en Pakistan Agricultural Research Council

Pakistan Agricultural Research Council
پاکستان زرعی تحقیقاتی کونسل
	NARC (PARC headquarters)
Formation	1981
Type	Government of Pakistan agency
Purpose	To promote agricultural research in Pakistan
Headquarters	Islamabad, Pakistan
Key people	Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali (Chairman),; Dr. Shahzad Asad, Director General (NARC)
Website	http://www.parc.gov.pk

The Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) (ہیئت برائے زرعی تحقیق پاکستان) is based in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Mission and achievements

It works in collaboration with Ministry of National Food Security and Research which is headed by a Federal Minister, Tariq Bashir Cheema who is heading the ministry since April 2022. It is an apex agricultural research organization at the national level. Its main objective is to strengthen Pakistan's agricultural research system, comprising the federal and provincial components.^[1]

Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali is the current Chairman of PARC, a scientist. His visionary approach has taken PARC to real apex position. Dr. Ali is accompanied with the technical members for different divisions in PARC. Among them Dr. Imtiaz Hussain is Member of Plant Sciences Division, Dr. Shahid Maqsood Gill (Member Natural Resource Division), Dr, Zia ul Hasan (Member Animal Sciences Division), Dr. Ghulam Sadiq Afridi (Member Social Sciences Division). Agricultural Engineering Division is headed by Engineer Zulfiqar Ali. The technical assistance is provided by Dr. Faisal Sohail Fateh (Director Technical).

National Agricultural Research Centre is the largest research establishment under PARC in Islamabad. The Director General in charge is Dr. Shahzad Asad.

In 2019, Pakistan was able to produce 20 new high-yielding, disease resistant and climate change-resilient wheat and maize (also called corn) varieties. This was achieved mainly due to the partnership between the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC). USAID, the US development agency also supported this project.^[2]

Recent events

In October 2019, World Food Day was observed at an event at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) in Islamabad. This event was organized by the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization, Pakistan's Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and the World Food Programme (WFP). The theme for 2019 was – 'Our actions are our future: healthy diets for a zero hunger world'.^[3]

Divisions

It has seven major research division in conducting research according to the agro-ecological needs of the regions.

National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad [1]
Southern Zone Agricultural Research Centre (SARC), Karachi [2]
Arid Zone Research Centre (AZRC), Quetta [3]
National Tea Research Institute (NTRI), Mansehra [4]
Sugar Crops Research Institute (SRI), Thatta [5]
Himalayan Agricultural Research Institute (HARI), Kaghan [6]
Mountain Agricultural Research Center (MARC), Juglote sai, Gilgit [7]

References

^ Mohiuddin Aazim (30 September 2019). "AGRICULTURE: Organic farming needs attention". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 30 December 2019.
^ Amin Ahmed (23 December 2019). "Fruitful year for wheat, maize varieties". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 31 December 2019.
^ Experts call for action to make healthy food accessible to all The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 17 October 2019, Retrieved 31 December 2019