ISLAMABAD: In a move to promote China-Pakistan industry-university-research strategic cooperation on modern agriculture, a Documents of Understanding (DoU) was signed between National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan (NUST), Weifang Engineering Vocational College, Qingzhou Municipal Government and Weifang National Comprehensive Pilot Agriculture Zone last week at Weifang, China.
The four sides agreed to work together in promoting bilateral agricultural technology cooperation under the framework of CPEC, with the focus on construction of the entire agricultural industry chain system, deep processing of agricultural products and related industrialization development.
“Agriculture in the South Asian Region is struggling with low productivity, supply shortfalls, low returns to farmers, lack of advanced technology, and lack of trained professionals and thus threatening our food security,” Pro Rector Academics of NUST Dr. Osman Hassan noted in his speech, “these problems is related to people’s livelihood and well-being closely, particularly in Pakistan, as it is an agro-economic country with immense potential for crop production and research in agricultural sciences.”
Dr. Osman Hassan told Gwadar Pro reporter that currently, the NUST is actively conducting research including precision agriculture, multispectral sensing of crop fields, agricultural 3D printing and scanning applications, early detection of pathogens, and plant disease management. “Nevertheless, research on sustainable agricultural resource management systems remains a major challenge for us, and I sincerely believe that today’s agreements will certainly play an indispensable role in filling these gaps.”
Another conferee, Dr Hussain Ahmad Janjua, Principal, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), NUST, also highlighted his viewpoint with practical measures, “Food processing and preservation, a key area for both countries to deal with food security. –Agencies
