A one-day workshop on “Role of Rural Women in Pulse Production” was organized by ACIAR Pulses Project-04 on September 4, 2023 at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR).

The objective of this workshop was to discuss, role of women in pulse production, various issues women face in agriculture with a focus on pulse production, and to set priorities for future Agricultural collaborations in order to enhance pulse production in Pakistan.

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Naeem, Vice Chancellor of Arid varsity was the chief guest while seven Academicians, experts and entrepreneurs, from Charles Sturt University and Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), also joined this workshop as guests.

Among those were Prof. Dr. Christopher Blanchard, Prof. Dr. Gavin Ramsay, Dr. Ata ur Rehman, Dr. Penny Heuston, Ms. Prudence Cook, Ms. Annabelle Bushell and Ms. Diana Fear. Dr. Shahid Riaz Malik, Country Lead ACIAR Pulses Project, Mr. Israr Hussain, Project Officer and Ms. Saima Rani, a social scientist.

The project team at Arid University including Prof. Dr. Ata-ul-Mohsin, Project Coordinator along with Prof. Dr. Zahid Akram, Dr. Ghulam Shabbir and Dr. Mehmood- ul-Hassan made efforts in facilitating & organizing this workshop. Almost twenty female and seven male growers joined this workshop from rural areas of Attock and Chakwal districts.

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Naeem, Vice Chancellor, PMAS-AAUR appreciated the efforts of the project team for arranging such a nice opportunity to train rural women and their role in Pulse production. He said I have been participating in a number of activities and initiatives of this project in the field also and shared that this project has been providing better awareness and services to the farmers of Attock and Chakwal districts. He urged the ACIAR Project Management to devise a workable phasing out strategy of this project for sustainability of the services project developed for the area.

Dr. Penny from ACIAR, acknowledged the project's efforts for mobilizing rural women in enhancing pulse production. She also shared a comparative role of Australian and Pakistani women in Agriculture.

Earlier, Dr. Ata-ul-Mohsin, in his opening remarks, welcomed the participants. Mr. Israr Hussain in his presentation talked about the role of rural women in pulse production. A group work was also exercised to portray & maximize the female participation in pulse production. Dr. Shaid Riaz talked about the effective participation of women in pulse production in Pakistan. He suggested measures to enhance female participation at farm level to enhance pulse production. Dr. Sajida Taj, a senior scientist at NARC, also delivered her presentation about the issues women face in agriculture especially in pulse production.

Later, Shields and Certificates were awarded to the guests and participants and the workshop ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Zahid Akram Chairman, Dept. of Plant Breeding & Genetics.