LIVESTOCK SECTOR TO GET TOP PRIORITY

The Government has decided to launch Livestock Development Board, This was stated in a high level meeting chaired by Secretary Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Ismail Qureshi. In fact, this is one of the bold steps of the present government to improve the agriculture sector of the country. The proposal, as a matter of fact, will be basically responsible to promote the stock sector, especially milk, meat, poultry production and marketing. Moreover, the Board will oversee the work of Pakistan Dairy Development Company which has been recently established by the Government of Pakistan to provide seed-money of more than Rs. 2 billion. This is being done in the light of Prime Minister's decision to accord top priority to the livestock sector. In the changing global market scenario, this Board will go a long way in making Pakistan livestock industry competitive and dynamic.

BOSAN, FAO TEAM VISIT AJK FOR AGRI DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

A five-member team of experts from United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) visited the quake-affected areas of AJK to assess the damage in agriculture caused by the October 8 devastating earthquake.
Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Sikandar Hayat Bosan and other high officials of the Ministry accompanied the FAO team, on Oct. 22.
Sikandar Hayat Bosan said that agriculture and livestock suffered heavy losses in Muzaffarabad and adjoining areas in the earthquake.
The assessment team was informed that total cultivated area in the affected region was around 1.3 million hectares out of which 50% was completely destroyed due to earthquake.
Food and Agriculture Minister of AJK Miss Yasmin also informed the FAO mission that almost 80% of all the standing crops in the region was wiped out due to the colossal land slides. The mission also noted that 100,000 cattle and other livestock population died after earthquake in AJK.
Given the heavy losses in agriculture and livestock population, the Federal Minister assured the AJK Minister that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture along with FAO will provide agriculture relief and recovery operation which is already under progress. At the same time, FAO mission led by Shahid Najam, a former DMG officer from Pakistan, gave assurance of quick and comprehensive rehabilitation of agriculture and livestock sector of the earthquake hit areas.

FIELD DAY ON SUGARCANE PRODUCTION
Field Day on Sugarcane Production Technology was organized by Technology Transfer Institute, PARC Tandojam in collaboration with National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) at Hamzo Khashkeli Sujawal District Thatta on Oct. 6. In the opening of field day Mr. Manzoor Ali Memon, SSO Technology Transfer Institute, Tandojam, PARC gave brief introduction and background of the Institute and the role played in promoting modern production technologies of major crops among growers. He also appreciated the collaboration of NRSP for organizing such field days to disseminate 
information among small growers.

Mr. Yaqoob Jalal, Sugarcane Specialist, ARI, Tandojam delivered a lecture on sugarcane production technology. He advised growers to increase per acre yield of sugarcane through adoption of recommended production technologies. He said, there is need to cultivate new high yielding and high sucrose content varieties, such as Thatta-10, NIA-98, Gulabi, and SPSG-26. He briefed the farmers about diseases, insect pests under their control strategies, methods of fertilizer, time of application etc. Mr. Shahabuddin Memon, Area Incharge (NRSP) Sujawal appreciated the efforts of TTI, Tandojam, PARC for creating awareness among growers in Sindh. He said that farmers must take advantage of the recommendations of scientists and suggested that field days on other crops like fruits, vegetables and livestock should be organized. On the occasion, brochures on Sugarcane Production Technology published by TTI, Tandojam, PARC were distributed among the growers.

PARC EMPLOYEES DONATE ONE/THREE DAYS SALARY FOR QUAKE VICTIMS
Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) contributed one day's salary of junior employees and three day's salary of senior employees towards President's Relief Fund to help quake victims across the country. The decision was taken in a meeting of PARC's Executive Committee (EC) held on Oct. 10 with Dr. Muhammad E. Tusneem, Chairman PARC in chair.
Presiding over the meeting Dr. Tusneem expressed his deep sense of shock and grief over the massive loss of life in October devastating earthquake in different parts of the country including Azad Kashmir. The meeting expressed sympathies with the affected people and discussed various measures for donating relief goods to the quake victims.

Chairman PARC also asked the officers and staff of the Council to help their brethren generously who are in dire need of food, clothing and shelter, particularly in the remote and hilly areas. He directed that an emergency committee be constituted to handle such emergency situations and coordinate relief operations. The EC discussed measures for extending quick relief to the employees residing in PARC colony in multi-story apartments. Dr. Tusneem also suggested that the PARC staff association may volunteer to handle the PARC relief funds and distribution of goods amongst the affected people.

PICTURES GALLERY

Chairman PARC presenting souvenir of preserved butterflies to Sikandar Hayat Bosan Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock

Chairman PARC accompanied by DG (Agriculture Research)

Chairman PARC visiting the green house at AZRC Quetta

A view of First Quarterly Research Meeting at Quetta

Director TTI  M. Afzal briefing Chairman PARC

BOSAN UNDERLINES NEED FOR INTERCULTURAL INTERACTION
The Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan has said that agriculture is the hope of more than 1/5th population of the world which is hungry and undernourished, mostly living in rural areas of developing countries. He was addressing the "World Food Day"function held at National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) on October 17. The function was organized by Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) and Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Addressing the function, the Minister stressed on the need for inter-cultural dialogue between developed and developing countries with collective wisdom in order to overcome food and agriculture problems. Sikandar Bosan recalled that the response of global community on the 8/10 earthquake disaster in Pakistan was a practical manifestation of inter-cultural, inter-regional, international and inter-civilizations interaction for a noble cause and betterment of humanity. The Minister praised the pivotal role of FAO over the last several decades in enhancing inter-cultural exchanges and dialogues and appreciated the many contributions of FAO towards promotion of agriculture and the lot of small farmers in the developing countries.

Earlier, Dr. M. E. Tusneem, Chairman PARC, Muhammad Saleem Khan, Additional Secretary MINFAL; and Mr. Jorge Esquire, Country Representative FAO also addressed the World Food Day function which was observed with simplicity. The speakers highlighted the day's theme 'Agriculture and Inter-cultural Dialogue' and said that throughout history, the inter-cultural movement of crops and livestock revolutionized diets and reduced poverty. They said while Africa gave the coffee now a popular beverage worldwide and a mainstay of Latin American agriculture, Asia domesticated rice and sugar cane, which are today the staple food and major crops in many regions.
On the occasion, messages of President, General Pervez Mushsarraf; Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Director General FAO, Dr. Jacques Diouf were read out. Dua was also offered for the condolence of those who lost their lives in the devastating earthquake.

WORK HARD TO EXPLOIT FULL POTENTIAL OF BALOCHISTAN'S AGRICULTURE - TUSNEEM

PARC will be looking for the best minds on all fronts to exploit the productive potential of Balochistan's agriculture. This was stated by Dr. Muhammad Ehsan Tusneem, Chairman, PARC, while inaugurating the First Quarterly Review Meeting of Social Sciences Division at ARI Quetta. He added that landscape of Balochistan has much relevance to "Bani Israel" and Palestine which have been described as lands of honey and milk by the Holy Quran. The only need is to work hard to exploit full potential from the diverse agro-climatic conditions of the province. The social scientists who have better understanding of society and culture need to transfer scientific knowledge from research station to the fields, he added.Dr. Tusneem, commended the efforts of Social Sciences Division in initiating this consultative process on regular basis.

Earlier, Mr. Muhammad Riaz Khan, Director General, ARI, Quetta welcomed the chief guest and the participants. Dr. Waqar Malik CSO/Incharge Social Sciences Division while introducing the QRM, gave a quick rundown of the various socioeconomic research and technology transfer programs. The First Quarterly Review Meeting (FQRM) of Social Sciences Division was convened on October 3-4, 2005 at Quetta and hosted by the Technology Transfer Institute, Quetta, Balochistan. The periodic review and evaluation mechanism developed by SSD in 2002 is a feature unique to this division. A large number of scientists, representatives of Chamber of Agriculture, progressive farmers, agriculture educationists, NGO's and representatives from University of Balochistan participated in the meeting.

PARTICIPATION ABROAD

• Dr. Nafees Sadiq Kissana, National Coordinator Wheat; Dr. Yaqoob Mujahid, Senior Wheat Breeder, participated in International Meeting on Wheat Breeding, CIMMYT, China: October 11-13.

• Dr. Riaz A. Mann, National Coordinator, Rice, NARC, attended  Third World Congress on Conservation of Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya: October 2-9.

• Mr. Yaqoob, Scientific Officer, Pulses, NARC, participated in  International Food Legumes Research Conference, India: October 18-22

• Mr. Mubarak Ahmad, Director, GSRI, PARC, attended Material Testing Seminar,  Germany: October 10-13.

HIGH EFFICIENCY DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM TO BE LAUNCHED SOON
Federal Minister for Food & Agriculture Sikandar Hayat Bosan said the government is launching sprinkle and drip irrigation system in the country to get higher agriculture output using less water.

The system would be launched within current fiscal year and the government would give subsidy of 70-80% on it to the growers, he said while addressing a seminar on Sugarcane at Agriculture House. Sprinkle and drip irrigation system is part of Government's efforts for water conservation, he said adding, that Rs 66 million project has already been launched for brick lining of water courses in the country.

MINFAL DONATES 80,000 METRIC TONNES WHEAT FOR EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS
Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan directed PASCO for immediate relief of 80,000 metric tonnes of wheat for the earthquake hit areas of Hazara Division and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He said that fulfilling the nutritional needs of the most dangerously affected population is the top priority of the government.
Sikandar Hayat Bosan stated this in a meeting held to review the situation of edible items in the wake of deadly earthquake on Oct. 10. The earthquake on Oct. 8 severely hit Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Hazara Division, leaving thousands of people dead and more than 100,000 displaced. In this moment of grief, the minister appealed to the entire nation including the farming community to contribute wholeheartedly in the efforts to rehabilitate quake affected people.
Sikandar Bosan further said that MINFAL is already coordinating with UN Agencies, FAO, and the foreign embassies with a view to ensure that assistance reaches the earthquake affectees.

MAIZE PRODUCTION CAN BE INCREASED BY MODERN TECHNIQUES
The production of maize could be increased by adopting the modern recommended techniques of crop management, like land preparation and leveling, time of sowing, proper irrigation, input application at proper time and its optimum use.
These views were expressed by the agriculture experts at the Field Day for Farmers, arranged by Technology Transfer Institute (TTI) Tarnab, Peshawar PARC in collaboration with Agriculture Extension Department of NWFP on "Improved Maize Management Practices" at village Jabba Daudzai in Nowshera District on Oct. 1.

The average yield of Maize in Pakistan is1718 kilogram per hectare which is about one third of Austria and one half of France, USA and Canada. NWFP is the leadig province of Pakistan with a total annual production of about 818200 toones. However, per hectare yield is lower than overall average of Pakistan. Muzaffar Khan, renowned agriculture extensionist of the province informed the participants about the improved maize technologies developed by the agricultural research system of NWFP in collaboration with Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC). Malik Mushtaq, a progressive farmer stressed upon the farmers to participate in such activities to acquire knowledge about the developments in agriculture. Arshad Farooq, Scientific Officer, TTI, Tarnab gave a detailed lecture on the importance of maize in national economy and reasons of low yield.

FRESH ARRIVAL
The following publications/journals, books and documents were received in PARC/NARC libraries:

PARC

1.     Agro-metereological Bulletin of Pakistan 2005.
2.     Akhbar-e-Urdu 2005.
3.     Agro VeterinaryNews2005.
4.     ADB Review 2005.
5.     Agriculture & Rural Deve- lopment. 2005.
6.     Bio Salinity News 2005.
7.     California Agriculture 2005.
8.     China Science and Tech- nology Newsletter 2005.
9.     CGPRT Flash 2005.
10.    Cotton Plus (Urdu) 2005.
11.    Courier 2005.
12.    The Economist 2005.
13.    Egyptian Journal of Agri- cultural Research. 2005.
14.    Finance and Development 2005.
15.    International Rice Research Notes 2005.
16.    IPM News 2005.
17.    Jadeed Zarat 2005.
18.    Management Outlook 2005.
19.    National Geographics 2005.
20.    Nida-e-Kissan (Urdu) 2005.
21.    News Week 2005.
22.    PARC News 2005.
23.    Partners in Research for Development 2005.
24.    PSN Newsletter 2005.
25.    Pakistan J. of Agric, Agri- cultural Engineering Ve- terinary
        Sciences 2005.
26.    Rice Today 2005.
27.    The Reporter 2005.
28.    SDPI Research & News Bulletin 2005.
29.    Subh-e-Nau 2005.
30.    The Supreme Court Monthly Review 2005.
31.    SAIC Newsletter 2005.
32.    The World Trade Review 2005.
33.    Zarat Nama 2005.
34.    Zarat Sarhad 2005.
35.    IWMI. PK Annual Report 2004-05.
36.    Forest Protection/FAO. Vol. II. 2004-05.
37.    Impacts of trawling & scallop/FAO 2004-05.
38.    The Dynamics of sanitary & technical/FAO. 2005.
39.    Vitamin and mineral re- quirement in Human Nutrition/ 
         FAO. 2005.
40.    Management of Tuna Fish- ing Capacity/FAO. 2005.
41.    Integrating knowledge for river basin management/ 
        ACIAR 2005.
42.    SHRDC Report: Environment Population & Development
         2005.
43.    SHRDC Report on good governance 2005.
44.    SHRDC labour &employment 2005.
45.    Integrated Management of Fruit Flies in Pakistan/ 
         NIAT 2005.

NARC

1.     Agriculture & Rural Deve- lopment 2005.
2.     Development and Cooperation 2005.
3.     Finance and Development 2004-05.
4.     International Journal of Agri- culture and Biology 2005.
5.     Jadeed Zaraat(Urdu) 2005.
6.     Journal of Agriculture and Social Sciences 2005.
7.     Journal of Environ- mental Biology 2004.
8.     Journal of Nanjing Agri- culture University 2005.
9.     Pak Atom 2005.
10.   Pakistan Agriculture 2005.
11.   Pakistan Horticulture 2005.
12.   Pakistan Journal of Agric. Engineering Vet. Science 2005.
13.   PARC News October. 2005.
14.   PC Magazine 2004.
15.   Quarterly Mehran University Research Journal of Eng-
        ineering & Technology 2005.
16.   SDPI Research & News Bulletin 2005.
17.   SPIDER: Pakistan's Internet Magazine 2005.
18.   AFP. Conservation of National Resources of Medicinal
       Plants for Commercial Exploitation. Proceedings of the
       National Conference at NARC, Islamabad 2005.
19.   HFP. Citrus Fruits. Ahmed Saeed. Islamabad 2005.
20.   HFP. Date Palm. Ahmed Saeed. Islamabad 2005.
21.   HFP. Pakistan Horticulture: Store Houses of Knowledge
       of Floriculture. Ahmed Saeed. Islamabad 2005.
22.   2005. HFP. Proceedings of the International Conference 
       on Mangoes and Date Palm. Ahmed Saeed & Ahmed
       Shahbaz.
23.   HFP. Proceedings of the National Seminar on Streamlining
       Production and Export of Cut Flowers and House Plants.
       Ahmed Saeed. Islamabad 2005.
24.  IFAD. Annual Report. Rome.

CHAIRMAN PARC CALLS ON GOVERNOR BALOCHISTAN

Dr. Muhammad Ehsan Tusneem, Chairman, PARC during his visit to Balochistan called on Owais Ahmed Ghani Governor Balochistan and Javed Iqbal Awan Secretary Agriculture, Balochistan. He briefed on the research endeavours being carried out by PARC and its allied research institutions in the country in general and Balochistan province in particular. The objective was to exchange views with an intention to boost agricultural research in Balochistan. Dr. Tusneem touched upon the significance of AZRI in conducting ecology specific research in agriculture and livestock. He termed Balochistan as the land of agricultural diversity and rich cultural heritage which offers vast opportunities for agricultural research in Balochistan.
Livestock production is another important area in Balochistan wherein the livelihood of majority of the farmers depend. Chairman, PARC assured all out efforts to help support Balochistan in optimizing farm productivity both in agriculture and livestock keeping in view its ecological scenario.