PARC Research Establishments in less developed areas of Southern and merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Staff Report

New Research Institutes will improve Agri. production & Living Standards of farming community in KP. Chairman PARC Islamabad: PARC-Arid Zone Research Centre (PARC-AZRC), Dera Ismail Khan organized one day seminar to highlight the PARC PSDP project “Up-gradation of Arid Zone Research Institute D.I. Khan to the level of Arid Zone Research Centre & Establishment of Adaptive Research Cum Demonstration Institute at Wana, District South Waziristan, Miranshah, District North Waziristan, Tank and Matora Laki Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” activities / achievements and the way forward in the region. The Chief Guest of the seminar was Dr. Muhammad Azeem Khan, Chairman, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad. Other distinguished guests include Joint Secretary (Expenditure) Ministry of Finance Madam Neelofer Hafeez, Vice Chancellor University of Agriculture Dera Ismail Khan Prof. Dr. Masroor Elahi Babar, Member Natural Resources PARC Dr. Sarfraz Ahmed, Director Land Resources Azizullah Shah, Dr. Nasir Cheema, Director, Special Initiatives, PARC and other local agri. administrators. Member Natural Resources, PARC Dr. Sarfraz Ahmad welcomed all the distinguished guests and appreciated the efforts of Engr. Noman Latif & his team on the successful completion of the project in the allotted time. On this occasion, Dr. Nouman Latif, presented the project progress and way forward to address the area specific research activities. Dr. Muhammad Azeem Khan, Chairman PARC while addressing the audience appreciated the joint efforts of PARC and M/o NFS&R team for accomplishment the establishment of four new adaptive research cum demonstration institutes in southern and merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These research cum demonstration institutes will play a crucial role to address the region specific issues of farming community and demonstration of proven technologies in the region. He urged that the research institutes must focusing crop diversification, value addition, market linkages and farmers capacity building. The Chairman further emphasized that the relevant the stakeholders like Provincial Agri. Research & Extension Departments, Academia’s and NGO’s may also be involved in research& development activities.