ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) on Thursday announced the establishment of a new sugarcane research station in Gharo.

The new research station will be set up on the basis of the public-private partnership mode, according to PARC Chairman Dr Nadeem Amjad.

He announced its establishment in a meeting with the Pakistan Sugar Mills (Sindh Zone) at the Directorate General of Agriculture (Research), Tandojam. The station will conduct research on sugarcane cross-breeding as well as increasing the sugar crop production in the region.

Dr Abdul Fatah Soomro of National Sugarcane and Tropical Horticultural Research Institute (NSTHRI) gave a detailed presentation in the meeting and highlighted the need for the establishment of the station in the Thatta region.

He said the department was already working on the sugarcane variety development through locally collected sugarcane fuzz (true seed). He said the fuzz produced through sugarcane cross-breeding at the sugarcane-breeding station will help the department accelerate and strengthen the sugarcane variety development programme.

Speaking on the occasion, PARC Member (Plant Sciences) Dr Ahmad Bukhsh Mahar said the council will establish two sugarcane-breeding stations. One will be in Gharo and the other one will be in Southern Punjab under the public-private partnership mode, he added.

He said the exotic fuzz obtained from abroad does not fulfil the requirement for variety development. “We must develop our own system for fuzz production according to our local requirements,” he added.

He further said the quality fuzz produced under indigenous conditions will offer more viability. He noted the fuzz produced will also be shared with other research institutes in Pakistan for the sugarcane variety development.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2016