Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR)  and the CAB International (CABI) Central and West Asia, Rawalpindi  have inked a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in academic and research activities for the mutual benefits of both the institutions and largely the farmers and other stakeholders. The MoU will also be helpful to capacity building of farmers in implementing good agriculture practices for better crops and vegetables.

The MoU was signed by the PMAS-AAUR Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad and the CABI, Regional Director, Dr Muhammad Shafiq in a ceremony here on Friday.

Under the MoU, PMAS-AAUR will establish a system and criteria for certification of trainees according to their training, knowledge and skill levels and undertake testing and certification of all trainees of the projects. While the CABI will conduct two training courses on kitchen gardening and stored grain management in district Muzaffargarh. These training programme will be helpful to revive the agriculture in the area and will be used to train the selected local farmers of either gender and build the capacity through conduction of trainings at village level.

 Speaking on the occasion, PMAS-AAUR, Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad, said that the Pakistan is facing agricultural productivity challenge due to lack of attention and resources and urged the scientists to develop innovative solutions for the betterment of small farmers. He stressed on different departments and their faculty to work together  to educate the farmers about the latest practices to combat the food security challenge. He said that the agrarian productivity could be increased manifolds by transferring modern technology to small farmers.