BUREWALA-Agricultural experts during a convention on Wednesday stressed the rational use of fertilisers as per the soil fertility so as to decrease the cost of production up to 35 percent and help the country save Rs300 million a year.
The farmers’ convention was held at the Burewala Sub-Campus of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Iqbal Zafar said the Punjab government was taking revolutionary measurers to solve the issues of agriculture sector and to provide relief for the farming community.
He said only by using balanced fertilisers, farmers can enhance the yield up to 32 percent of cotton, 40 percent maize, 35 percent wheat, 20 percent rice and about 10 percent sugarcane. It will raise farmers’ income sand have a positive impact on their socio-economic life, he added. He said amid increasing population, decreasing fertility and agricultural land, the farmers need to adopt the modern trends in agriculture sector to tackle situation effectively.
He said, “We are strengthening our outreach programme. Sub-campus will emerge as future university. Education works as the engine of growth for the development of any institution. The varsity is expanding its outfits in far flung areas of the province thereby providing the youth higher education at their doorsteps.”
He thanked the political hierarchy of the district and support of the district government in establishing the sub-campus. Principal Investigator of fertilizer project Dr Rashid said that UAF had developed a mobile app, enabling the farmers to get desired yield. He said, “Inputs are very expensive so we need to put the fertilisers as precise as we can. We have developed fertilisers model for all major crops so that the farmers can save fertilisers and heavy money.”
He said the University was outreaching its advisory services in all the districts of the province to make the farmers aware of the new fertilisers model.
Principal Dr Abdus Salam said that that over the years, per acre yield had raised manifold but keeping the challenges in views, precise use of inputs was essential. He urged the farmers to apply rational fertilisers to make the agriculture sustainable. He said that three decades ago, Vehari was producing cotton more than Sindh did.
He said that in UAF Sub Campus, the enrollment has surpassed 1,600 students and they were mulling to expanding the degree programmes. He said in the undergraduate programmes, BSc Agriculture, BS Computer and BBA Agri Business are being offered. In the postgraduate, seven degree programmes including Horticultural Sciences, Soil Sciences, Environment, Sociology, Computer Sciences and others are catering for the locals. He said that 600 students are getting free education. District Council Chairman Syed Ghulam Mohyuddin said that efforts were being made to address the problems of farming community with a number of initiatives.
Cotton Research Institute Director Dr Sagher Ahmad unveiled the causes of cotton reduction in 2015. He said that pink bollworm and high temperature coupled with heavy rainfall were the major contributors to more than 10 million bales against the usual annual production of 15 million bales.
He said that steps were afoot to cope with the situation of climate change that is playing havoc with the lives of the people. He said that the country was blessed with four seasons, cropping pattern etc but we have opt the modern trends to compete with the rest of the world.
Farmers’ representative Kashif Khaqwani said that the progress made in the agriculture helped ensure food security and meet the challenges of modern era.