ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: Agricultural research is an important component to alleviate poverty and to boost the economy of the country for achieving self-sufficiency to meet the national challenges.

This was observed by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) chairman, Dr Badaruddin Soomro, while presiding over the 4th Technical Advisory Committee of board of directors of the Agricultural Research Endowment Fund (AREF).

The meeting considered 86 projects with special focus on priority areas of agricultural research from all over the country in the disciplines like animal sciences, crop sciences, natural resources and social sciences. The projects will be presented for recommendations to the board of director for final approval to fund these projects under the programme.

The technical advisory committee (TAC) is a 15-member body of the BoD which assists and advise the board on technical matters.

The TAC includes eminent scientists, representing all the provinces as well as all major disciplines of agriculture. The National Economic Council of the cabinet approved the creation of the AREF for the Agricultural Linkages Programme (ALP) and also approved the procedures for its implementation.

The government has established the AREF which is supported by the USDA with allocation of Rs1.3 billion during 1999 to provide a sustained source of funding for promotion of agricultural research in the country.

The PARC, with the mandate to promote the cause of agricultural research at the federal level, has been assigned the key role to ensure utilization of this fund in the best national interest.

The income generated from the AREF would be used for the ALP activities in line with Pakistan’s long-term research and development goals, PARC’s focal point of the national agricultural research system.

Mr Soomro urged the scientists that results of the research carried out under the AREF must reach to the end users through the newly established units of transfer technology institutes (TTIs) and the existing extension services in the provinces.

Currently, the country has a broad-based provincial Extension network down up to the district and union council level but the system needs to be further strengthened for delivering knowledge and new technologies to the farmers and feed back from farmers needs to be monitored.

He said the provincial research institutions had done pioneer work but their activities need to be coordinated at national level to avoid duplication in research and organize into a networking to have an efficient agricultural research system in the country.

Dr Soomro, highlighted the PARC contribution towards the national agricultural research system development, the council’s resources, news initiatives, strengthening research, education and extension linkage.

The TAC has approved and recommended 90 per cent projects out of the 86 projects worth Rs150 million for final approval by BoD. The remaining 10 per cent projects were also recommended subject to some improvement/modifications.

The meeting was attended by heads of provincial agricultural institutions, agricultural universities, representative of the USDA, technical members of PARC, and member (finance) Dr Aleem Mahmud, member (administration), Mian Khuda Yar Khan, NARC director general and senior scientists.