TOBA TEK SINGH: A delegation of Asian Development Bank, led by Programme Officer Ms Norilco Sato, visited on Sunday the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) and held a meeting with VC Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan, deans and directors.

The meeting discussed agricultural issues, mechanisation, water and food security.

Noriko Sato said Pakistan is a founding member of ADB and the bank has been helping the country reduce poverty and increase resilience and prosperity by supporting investments in key sectors and services. The ADB operations remain aligned to Pakistan`s evolving economic and development priorities, she said.

Ms Noriko Sato said the ADB is launching a new project to promote modern trends and mechanisation in agriculture in various member countries including Pakistan.

She lauded the UAF for its agricultural initiatives.

Dr.1 Iqrar sought the support of ADB to establish a seed testing plant in the university to realise the dream of increas-ing production per acre while ensuring supply of quality seeds.

He said: `The mechanisation is pivotal and initially in mechanisation, we have to focus on wheat and rice crops.

He said high-yield varieties of wheat had been developed in UAF with the cooperation of Washington State University.

The university has also developed new varieties of cotton, sugarcane, chia, brassica, and other crops.

He said the Centre for Advanced Studies, Pak Korea Nutrition Centre, Chinese Confucius Centre and International Seed Testing Lab have been established in the university with international cooperation.

He said the barriers between dif ferent agricultural institutions should be done away with to pave the way for joint efforts.

The delegation also visited hi-tech lab, farm machinery lab and other laboratories.

Pro VC Dr Muhammad Sarwar Khan, Dr Jalal Arif, Dr Qamar Bilal, Dr Farzana Rizvi, Dr Jafar Jaskani, Dr Khalid Mushtaq, Dr Ijaz Bhatti, Dr Muhammad Azam, Dr Muhammad Saqib, Dr Nadeem Akbar, Dr. Irfan Afzal and others also attended the meeting.