Islamabad, (Parliament Times) : Travelling Rice Seminar was concluded at National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) Islamabad. The participants of the travelling rice seminar comprised of officials from Agriculture Research & Extension Departments and other public sectors. The seminar was conducted in major rice growing ecologies of the four provinces Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pukhtun Khawa and Balochistan from 2 to15 October, 2020.
Dr. Muhammad Azeem Khan, Chairman, PARC while speaking to the participants of the Travelling Rice Seminar said that Pakistan is blessed with distinct crop seasons and
agro-ecological regions. Travelling Rice Seminar provided an opportunity to bring together scientists and other stakeholders, extension workers, private sector and related industries on one platform to observe and study the problems of rice crop production, promotion, availability of quality seed, by-product development and identify site specific potential researchable issues with multi-disciplinary team in different rice growing ecologies of Pakistan. He appreciated the role of National Coordinator (Rice) Dr. Muhammad Yousuf for carrying out this activity after a long period of 15 years.
Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Member, Plant Sciences Division, PARC appreciated the role of seed companies and public sector institutes for making efforts to improve the potential of rice hybrids/varieties in Pakistan. He emphasized on conducting the demand driven rice research in the country. He emphasized on the development of extra-long grain rice varieties. Engr.Shamimul Sibtain Shah, Director General, NARC appreciated the role of the National Agricultural Research System for making this event happen.