UAF Develops Climate Resistant Wheat Varieties To Boost Production

Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that parthenium is a highly destructive weed that spreads across continents and is doing so quickly in both rural and urban areas of the nation.

UAF Develops Climate Resistant Wheat Varieties To Boost Production

Experts called for increased efforts to promote biological control of weeds, pests, and plant diseases during presentations at the University of Agriculture (UAF), Faisalabad, in order to advance the agriculture industry and address health issues. In order to strengthen team efforts for the cause, the UAF will host the Biological Control Centre of the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI).

Abdul Rehman, the deputy director of CABI, Dr. Philip Weyl, an expert in weed bio-control from CABI Switzerland, and Kazam Ali, a subject specialist for CABI, paid a visit to Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan, the vice chancellor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Additionally, they met with Dr. Muhammad Saqib, Associate Prof. Dr. Ijaz Ashraf, Dr. Babar Shahbaz, Dr. Babar Shahbaz, Director of External Linkages, and Chairman of the Department of Entomology, Dr. Jalal Arif.

The Institute of Agriculture Extension and Rural Development hosted a seminar on biological control of the invasive weed Parthenium, and the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International team participated in it. According to Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan, using too many chemicals on crops poses risks to human health and the environment.

He asserted that biological control was urgently required. He added that parthenium is a highly destructive weed that spreads across continents and is doing so quickly in both rural and urban areas of the nation.

Abdul Rehman stated that a memorandum of understanding will be signed soon for the opening of the Biological Centre at UAF. He requested that the university’s Entomology Department nominate entomologists to take part in an international workshop through Dr. Jalal Arif. He noted that in 2017, CABI began a biological control programme in Pakistan.

In order to improve its capacity to control parthenium weed, CABI established a new quarantine laboratory at its Rawalpindi centre. Reputable agricultural scientists work at the university, he claimed, and collaboration with UAF will produce noticeable results. He stated that the initial work on the biological agent for parthenium had been finished and that testing in the fields would now be conducted.

Abdul Rehman claimed that the Department of Entomology was at the forefront of plant production both domestically and internationally. In order to strengthen teamwork, Prof. Dr. Jalal Arif proposed creating the CABI Biological Centre at the Department of Entomology. He claimed that the oldest and largest agricultural institution in the nation, the university, is doing everything it can to address issues in the agricultural sector.

According to him, the UAF has risen to become one of the top 100 universities in the world under the dynamic leadership of Prof. Dr. Iqrar Ahmad Khan. He believed that the agriculture sector needed to be modernised in order to achieve the goal of ensuring food security.

Listronotus, which is native to Central America, is a natural enemy of parthenium, according to Dr. Philip Weyl. The larvae of the nocturnal weevil Listronotus tunnel into the stems of Parthenium flowers, where they hatch and continue to feed before emerging at the stem base to pupate in the soil. Parthenium rosettes and mature plants can be killed by numerous larvae feeding in the stem.

Dr. Babar Shahbaz urged the use of fresh ideas in solving the agricultural sector’s problems. He claimed that in order to address agricultural challenges at the national level, adoption of the most recent scientific trends was necessary. He claimed that the university is making every effort to address the issues. He claimed that a strategy had been developed to inform farmers all over the nation about parthenium’s biological control.

Parthenium, a poisonous weed, is dangerous for human lives because it causes allergies, asthma, and other illnesses, according to Dr. Ijaz Ashraf. Due to its large seed production, ability to bloom four weeks after seed germination, tolerance of various climatic conditions, and production of allele chemicals that influence the growth of nearby plants, parthenium is a highly invasive plant.