Islamabad, February 14, 2019 (PPI-OT): Variety Evaluation Committee (VEC) on Rice was held at Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) HQ’s, Islamabad. National Coordinator (Rice) of PARC presented the working paper for all the twenty-six proposals of rice hybrids/varieties for recommendation to the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department. The VEC recommended 12 rice hybrids and one open pollinated variety for commercial cultivation in the country.
The meeting was attended by technical members from NARS including the Director General, Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, Director General (Agriculture Research) Govt. of the Punjab, Food Security Commissioner from Ministry of National Food Security and Research and Director General of NARC. The representatives of seed companies including Chairman Seed Association of Pakistan also attended the meeting. Dr. Yusuf Zafar T.I., Chairman PARC chaired the meeting.
Dr. Yusuf Zafar T.I., Chairman, PARC while speaking to the participants appreciated the role of private and public sector for taking interest in research and development of rice in the country. He briefed about upcoming projects on rice under Prime Minister’s “National Agriculture Emergency Program”. He appreciated the hard work of National Coordinator (Rice) Dr. Muhammad Yousuf for conducting maximum number of VEC meetings in the history of PARC since its establishment.
Presiding the variety evaluation committee meeting, Dr. Abdul Ghafoor, Member, Plant Sciences Division, PARC emphasized the role of quality seed for the productivity and profitability of farmers and appreciated the role of seed companies and public sector institutes for making efforts to improve the potential of rice hybrids/varieties in Pakistan. Representatives of seed companies appreciated the role of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council for setting the new bench marks for testing of rice hybrids/varieties in Pakistan for the benefits of farmers as well as rice sector in Pakistan.
For more information, contact:
Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC)
G-5, Islamabad – Pakistan
Phone: +92-51-90733053, 90733058, 9255033
Fax: +92-51-9202968
Website: http://www.parc.gov.pk