President ECOSF attended the 20th Convocation of Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi

Go Back

The 20th Convocation of Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) was held on 30th January, 2020 at the Jinnah Convention Center Islamabad. The Secretary General of the Network of Academies of Sciences of Islamic Countries (NASIC) & former Vice Chancellor of PMAS-AAUR and former Chairman of Pakistan Science Foundation- Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood Khan was the chief guest. On behalf of ECOSF, its President Prof.  Manzoor Hussain Soomro participated in the convocation.

Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood Khan, while addressing the convocation said that agriculture sector is facing the daunting challenge of ensuring food security for ever growing population of Pakistan, which is projected to increase from the current 208 million to more than 400 million by 2050 under the business as usual scenario. He  said that agriculture and livestock sectors had to produce additional food to feed fast expanding population in the face of shrinking land and water resources per capita available for agriculture and looming impacts of climate changes on agriculture and livestock sector.

He appreciated the pace of the multidimensional development of PMAS-AAUR and stressed the need of applied research in agriculture sector, especially in relevance to the arid areas. He congratulated the graduates and also distributed medals and gave away degrees to the graduates.

Earlier, Prof. Dr. Qamar Zaman Vice Chancellor PMAS-AAUR, in his welcome address, congratulated the graduates and said that University is making special efforts to expand its networking with both international and national   universities, research organizations of repute through development and adoption of joint strategies to accelerate the pace of education, research, infrastructure and administrative development. Vice Chancellor said that applied research had been strengthening to find out solutions to pressing farmers' problems, develop innovative technologies and generate predictable outcomes.

PMAS-AAUR has also launched digital agriculture initiative to promote automation in farming operations and post harvest handling processes. He hoped that these initiatives would be helpful to increase agricultural productivity and farmers' profitability through ensuring efficient use of agricultural resources and minimizing post harvest losses, among others. He also informed the gathering that PMAS-AAUR was promoting hydroponic agriculture, application of biotechnology and genomic research to enhance productivity of quality plant & animal-based products of both domestic & international market.