ISLAMABAD, March 12 A plan for standardisation of agricultural implements was finalised during a meeting held at the Engineering Development Board (EDB) in Islamabad on Friday.

The project prepared by Technology Up-gradation and Skill Development Company (TUSDEC), a subsidiary of ministry of industries and production, was examined in detail and it was decided to include cost of implements, and development of identified inputs in consultation with EDB, Farms Machinery Institute (FMI), Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and Agricultural Machinery Research Institute (AMRI).

CEO, EDB Asad Elahi explained the work done by various sub-committees and the progress reviewed.

It was noted that introduction of farm mechanisation and development of efficient and well-designed farm implements will boost agricultural production.

The EDB chief informed the meeting that the committee had earlier identified 15 farm implements for development and standardisation in consultation and active participation of the stakeholders of the farm sector, including farmers and manufacturers.

The TUSDEC will produce complete engineering drawings on CAD (Computer Aided Design) system and CAA (Computer Aided Analysis) for identified agricultural implements and also arrange the dies, inspection jigs and fixtures in order to ensure production of uniform quality and standardised agricultural implements throughout the country.

The standardised working drawings will be made available to the selected manufacturers of farm machinery and implements.

Various proposals, including material bank, common facility centres, easy loans to manufacturers and farmers and provision of costly implements to small farmers on rental basis was also discussed.

Energy conservation

The Engineering Development Board (EDB), National Productivity Organisation (NPO) and Enercon have agreed to cooperate on energy conservation in the engineering industry.

This was decided at a meeting held at EDB and attended by the heads of these organisations.

In his opening remarks CEO of the board Asad Elahi underlined the need for starting specific short courses for steel industry personnel on the subject. He added that documenting best practices being used in the industry and projecting these to stakeholders will help in achieving the goals.

The meeting was informed that NPO was in the process of preparing such booklets, which need revision and review.

A presentation on the energy efficiency audit for steel and textile sectors in was presented during the meeting, which was also briefed about the results of walk through audits conducted in the local steel rolling mills.

Shortcomings in the design of furnaces used by the industry were highlighted.

The head of NPO informed the meeting about the scope of the energy audits and listed the benefits achieved by the industry. It was noted that most of these were achieved by adopting best practices and minimum cash outlays by the industrialists.