KARACHI, May 16: A three-day international symposium on "Biodiversity of nematodes in Pakistan" will begin here on Monday, under the aegis of National Nematological Research Centre, the University of Karachi.

Over 200 scientists and nematologists from the UK, Egypt and India as well as those from different cities of Pakistan would be attending the symposium comprising six technical sessions.

The Pakistan Agriculture Research Council chairman, Dr Badruddin Soomro, would be the chief guest and Karachi University's vice-chancellor Dr Pirzada Qasim would preside over the inaugural session.

According to scientists, nematodes are diverse group of unsegmented roundworms which have complete nervous, digestive, excretory, muscular and reproductive systems.

Nematodes, which constitute one of the most destructive groups of organism living in the soil, cause considerable losses in the production of food and other crops.

The director of NNRC, Dr Shahina Fayyaz, said that the nematode problem was global in nature and deliberations and exchange of information by scientists during the symposium, would go along way in identifying appropriate technologies to tackle the menace. She said that 65 scientific research presentations would be made during the symposium.