ISLAMABAD, Feb 18 (APP):Australia has announced new agricultural research projects for Pakistan in areas including salinity management and pulses production.
The projects have been announced by Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR) Professor Andrew Campbell during his recent visit to Pakistan, Australian
High Commission in Islamabad said on Tuesday.
The new projects continue ACIAR’s 35-year history of research and development activity to improve
the livelihoods of rural communities in Pakistan.
The initiatives include a 10-year programme on salinity management, a research 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 for development
of pulses production in Pakistan.
Australia’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, Dr Geoffrey Shaw said ACIAR’s work in the agriculture
sector was a key component of Australia’s engagement with Pakistan. “As a leading agriculture exporter, with world-class expertise in agricultural research, we see great scope to cooperate in building Pakistan’s agricultural capacity,” Dr Shaw said.
Professor Cambell said ACIAR projects can change the lives of farmers across Pakistan. “We look
forward to developing our long-term partnership with Pakistan for research and development that will
improve the productivity and resilience of agriculture in Pakistan,” he said.
ACIAR is an Australian Government agency that specializes in international agricultural research
for development and currently supports 13 projects in Pakistan, spanning all regions of the country.
Working closely with Pakistan’s Federal Government, provincial departments, non-government
organizations, academia, and the private sector, ACIAR funds research and technical capacity
building on livestock and dairy, climate change, cereal productivity, crop diversification and land
and water management practices.
