The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research was briefed on Tuesday by the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) regarding its contributions to agricultural research and national food security.
The committee’s 15th meeting was held at the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) headquarters in Islamabad and was chaired by Member National Assembly (MNA) Syed Tariq Hussain.
The session began with a recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by confirmation of the previous meeting’s minutes. An update on past recommendations was deferred.
During the meeting, the Vice Chancellor of UAF highlighted the university’s role in addressing national agricultural challenges. UAF currently enrolls 33,556 students across 398 academic programs and employs 682 faculty members, including 470 PhD holders.
The university’s research focus includes seed and breed improvement, hybrid technology, agronomic practices, and value addition-core areas aimed at boosting crop productivity and sustainability.
The committee was informed about the key research milestones, including the development of UAF11 (a highyield Brassica variety) and Okra3A.
The ongoing efforts in soybean and maize hybridization, genetically modified sugarcane, and improved fruit varieties such as mango and citrus were also shared.
The Vice Chancellor stressed the importance of reducing crop life cycles to save water and minimize pesticide use. However, concerns were raised by committee members over allegedly inflated sugarcane yield data presented in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) reports.
The committee questioned the credibility of claims that average sugarcane yields had increased from 600 to 700 maunds per acre over five years, citing data sources from sugar mills known for underreporting to evade taxes. Members criticized the limited progress despite substantial financial investment.
The committee also learned about UAF’s collaborations with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on initiatives like DAP production, precision agriculture, solarization, climate mitigation, and the integration of AI and data services in farming.
The university currently has 135 active partnerships-84 international and 51 national-and is establishing advanced labs for seed certification and testing.
Looking ahead, UAF aims to tackle climate change, improve water management, promote mechanization, and expand AIdriven, climatesmart farming models.
Challenges identified by the Vice Chancellor included policy gaps, security constraints, water scarcity, limited budgets, and lack of coordination among government departments.