Australia has announced new agricultural research projects for Pakistan in areas including salinity management and pulses production.

The projects have been announced by Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR) Professor Andrew Campbell during his recent visit to Pakistan, Australian High Commission in Islamabad said on Tuesday.

The new projects continue ACIAR’s 35-year history of research and development activity to improve the livelihoods of rural communities in Pakistan.

The initiatives include a 10-year programme on salinity management, a research project to deepen understanding of rural transformation in China, Indonesia, Myanmar and Pakistan whose results will inform policy making, and a project on competitive and socially inclusive value chains for development of pulses production in Pakistan.

Australia’s High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr Geoffrey Shaw said ACIAR’s work in the agriculture sector was a key component of Australia’s engagement with Pakistan. “As a leading agriculture exporter, with world-class expertise in agricultural research, we see great scope to cooperate in building Pakistan’s agricultural capacity,” Dr Shaw said.
Professor Cambell said ACIAR projects can change the lives of farmers across Pakistan. “We look forward to developing our long-term partnership with Pakistan for research and development that will improve the productivity and resilience of agriculture in Pakistan,” he said.

ACIAR is an Australian government agency that specializes in international agricultural research for development and currently supports 13 projects in Pakistan, spanning all regions of the country.

Working closely with Pakistan’s federal government, provincial departments, non-government organizations, academia, and the private sector, ACIAR funds research and technical capacity building on livestock and dairy, climate change, cereal productivity, crop diversification and land and water management practices.