Effective and Timely Measures to be taken for Food Security
To ensure food security and deal with various challenges such as droughts, floods and insect pests in Pakistan, panels at the the World Food Day webinar with the theme of “Grow Nourish and Sustain Together” put forward a series of suggestions including breeding technology, resilient agroecosystem, soil-centric strategy, etc.
Prof. Ratan Lal, World food prize laureater 2020 addressed global challenges of food and nutrition security by a soil-centric strategy yesterday. He analyzed probable causes of the decline of Indus civilization 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE and gave a brief introduction about major agricultural status of Pakistan, including yield of major crops, per capita land resources, growth of some urban cities, fertilizer use in recent years. He also emphasized the importance of avoiding food waste.
Dr. Tina Barsby OBE, director and CEO of National Institute of Agriculture Botany (NIAB) , Cambridge, pointed out that resilient crop production is a keystone for future food security. “A resilient agroecosystem will continue to provide a vital service such as food production when challenged by extremes of drought, temperature, rainfall, and new pest/disease threats.” She further mentioned that reducing emissions on-farm and improving efficiency go hand in hand.
Hon. Shandana Gulzar Khan, member of Agriculture National Assembly Pakistan said that she heads a caucus on agriculture and they have carved a 7, 3 and 1 years action plan. They are paying attention on small farmers.
Dr. Shahid Mansoor, Director of National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) mainly talked about maintaining food security through breeding technologies. “For the rate of genetic gain is slow, new technologies are required. Applications of biotechnology in livestock and poultry sector are also necessary.”
Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmed Khan, fellow of PAS focused on peri-urban agriculture and the introduction of legumes, particularly soybean.
The above webinar which aims to remind audiences that there will be 10 billion to feed by 2050, was co-organized by the Mineral Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation of the OIC (COMSTECH) in association with UK-Pakistan Science and Innovation Global Network (UPSIGN) and Pakistan Academy of Science (PAS). Dr. Khalid Mahmood chaired the session.