PESHAWAR, Aug 30: NWFP Science and Technology Minister Hussain Ahmed Kanju has called upon the agriculture scientists and experts to carry out extensive research on crops, medicinal plants and in the field of bio-technology with a view to introducing quality and inexpensive medicines in the market.

This he said while addressing the participants of short courses arranged by the USAID for Afghans on “water management and irrigation” and “enterprise development” at Agriculture University here on Saturday.

The minister emphasized that achieving excellence in the fields of science, technology and Information Technology was necessary to compete with the developed nations.

He advised the IT professionals to develop Urdu, Pushto and Persian software on a priority basis as it had a great scope in Central Asia, Afghanistan and Iran. He said they could get tips from the Arabic software.

Vice-Chancellor Syed Iqbal Shah and USAID coordinator A. Qayyum also spoke.