Workshop on enhancing understanding and implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture organised at NARC
Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) Chairman Dr Iftikhar Ahmad has said that humanity is facing the interrelated challenges of food security, loss of agricultural biodiversity and climate change as more than one billion people are suffering from continual hunger and malnutrition.
Dr Iftikhar was speaking at the inaugural session of a day-long workshop organised by PARC on Enhancing Understanding and Implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) at National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) on Tuesday with the aim at strengthening relationship among PGR stakeholders, improving awareness, sharing views about the treaty and discussing the incentives enshrined therein.
He said at the same time world population continues to grow and climate change is causing new stress on agriculture. World food production has to increase by 70 percent by 2050 to meet this increasing demand, while relying on a natural resource base that is about to reach its limits. Plant breeding will be crucial to meet the food security challenge in the context of climate change.
The PARC chairman said that plant genetic resources are vital constituents which are available to breeders for the development of new crop varieties that produce higher yields and are able to resist new diseases and extreme weather conditions. For this, it is crucial to conserve the existing crop diversity, and to allow agricultural researchers, breeders and farmers access to it.
He said all countries in the world depend on each other as regards crop diversity for agricultural research and breeding as none of them is self-sufficient in PGRs. Germplasm exchanges at national and international levels are critical in world hunger reduction. Global interdependence on crop genetic resources will further increase under climate change.
PARC Member (Plant Sciences) and focal person Dr Shahid Masood said that the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food & Agriculture (ITPGRFA) entered into force in 2004, is a comprehensive treaty whose objectives are the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use, in harmony with the CBD, for sustainable agriculture and food security. With the ITPGRFA, the international community has created a powerful tool to tackle this triple challenge.