He was addressing concluding session of three-day entomological congress and farmer convention held at Iqbal Auditorium UAF. It was jointly arranged by UAF Department of Entomology; Pakistan Entomological Society and Corteva. He said that AJK government will provide funds and land for the said purpose. He said that UAF established in 1906 is the mother of all educational institutions of the country in the subcontinent.
He said that agricultural experts and scientists should devise a comprehensive strategy and conduct researches to combat different issues in the agricultural sector. He said that the Punjab is the food basket of the country which is land of lush green fields. He said that Britain set up the world largest canal system in Punjab that is one of reason of the fertile land. He said that the services of farming community were remarkable who worked day and night to provide the food for us. He also urged the University to increase AJK students seats in the UAF admission criteria. He stressed upon the youngsters to put their efforts for refusbishing their skills and to play their due role to steer the country out of crisis. UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Zafar Iqbal Randhawa said that the university will prepare PC1 of the proposed sub-campus and present it before the government for considerations. He said that the university is running three-sub-campuses in Okara; Burewala and Toba Tek Singh. He added that the university had given the birth to diffident Universities including University of Veterinary Sciences Lahore; PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpndi and Ghazi University. He said that Kashmir is heart of our country. He urged the scientists and students to work with devotion for the development and prosperity of our homeland. LCWU Vice Chancellor Farkhanda Manzoor said that the country was blessed with talented youth, four seasons, and ecosystem. She said that with hardworking and motivation, we can move the country to the new horizon of development and prosperity. DG Pest Warning and Quality Control Dr Zafar Yab Haider said that there is need to promote the modern plant protection practices including Integrated Pest Management for the yield increment and public safety. DG Ayub Agricultural Research Dr Abid Mehmood said that excessive usage of pesticides was having the negative impact of the health and causes ailment. The trend needs to be curtailed. Corteva Country Lead Arshad Shafiq said we are driven to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. Dean Faculty of Agriculture Dr Muhammad Aslam said that the county was lacking the reliable data about the pest. He said that there is a need of hand-holding of small farmers. Chairman Dr Mansoor Ul Hassan Sahi said that although despite being agriculture sector, we are importing agricultural produces worth billions of rupees. He said that modern agricultural trends and practice are vital to increase the productivity to make the agricultural development rapidly Dr Jalal Arif said that the congress will help devise the roadmap of the different challenges in the area of plant protection. He said that different working groups were making efforts on the different crops and pests in the department to address the issues. Dr Sohail Ahmad said that the agriculture was the most important sector to ensure food security and to alleviate poverty.