CPEC to enable surplus agriculture products in Pakistan: Food Minister

Islamabad: Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam has said that Pakistan will produce surplus agriculture products with the help of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s second phase.

He was addressing the inaugural session of the 4th International Conference on Applied Zoology (ICAZ-2021) inaugurated here. The conference was organized by the Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) in collaboration with the Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF) and the Applied Zoological Society of Pakistan (AZSP).

Highlighting the issues of agricultural research the Minister stated that wheat production in Pakistan has stuck for the last 12 years and in livestock, production per animal is lowest in the world.

“The gene technology, breeding, feeding and health care of the animals is the essence to increase the production. However, we need to execute the best practices of the developing economies and invest in human resource development” he mentioned.

Imam underscored that Pakistan will take advantage of the Chinese technology to boost its agriculture production. “CPEC will prove a blessing for the country. We aim surplus agriculture products and will be able to export,” he contended.

Imam urged the young scientists, teachers and researchers to step forward and meet the emerging challenges of economic development and national progress.

The Minister said that Pakistan needed world-class universities and islands of excellence to compete the world and progress.

Earlier, Professor Dr Muhammad Ali, Vice Chancellor, Quaid-e-Azam University, in his welcome address said, the two-day conference has brought together the leading academicians, scientists, researchers, medical practitioners and various industry professionals from all around the world.

“I see this conference as a great opportunity for leading researchers to share their innovative ideas, experiences, and cutting edge research in Applied Zoological Sciences. This effort will undoubtedly provide a great platform to show the importance of Animal Sciences focusing on diversity and biology” the Vice Chancellor noted.

He also lauded the efforts of the patrons, principal organizers, organizing secretaries and conveners for organizing the successful event. The scientific program of the ICAZ 2021 was designed to discuss the major fields such as Biochemistry, Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biotechnology, Cancer Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Development Biology, Ecology, Entomology, Environmental Biology, Fisheries, Food and Nutrition, Fresh water and Marine Biology, Microbiology, Ornithology, Paleontology, Parasitology, Pest managements, Physiology, Poultry Science, Toxicology, Wildlife conservation and Zoo archaeology.