A three-day International  E-Learning Course on Global GAP (Good Agricultural Productivity) Standard for Greater Market Access ended at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR)  on September 12, 2013, aimed to discuss/explain the importance of GAP certification in accessing the EU, Japan, USA and other markets in major cities, identify the requirements of benchmarking national GAP against the GLOBALGAP standard, and share critical success factors in GLOBALGAP implementation.

Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, PMAS-AAUR was the chief guest at concluding ceremony of the course, which was organized by Information Technology Institute of PMAS-AAUR in collaboration with National Productivity Organization (NPO), Ministry of Industries and Production, Government of Pakistan and Asian Productivity Organization, Japan.

Vice Chancellor, Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad, in his address, said that in the modern era quality and features have more impact than the quantity and its imperative for all producers to provide mankind with quality products to be used as inputs for quality life of end users. Consumer is concerned about food safety & how food is produced and these pressures have placed additional demands on farmers and producers, he added.

He informed the participants that GAP could be solution for producers seeking to address consumers concerns and can reduce the impact of agriculture on environment.  He appreciated the efforts of organizers for conducting this course and assured them that Arid University will facilitate in future as well. He hoped that participants will share their knowledge to their colleagues to further enrich their experiences.

As an e-learning course, this was an enriching learning opportunity to interact and exchange ideas with other participants from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan via video conferencing facility. Professional Experts from  the EU, Japan, Malaysia, Australia and USA conducted the training course.

Participants of the course studied the development of GAP and GLOBALGAP standards implementation and certification through direct contact with successful examples in European countries and identify best practices.

Officers/consultant of agriculture research and training public/private institutes, academicians involved in consultancy services, NGOs/Donor agencies, training and extension for farm producers, retailers and exporters of agricultural products participated and furthered their knowledge on GAP and how the GLOBALGAP certification system operates.

It may be recalled that GLOBALGAP is a unified standard that has become the main reference for the GAP in the global market. GLOBALGAP is a management system that is used internationally for GAP (Good Agricultural Productivity).GLOBALGAP standard is primarily designed to reassure consumers about how food is produced on the farm by minimizing detrimental environmental impacts of farming activities, reducing the use of chemical inputs and ensuring health and safety besides welfare of workers.