Punjab Agriculture Research Board (PARB) has approved a budget of Rs 450 million for the year 2012-13 for funding high priority research projects including 30 new and various already running projects under competitive grant system (CGS).
The approval was given in 27th meeting of PARB under the chairmanship of Minister for Agriculture Malik Ahmad Ali, said a spokesman of the Provincial Agricultural Ministry here on Wednesday. Member Provincial Assembly Rao Kashif Raheem Khan, PARB Chief Executive Dr Mubarak Ali, Secretary Forest and Fisheries Shah Nawaz Badar, Secretary Livestock Irfan Elahi, Additional Secretary Agriculture (Admin) Ameer Khatak, Vice chancellor University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences Dr Talat Naseer Pasha, Vice Chancellor Agriculture University Dr Iqrar Ahmad, Chief Economist (P&D) Arif Anwar Balouch, Director General Agriculture (Research) Dr Noor Ul Islam, representative of Finance Department and Kissan board were also present in the meeting.
The budget was approved for 30 new agriculture research projects including all the running projects under the umbrella of PARB. The board also examined outcomes of the evaluation report of 12 randomly selected PARB funded projects and expresses satisfaction on the evaluation of these projects. The board also approved the recommendations of the selection committee against two posts of PARB Executive members. The Minister for Agriculture directed PARB and other agriculture experts to formulate knowledge based agricultural policies for precision agriculture, productivity enhancement and resource conservation. He said that agriculture and livestock sector was top priority of Punjab Government.
These vital sectors play major role in economic development of Pakistan and hence must be addressed to harness the hidden potential in these sectors. He said Punjab government was trying its best to boost result oriented research in agriculture and livestock sectors. PARB is playing vital role in collaborating with all other R&D institutions and fulfilling the financial requirements of agriculture researchers of the province.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2012