KARACHI: Optimum utilization of plant wealth stressed
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 29: A four-day workshop on “Current trends in flowering plant taxonomy” got under way on Monday, emphasizing a faster system of organism identification, which could lead to a better and optimum utilization of the plant wealth.
The vice-chancellor of the University of Karachi, Dr Pirzada Qasim, was the chief guest of the inauguration ceremony of the workshop, which is being organized by the botany department of the varsity.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is the main sponsor of the scientific moot. The vice-chancellor of Kohat University of Science and Technology, among others, also delivered lectures on the occasion.
The speakers called for collaboration among plant taxonomists of the country and the adoption of modern techniques in order to make better use of plant biodiversities, including species of medicinal plants, and its conservation for the coming generations.
KU vice-chancellor Dr Pirzada expressed his willingness to coordinate with the Kohat University for the establishment of laboratory facilities for molecular systematics. He said that there were a lot of opportunities in the field of taxonomy which could be availed meaningfully only by scientists and researchers equipped with update apparatus and funds.
Dr Pirzada said that Pakistan had enormous mineral and plant wealth, which could draw attention of the international quarters as well, only after a scientific study and classification and determination of their properties by local scientists.
He said that modern way of research and use of technology could add up to the scientific, economic and medical gains both locally and globally.
The vice-chancellor of Kohat University of Science and Technology, Dr Zabta Khan Shinwari, feared that the indigenous knowledge about plants was shrinking as it was not being transferred to the young generation.
He called for proper documentation of what was being studied locally and their use in the treatment and medicine preparation.
The former vice-chancellor of KU and a noted name in plant science, Dr S Irtifaq Ali apprised the participants about the “barcode or tag” system for species identification, which had enabled scientists in Canada to know about the plants at a faster pace, while relying on certain gene found in plants.
He said that the technique of bar-coding of organisms was not only much easier to learn than the conventional taxonomy, which took years of study and observation to master, but also it was much faster and cheaper too, he added.
Dr Mohammad Qaiser, dean of KU Science faculty, said that proper plant taxonomy and systematics could give a broader understanding of the plants.
He was of the view that any meaningful study of plants could not be done unless the names of plants were known and they were identified through a faster track, which was not possible basing only on the plant morphology system.
The chairman of Botany department, KU, Dr S. Shahid Shaukat also spoke at the inauguration ceremony.
During the technical sessions, Dr S.I. Ali spoke on “Changing faces of flowering plant systematics”, while Dr Zabat Khan made a presentation on Molecular Systematics, Prof Dr Khan Bahadur Marwat of the NWFP Agriculture University discussed the challenges faced by taxonomists in Pakistan and Dr Surraya Khatoon of KU made presentation on “Cytological evidence in plant taxonomy”.
KARACHI, Aug 29: A four-day workshop on “Current trends in flowering plant taxonomy” got under way on Monday, emphasizing a faster system of organism identification, which could lead to a better and optimum utilization of the plant wealth. 
