A high level delegation headed by Uzbek Agriculture Minister H.E Jamshid Khodjaevvisited NARC to witness the agriculture research activities being carried under different institutes at NARC. Honorable Federal Minister for M/o NFSRSyed Fakhar Imam along-with Senior Joint Secretary, M/o NFSR Dr. Javed Humayun,Chairman PARC Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali were also present during the visit. Chairman PARC briefed the delegation about the structure, research activities and important research initiatives of PARC. On the occasion, Syed Fakhar Imam M/o NFS&R spoke that both countries are agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in the agriculture sector particularly in agriculture trade and machinery to develop and promote local agriculture sector on modern lines. The Minister also added that Uzbekstanside hasshown their keen interest in importing germplasm from Pakistan and exchange of scientistscan benefit both countries. The delegation visited Ecotoxicology program, Food Sciences Institute (FSRI), Insect Pest Management Program (IPMP), Bio-resources Conservation Institute (BCI), Agricultural and Biological Engineering Institute (ABEI), and National Institute of Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology (NIGAB).Chairman, PARC briefed the delegation regarding each research institute. During their visit to ecotoxicology labs, it was told that thelabwhich is ISO17025 accredited and its results are worldwide accepted. The Honorable Uzbek Minister took keen interest in the state-of-the-art equipment.The labs of “Food Science Research Institute” arecarrying out wide range of food related testes, the visitors were told. The delegation showed keen interest in Quality testing of Grains especially Rice testing through software operated grain scanner with data management.Later, the delegation wasdescribedthe R&D activities of IPMP viz. biological control, development of bio pesticides, developing resistant varieties against insect pests and management of quarantine pests like fruit flies. The visitors took deep interest in mechanism of dissemination of Biological control agents to farmers, design and protocol of insect mass rearing facilities. Another area of their interest was the management of fruit flies by the sterile insect technique (SIT) and melon fly, which is a serious pest in Uzbekistan and they extended their interest for scientific and technical cooperation in the areas of pest control. At Bio-resource Conservation Institute, the delegation was informed about National Gene-bank of Pakistan. The gene-bank has more than 43,000 accessions of different plant germplasm that is collected locally and internationally.While visiting NIGAB, the honorable delegate was told that the institute has embarked on new breeding technologies including speed cloning, speed breeding, genomic selection and genomic editing for enhancement of crop production. NIGAB is actively involved in developing vaccine for disease prevention and epidemic control and also in selecting superior breeds of animals using NGS data for improved milk and meat productivity.While indicating the yield potential 80 to 120 mound per acre and grain length of 8.6 mm, the Chairman PARC told the guest that Green Super Rice (GSR) could be a harbinger of economic prosperity. Banana varieties of PARC i.e. NIGAB-I & NIGAB-2 with higher productivity and shelf life were also discussed. The delegation highly appreciated the work being carried out at the Center. The Honorable Federal Minister for M/o NFS&R Syed Fakhar Imam presented a Shield to H.E. Jamshid KhodjaevUzbek Agriculture Minister.
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