Fozia Azam

Center for Agriculture and Bio-Science International (CABI) has decided to establish two bio-control labs in the country to fight food insecurity. The two labs will be established as part of the PlantwisePlus plan, which has been specially designed to protect national ecological system, stop environmental degradation, produce safer food, and reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides.

PlantwisePlus plan will also work for the adoption of sustainable practices in food production, besides helping small farmers to predict and prevent plants’ health threats. The information was shared by the Country Director of CABI, Dr Muhammad Naeem, who said that emerging threats from climate change, over population, environmental pollution and food insecurity have made it necessary that a comprehensive plan be adopted where a multi-pronged strategy fights all the threats at the same time.

He said that we need to adopt ways and methods which are efficient and sustainable so that we can make food available to all the people in the country since it has slowly become a significant problem. Commenting on the operations of CABI, he said that it was operating in 35 countries with the same plan to fight food insecurity and introduce sustainable practices.

In Pakistan, he said, CABI has operations in all the four provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He informed that CABI was working in collaboration with all the extension departments and local and provincial governments. He continued, “CABI started working in Pakistan in 2012 and since then, it has provided trainings to agriculture extension officials in 36 districts of the Punjab province besides establishing bio-control labs.”

He added that the CABI has also established 1,000 plant clinics across the country to provide advisory services to farmers. “CABI has also established the first quarantine lab of the country,” he said. He concluded by saying that under the PlantwisePlus plan, all running components would be brought under one unit to support agriculture extension departments and researchers, adding that CABI is also developing digital tools like the fertilizer calculator and pest risk analysis software.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk