SARGODHA: The University of Sargodha (UoS) has become the first-ever public university of Pakistan to sign a letter of intent with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

The document was signed by Minà Dowlatchahi, FAO representative to Pakistan, and Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad, UoS Vice-Chancellor (VC), on Friday while Rosana Frattini, FAO partnership officer, Dr Shakeel Khan, seed sector consultant from the FAO in Islamabad, Nasar Hayat, FAO Pakistan assistant representative of programmes, and deans and faculty members of various faculties of the university were also present.

The decision to sign the letter was taken by representatives of both parties after considering their mutual interests in conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources, strengthening agricultural research programmes in the development of modern seed technology, climate smart agriculture practices, bio-fortified food crop varieties, and improved technologies for minimizing postharvest losses of food crops.

VC Dr Ahmad remarked that these moments would be remembered in the history of higher education of Pakistan as on this day, the FAO signed its first-ever letter of intent with any public sector university of Pakistan.

He thanked the FAO team for providing the UoS with an opportunity to become partner of a global institution.

He said the UoS was committed to promoting the utilisation of research and technology in the agriculture sector to enhance the agricultural productivity. “We, with the cooperation of our global partners like China, are focusing our research on potential agricultural products of the region like citrus and sugarcane,” he added.

Minà Dowlatchahi said that through this initiative, the FAO wished to support small farmers, create income opportunities for women, provide dieting guidelines and soil profiling in Punjab.

Benefits of the agriculture research, conducted in the last decade, failed to reach the farmers of the country, the FAO representative said, adding that it came under the responsibility of the FAO and UoS to bridge gap between farmers and researchers.

She said the biggest challenge we faced today was that 19.9 percent of the population of Pakistan was facing food insecurity while 45 percent of the children in the country were suffering from malnutrition.

“We look forward to cooperate with the UoS to strengthen modern technologies in the field of agriculture and food like irrigation to water management and kitchen gardening. Our vision is to build rural-urban linkages for sustainable development,” she concluded.

According to the letter of intent, the FAO and the UoS will initiate certain capacity development activities such as training programmes for small-to-medium scale farmers, agribusiness and entrepreneurs and development of a technology delivery mechanism and standard operating procedure between the UoS and the private sector. The FAO will support the UoS in identifying and selecting short-to-medium term consultants to assist the UoS in contextualizing research findings to benefit small scale farmers as well as small and medium enterprises.

The FAO, besides facilitating the development of a technology delivery mechanism and standard operating procedure between UoS and the private sector, will also facilitate the varsity faculty to pilot new technologies and practices by sharing knowledge and giving access to its global success stories.

It was observed by the university sources that the FAO e-learning courses, such as pre-breeding for effective use of plant genetic resources, would be freely integrated into the UoS graduate-level curricula whereas the FAO-Pakistan office will facilitate the UoS in applying online to the FAO HQ Internships Programme with a view to potential placement of selected students at relevant project locations.

The outcomes of collaboration between the UN-FAO and the UoS aim to ensure the supply of quality seed to the farmers in line with the Amended (2015) Seed Act 1976 and the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, 2016.

The collaboration will strengthen the UoS faculty of agriculture outreach extension educational programme to build the capacities of the maximum number of stakeholders.

The FAO is one of the United Nations institutions working with its mandate to eradicate hunger, improve nutrition, improve agriculture productivity, raise the standards of living of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy, while striving for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2018