Fighting against Climate Change

An international seminar titled “Global changes and Pakistan perspective” with the theme “Climate, water and agriculture nexus: a futuristic approach to fight hunger” was arranged by the University of Agriculture of Faisalabad (UAF)’s Agro Climatology Laboratory on Tuesday 16th of September. 

The Punjab Education and Law Minister, Rana Sanaullah said that the country was passing through difficult times as the floods had played havoc with people’s lives and crops. He also urged all the political parties to play their due role for the rehabilitation of the flood-hit people as well as the scientists, policymakers and others to make enhanced efforts in order to tackle climate changes.

Climate changes caused devastations in the form of floods, drought, etc., he said, adding that the climate changes were also affecting the agricultural sector, which is the backbone of the economy. In order to deal with the climate change issue, he hoped that the UAF scientists would prepare a comprehensive roadmap to deal with it.

Besides, he said that the day would come when the UAF would emerge among the top 10 universities in the world. Scientists of Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana, India, had admitted that they were getting benefits from the UAF in research for making contributions to the agricultural field, he added.

Fighting against Climate Change

Speaking for the occasion, VC University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-Pakistan, Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan lauded the steps being taken on the part of provincial government in relief and rehabilitation work of the flood victims. He stressed about the necessity of scientific methods to tackle the natural calamities. Moreover, he said that the university had launched a massive relief and rehabilitation campaign for the flood victims.

Dr Toshio Koike of the University of Tokyo, Japan, explained that the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) was meant to make efforts jointly on scientific basis to mitigate the climate change impact. Moreover, he said that Japan uses weather prediction, climate assessment and seasonal model, which helped face different natural challenges.

Federal Parliamentary Secretary on Economic Affairs, Rana Muhammad Afzal also called for stepping up efforts to fight the climate change. Likewise, Dr Ashfaq Ahmad Chattha, Head of Climate Change Cell & PI AgMIP Pakistan said that integrated approaches about water, climate and agriculture would help mitigate the sufferings.
 
He called for developing the flood and rainwater harvesting mechanism to avert the losses. Finally, Dr Fahad Rasool, Chairman of the Pakistan Biochar Initiative concluded the seminar by recommending to focus particularly on melting glaciers as the main area of concern to fight against climate change.

 

Picture credit: agro-Climatology Lab, University of Agrciulture, Faisalabad-Pakistan.