TAXILA: Vice Chancellor Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi Prof Dr Sarwat Naz Mirza has said the university’s Attock campus would be completed in 2019 at a cost of Rs890 million.

He was talking to newsmen during his visit to the under-construction campus on Saturday. Director Zohair Husnain and other faculty members were also present.

Prof Mirza said the campus would play a pivotal role in promoting agriculture education as countries across the globe were at present giving importance to rain-fed areas to address the issue of food security as urbanisation had threatened agricultural products.

He was of the view that with the rapid increase in population the irrigated areas had failed to meet food requirements and it had become imperative to find out ways to make use of the huge part of cultivable land in the rain-fed areas.

Prof Mirza said the campus located in the rain-fed area would help produce high-quality agricultural scientists and form an organised scientific infrastructure for teaching and research on the development of dry land regions of the country.

He said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had generously provided funds for the campus which was an ample proof of his education friendly policies.

He said establishing a campus in the remote district was certainly a gift for the people of the area. The VC visited the under-construction campus spreading over 1,000 kanals.

He said the project included construction of faculty, boys’ hostel, a research institute, academic, library and admin buildings.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2018