Islamabad (PR): On the rising demand of Sindh sugar industry, Dr. Nadeem Amjad, Chairman of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) has announced the establishment of a new PARC Sugarcane Research Station at Gharo in Sindh Province under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in a meeting held with Pakistan Sugar Mills of Sindh Zone at Directorate General of Agriculture (Research) Tandojam to conduct research on sugarcane cross breeding as well as to increase sugar crop production in the region.
Dr. Abdul Fatah Soomro, Director of National Sugarcane and Tropical Horticultural Research Institute (NSTHRI) PARC Thatta has gave a detailed presentation and emphasized the need and importance of sugarcane breeding station at Gharo in Thatta Reion. He said they were already working on sugarcane variety development through locally collected sugarcane fuzz (true seed). He said that the fuzz produced through sugarcane cross breeding at sugarcane breeding station will support them to accelerate and strengthen sugarcane variety development program.
Dr. Ahmad Bukhsh Mahar, Member Plant Sciences of PARC also supported this proposal. He said PARC would establish two sugarcane breeding station one at Gharo in Sindh and other one at Southern Punjab under PPP. He said the exotic fuzz obtained from abroad does not fulfill our requirement for variety development. We must have to develop our own system for fuzz production according to our local requirements, he added. He further said that the quality fuzz produced under indigenous conditions will offer more viability and diversify according to desired levels.
He said that the fuzz produced will also be shared with other research institutes all over the Pakistan for sugarcane variety development.
The sugarcane industry have supported and assured their all type of cooperation to Chairman PARC for this project of nation building. The participants who attended the meeting include Dr. Aamir Irshad Chief Food and Agriculture of Planning Commission, Dr. Shahid Rafique, Member (ASD) PARC, Dr. Amjad Pervez, DG (SARC) Karachi, Dr. Sarfraz Ahmad, PD (RADP), Riaz Javed Suleri, Resident Director Faran Sugar Mill (FSM) Shaikh Bhirkio, Brig. (R ) Shahbaz Rasool, CEO Army Welfare Sugar Mill (AWSM), Dr. Haji Khan Keerio (Consultant), Lt. Col (Rtd.) Khuram Nisar Dy. GM (AWSM), Eng. Abdul Raheem Malah, Resident Director Sindh Abadgar Sugar Mill (SASM) Tando Muhammad Khan, Mir Hassan Lashari General Manager (SASM), Agha Mashooque Ali, AGM FSM and other sugarcane experts.
