RECORDER REPORT

FAISALABAD: Punjab Agriculture Secretary Muhammad Mahmood has said that steps are afoot to remove disconnect between research, extension workers and marketing system that will help increase the productivity and fine-tune the research agenda to address the problems of farming community.

He was chairing a meeting at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture Multan Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Asif Ali, Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi Vice Chancellor Dr Rai Niaz, former DG Research Dr Noorul Islam, Director General Extension Anjum Ali Bhuttar, former DG Pest Management Khalid Mehmood, Registrar Muhammad Hussain, Dean Dr Allah Buksh, Dr Muhammad Ashfaq, Dr Jalal Arif Dr Nancy from University of California USA and other notables attended the meeting.

The Secretary said that conferences would be arranged twice in year in which extension workers and researches from all universities in the Punjab would be called to get about the latest information and into interact with each other. He said that the steps would help fill the gap between researches and extension workers. He said that the Agro Ecological Zones are being redefined that will help boost up the agricultural productivity. He directed the committee of agrological zone to keep the latest methods in view and after the completion their work, send the report to the international agencies for evaluation. He said that the Research and Development Boards are being established in all crop research institutes in the province.

He said that the government would set up the Directorate of Agri Education and Extension He said that Punjab government was revamping agricultural policy with the special focus on farmers to address their problems that will untimely increase the productivity and help alleviate poverty.