ISLAMABAD – Australia has announced new agricultural research projects forPakistan in areas including salinity management and pulses production.
The projects have been announced by Chief Executive Officer of theAustralian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR) ProfessorAndrew Campbell during his recent visit to Pakistan, Australian HighCommission in Islamabad said on Tuesday.
The new projects continue ACIAR’s 35-year history of research anddevelopment activity to improve the livelihoods of rural communities inPakistan.
The initiatives include a 10-year programme on salinity management, aresearch project to deepen understanding of rural transformation in China,Indonesia, Myanmar and Pakistan whose results will inform policy making,and a project on competitive and socially inclusive value chains fordevelopment of pulses production in Pakistan.
Australia’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, Dr Geoffrey Shaw said ACIAR’swork in the agriculture sector was a key component of Australia’sengagement with Pakistan.
“As a leading agriculture exporter, with world-class expertise inagricultural research, we see great scope to cooperate in buildingPakistan’s agricultural capacity,” Dr Shaw said.Professor Cambell said ACIAR projects can change the lives of farmersacross Pakistan.
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“We look forward to developing our long-term partnership with Pakistan forresearch and development that will improve the productivity and resilienceof agriculture in Pakistan,” he said.
ACIAR is an Australian Government agency that specializes in internationalagricultural research for development and currently supports 13 projects inPakistan, spanning all regions of the country.
Working closely with Pakistan’s Federal Government, provincial departments,non-government organizations, academia, and the private sector, ACIAR fundsresearch and technical capacity building on livestock and dairy, climatechange, cereal productivity, crop diversification and land and watermanagement practices.
