PARC Workshop: Promoting Climate-Smart Agriculture for Sustainable Farming
Published on: March 5, 2024.
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Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) collaborated with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to host a workshop on advancing climate-smart agricultural research in Pakistan. The workshop brought together participants from various national and international research organizations, highlighting the importance of climate-smart agriculture research in addressing the challenges posed by changing weather conditions and ensuring sustainable food production.
Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Chairman of PARC, emphasized the significance of engaging with international institutions and experts to leverage their knowledge and experiences for the benefit of agricultural research in the region. He stressed the need for climate-resilient agricultural practices to promote sustainable food production and agricultural resilience.
ADB Representative Noriko Sato provided an overview of ADB’s initiatives in Pakistan and shared insights on the impacts of climate change, including temperature variations, crop damage from floods, and greenhouse gas emissions. The discussions also focused on potential solutions to mitigate these emissions, such as promoting low-carbon rice cultivation and developing climate-resilient and drought-tolerant crop varieties.
Dr. Ruben Lampayan, an ADB consultant, highlighted the inefficiencies in water usage in rice cultivation and emphasized the adoption of water conservation techniques, including Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) practices and other effective water management technologies. These practices aim to enhance rice production while minimizing water consumption.
Dr. Krishna Dev Joshi, a senior specialist, emphasized the importance of delivering climate-smart crop varieties to transform Pakistan’s agri-food system and address the challenges of climate change, ensuring food security in the country. Dr. Hiz Jamali, a climate change specialist, highlighted the low water productivity in rice cultivation as a significant challenge to sustainable agricultural practices in Pakistan. This challenge is exacerbated by key climate issues such as water scarcity, unusual rainfall patterns, and rising temperatures that impact crop yields.
Dr. Bashir Ahmed, Director of the Water Institute at NARC, and Dr. Shaukat Ali, Director of NIGAB, shared insights on PARC’s success stories in climate-smart agriculture in Pakistan. These successes include enhancing water productivity in rice, developing climate-resilient crop varieties, addressing the implications of climate change on water availability, and tackling key climate challenges in the country’s agriculture sector.
Overall, the workshop highlighted the importance of climate-smart agricultural research in Pakistan and the need for collaboration among national and international institutions to develop sustainable solutions to address the challenges of climate change in the agricultural sector.
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