LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – Dr. Munawar Kazmi, Operations Manager of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Agriculture Sector Linkages Program (ASLP) expressed his agency’s intention to expand its linkages with the Philippines during his September 12, 2014 visit to PCAARRD.
ACIAR-ASLP’s goal focuses primarily on building up a link between the Philippine scientific community that works on mangoes and vegetables with its equal in Pakistan.
An agricultural research initiative, ASLP serves as an incubator of ideas and approaches in agriculture. The Program has established a link between Australia and Pakistan and has identified adoptable technologies from Australia which can be localized and popularized in Pakistan for large-scale implementation.
With Australian Aid (AusAID) funding, Australia-Pakistan ASLP has been helping improve livelihood of the rural poor in Pakistan. From 2006 to 2013, a total of AU$178 million of public sector investment was given to projects in the said country. Projects through the ASLP in Pakistan involve citrus, dairy, mango, mango value chain, vegetable, and even social sciences and policy.
Under the program, the Pakistani government has improved nurseries, built screen houses, and established a farmer field school which benefited 3.1 million growers of citrus and mango. Germplasm from Australia was also provided for growers of kinnow, a citrus variety in Pakistan and has held a growers conference, a practice that the Pakistani government has adopted from the Philippines.
Equipped with his extensive experience in the agricultural sector, having served the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council for 18 years and with his PhD in Plant Pathology from the Quiad-e-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan, Dr. Kazmi has contributed much in establishing and strengthening linkages between the agricultural sectors of Pakistan and Australia.