LAHORE – Punjab Agriculture Minister Malik Ahmad Ali Aulakh Saturday said the provincial government had allocated one billion rupees for funding output-oriented research projects on high priority issues through Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB). He was delivering concluding remarks at an international seminar on ‘Wheat Productivity Enhancement to Sustain Self Sufficiency’ at Ayub Agriculture Research Institute (AARI) Faisalabad. In the seminar agriculture scientists form India, Bangladesh and international research institutions like ICARDA and CIMMIT presented research papers on different aspects.
He said the scientists of AARI had released numerous high-yield crop varieties which played pivotal role in strengthening national economy, adding that 52 new varieties of different crops had been developed by Research Wing of Agriculture Department and approved by the Punjab Seed Council for cultivation since 2008 whereas only 49 were approved by the previous government during their five years tenure.