Islamabad (PR):Crop management technologies can only be transferred to farers with the active involvement of public, private
sector and farmers.* This was stated by *Dr Nadeem Amjad, Chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) *while addressing at inaugural session
of a two-day Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) Agronomy Annual Meeting– 2016 at a local hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Chairman PARC appreciated the efforts of International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) and other national partners’ for development and dissemination of crop management techniques to the farming community in the country. He said
Pakistani farmers are facing various challenges and these issues are not only affecting farm productivity but also affecting our environment. He
said there is a need to improve crop management practices in such a way that better yields with clean environment could be achieved. He said that
this could only be possible through efficient use of natural resources like soil and water and efficient management of inputs at farm level.
The meeting was jointly organized by CIMMYT and PARC under USAID’s funded Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan. In this meeting
national partners shared progress on AIP’s agronomy activities, discuss implementation related issues, future activities and work plan..
On this occasion, *Dr. Ahmed Bakhsh Mahar, Member (Plant Sciences) PARC* welcomed the participants of the meeting and hoped that this event would be an opportunity for all stakeholders to review the progress, discuss issues and future plans & strategies for implementation of AIP activities.
*Dr. Imtiaz Muhammad, CIMMYT Country Representative and AIP Project Leader* has informed the participants that 23 national public and private sector
partners are collaborating on crop management activities under USAID funded AIP. CIMMYT is also collaborating with private sector for local production
of new planters and farm machinery.
