ISLAMABAD, February 11: On the occasion of World Pulses Day, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council in collaboration with the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) organized a function at the National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad. Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council was the Chief Guest at the event. Saeedullah Khan Yousafzai, Member Finance PARC, Dr. ImtiazHussain, Deputy Director General, National Agricultural Research Center and Dr. Muhammad Mansoor, National Coordinator (Pulses) PARC, Pulses Specialist Scientists from all over Pakistan, Agriculture Department students and farmers also attended the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council said that we need to increase the production of pulses and in this regard Pakistan Agricultural Research Council with the financial support of 05 years Public Sector Development project has been launched “To increase the production capacity of pulses and research”. The scope of the project is to increase the national average production of pulses (Chickpea, Mungbeen, mash, lentils and beans) by 30% to reduce the production gap and increase profits. Dr. Ali also told that training workshops, seminars will be organized for promotion of pulses and increase in production capacity which will be given awareness to the farmers and such training will be increase in production 15-20%.
Dr. Mohammad Mansoor, National Coordinator (Pulses) said that another achievement of this project is to promote bean cultivation in the country. Due to the diligent efforts of the government, 6 varieties of beans have been developed for general cultivation in the country. These will be the first commercial varieties of beans produced in Pakistan.
Dr. ShahidRiaz Malik, Program Leader, Department of Pulses, NARC, expressed that expansion of area for cultivation of pulses in Balochistan is one of the various objectives of this project. The area under Mash increased by 1482 acres, Chickpea by 2717 acres and Lentils by 247 acres. In this regard, the provincial centers of Chickpea are Jaffarabad, Naseerabad and DeraBugti. For Masur, Naseerabad & Mastung whereas for Mongbean and Mash the areas are Khuzdar, Barkhan, Musakhel, Lasbela and Loralai.
On the occasion of World Pulses Day, various agricultural research institutes set up exhibition stalls which included good pulses seeds, technology and various value added products. At the end of the event, guests visited various exhibition stalls.-PR
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