niab has focused on include crop improvement, plant protection, plant pathology, soil and plant nutrition, promoting saline agriculture, animal health and environmental protection. In cotton, Niab-78 and Irri-9 in rice have made their mark in the agriculture sector and another cotton variety, Niab 111 was recently approved by the Punjab government for cultivation.
According to Niab, its researches in cotton have benefited Pakistan to the tune of additional income of about Rs6 billion. Sindh uses its seed varieties up to about 60 per cent while the percentage for the same in Punjab and the NWFP is 40 in each province.
While its work in crop development has been widely disseminated and applied in the field, Niab's contribution in other areas of its mandate is comparatively much less known and results it may have gained are not publicly established.
There is a need for Niab presenting a fuller view of its activities before the public for scrutiny and evaluation so that the farming community and animal breeders can benefit from its research on a direct and regular basis.
There is also need for the government to accord the organization greater attention. Like many other research organizations, Niab also often suffers from lack of funds. That requirement is met from special grants from the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and the Science Foundation plus foreign grants but the fact that it has to look around for financial backing is hardly the most effective policy for promoting research in any sphere, let alone in agriculture that forms the backbone of Pakistan's economy.
Not only financial resources for research but funds for updating equipment have also been one of the constraints of the organization. Fortunately the government has woken up to that need and provided Rs190 million for upgrading and modernizing facilities this year. However, recurrent availability of funds for research facilities is a prerequisite if consistent contribution is expected from an organization like Niab.
Water-logging and salinity has been a major and serious problem in Pakistan. Several attempts have been made to counter this twin threat to the country's natural resources but, after seemingly producing positive results, they ultimately backfired, leaving the situation as bad as it had been before efforts to cure ailments and in some cases, even more deep in the quagmire of the previous square. While the fight against these two problems must be continued, other solutions need to be explored.
An area of Niab's concern has been utilization of salt-affected wastelands and brackish water that has been pursued through the screening of plants for salt and drought tolerance and nutrient management.
A breakthrough in this direction can prove a major boost to national resources, provide hope, work and welcome income to a large number of people and bring abandoned land under cultivation.
Realizing the importance of utilizing brackish water and putting saline lands to productive use, Niab established a Biosaline Research Station at Rakh Dera Chahl near Lahore as early as 1980. A second such station was set up in 1992 at Faisalabad. However, results of the research at these stations are not much known, nor has one an idea of to what extent they have been applied to lands suffering from salinity.
Niab's efforts for developing quality, resistant and higher yield seed for cotton, rice and citrus, among other crops are noteworthy and their results are reflected in the crops but the same cannot be said of its work for saline lands. That they should be publicized and applied is a point that cannot be over-emphasized.
It is indeed desirable that scientist working for NIAB should be encouraged to develop interaction with farmers and farmer organizations so that the concerned segment of the populace can take direct benefit from the organization's work. This would be in the interest of not just the farming community but Niab as well.
With the population continuing to explode-one cannot give much credence to officials statistics informing of success in controlling growth of population because ground conditions do not sustain that claim, food security is becoming an increasingly greater issue for Pakistan.
It can only be met by maximum output of crops, similar utilization of all other resources and exploitation of all possibilities, particularly those that help in countering constraints arising from the shrinking of water resources.
This means that Niab should go in to a higher gear for crop maximization efforts and select areas that call for immediate attention. At the same time, it would be desirable to expand activities to smaller crops that can do with better quality seed and higher produce.
It should also attend to vegetable and pulses crops that are vital for small landowners. The track record of Niab and capabilities of its scientists suggest that this can be done and it can do that.
It should however guard against getting carried away by its enthusiasm and ensure that empirical principles are followed to the last. This is being said in the context of Niab currently celebrating thirty years of its work and existence. Founded in 1972, the organization is now 32 year old. Scientific research cannot afford such an oversight.
