ISLAMABAD, May 18: The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is harvesting nuclear technology for socio-economic uplift of the country and it has evolved 43 high yielding, pest resistant and soil suitable crop varieties.

These improved varieties have created an additional income of Rs6 billion per annum.

The areas where PAEC is directly contributing to common good is agriculture and health through the application of nuclear techniques.

The crops developed by PAEC mainly pertain to wheat, cotton, rice and pulses. At present, these varieties cover 60 per cent of the total sown area in the NWFP, 50 per cent in Sindh and 20 per cent in Punjab. Through the application of nuclear techniques, the PAEC has also evolved such trees and crops which are salt- tolerant and can grow in the saline land.

The government has recently allocated Rs178 million for the rehabilitation of 25,000 acres of saline-hit lands in all four provinces by using these techniques.

Talking to this agency, the PAEC member (bio-sciences), Dr Kauser Abdullah Malik, said the organization had also evolved a ‘bio-fertilizer’ which substantially reduces the requirement of chemical fertilizers, whose over use was degrading the soil and polluting the environment.

The bio-fertilizer, being much cheaper than chemical fertilizer, is under mass production and extensive marketing.

He said net additional income of Rs7,000 to Rs8,000 per acre in the case of legume crops, Rs2,000 to Rs3,000 for rice and Rs1,200 to Rs1,500 for wheat crop can reach the farmers using this bio-fertilizer.

The PAEC is also providing expert services in this technology to China, Mongolia, Indonesia, Sudan and Sri Lanka.

Regarding the use of atomic energy in health care, the commission is running 13 nuclear medical centres throughout the country which provide diagnostic and treatment facilities to over 320,000 cancer patients annually. Five more medical centres would be set up in the near future.

The PAEC has also established a welding institute which imparts training and certification to industry personnel apart from providing installation services to the private sector.—APP