LAHORE, May 2: The Worldwide Fund for Nature, Pakistan, and Lahore Compost have signed a memorandum of understanding to join hands for promoting non-chemical interventions for sustainable livelihood development among farming communities for two years.

Being a nature conservation organization working for reducing pollution, the WWF will coordinate with Lahore Compost for jointly undertaking field level research activities to enhance soil fertility by using compost and assess its impact on overall crop productivity and other related issues such as change in soil structure, water holding capacity, pest attack etc.

The activities will be conducted under WWF's projects namely Pakistan's Cotton Initiative and Better Management Practices for Water Thirsty Crops aimed at ensuring sustainable sources of freshwater to support the livelihood of poor communities. The projects historically address the sustainability of cotton and sugarcane crops in Pakistan.

The focus area is the Bahawalpur district for activities related with cotton and the Faisalabad district for research activities pertaining to sugarcane.

The Lahore Compost will collaborate with the WWF by nominating a focal person for continuous liaison for participation in field level activities and in project advisory committee, planning and evaluation meetings.

The objective of participation in these activities is to monitor the progress and identify gaps possibilities of complimenting each others' roles, avoiding overlaps and conflicts.