ISLAMABAD: As the Rabi season approaches and sowing is underway in various parts of Pakistan, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Wednesdays appreciated the role of agriculture universities across the country in supporting the farming community and has urged them to enhance their facilitation to farmers and guide them to take right decisions to gain bumper yields of grains, pulses, vegetables and oilseed crops.

HEC has advised the universities to adopt unconventional methods for enhancing the agricultural productivity by setting up boot camps to train housewives and farmers, according to a statement. HEC has assured the Agriculture Universities of all its possible support in facilitating the farming community so that they get maximum produces and mitigate the hazards of climate change. The universities have been requested to take special care of farmers in the flood-affected areas.

Pakistan’s Agriculture Universities have always been at the forefront to assist and issue guidelines to the farmer community throughout the Kharif and Rabi seasons, be it pertaining to preparation of fields, quality of seeds, timeliness of sowing, fertilization, irrigation, and harvest.

They also offer their expertise in the key areas of overall plant health covering pathology, entomology, virology, biotechnology, breeding and genetics, ecology, crop physiology, agronomy, horticulture, water resource management, and applied climate sciences.

In the wake of the havoc wreaked by floods this year, the academic community has greatly fulfilled its responsibility to provide maximum support in the flood affected areas, and the agriculture universities have further strengthened their bond with the farmer community.