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SRATEGIC DIRECTION FOR AGRICULTURE RESEARCH IN PAKISTANMUBARIK ALIConsultant, Socioeconomist, AVRDC-The World Vegetable Center, TaiwanMOHAMMED ASHRAFConsultant, Ex-Director General, National Agricultural Research Center, IslamabadFebruary, 2007Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, IslamabadAsian Development Bank, Islamabad Office

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed AshrafTABLE OF CONTENTACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONIVEXECUTIVE SUMMARYVI1. FRAMEWORK AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY 11.1. Introduction 11.2. Basic Framework 11.2.1. Types of Agriculture Research Outputs 11.2.2. Components Agriculture Research System 11.2.3. Linkage between Components 21.3. Objective of the Study 22 PAKISTAN AGRICULTURE RESEARCH STRATEGY 32.1 Macro-Level Outputs 32.1.1 Productivity Enhancement 32.1.2Resource Sustainability, Environment, and Health 42.1.3 Alleviation of Poverty and Income Inequality 42.1.4 Food Security 52.1.5 Food Quality and Safety 52.1.6 Diversification and Commercialization of Agriculture 52.1.7 Improved Competitiveness 52.1.8 Improve Research Efficiency 62.2 Micro-Level Outputs 62.2.1 Crop, Tree and Animal Germplasm 62.2.2 Gene Identification and Incorporation 62.2.3 Elite Materials and Finished Lines 62.2.4 Hybrid Development 72.2.5 Improved Management Practices 72.2.6 Development of Vaccines, Bio-fertilizers, and Bio-pesticides 72.2.7 Developing and Improving Agricultural Machines 82.2.8 Animal and Crop Disease Diagnosis Techniques 82.2.9 Innovative Methods of Food Processing and Preservation 82.2.10 Modalities for Quality Control 82.2.11 Information and Technologies on Emerging Niche Markets 82.2.12 Extension Methodologies 92.2.13 Impact Assessment and Prioritization 92.2.14 Training on Scientific Methodologies 92.2.15 Publication in Impact Journals 92.2.16 Holding and Participation in Professional Meetings 92.3 Summarizing Note 93 RESEARCH PRIORITIZATION 93.1 Budget Allocation by Sector and Crop 93.2 Budget Allocation by Region 113.3 Analysis of SC Research Activities 124 REFORMING THE SC OF AGRICULTURE RESEARCH SYSTEM 134.1 Existing Structure 134.2 Current Manpower 144.3 Research Prioritization Mechanism 144.4 Pros and Cons of the Existing System 144.5 Restructuring the SC Component – The Theme Approach 144.5.1 Themes 144.5.2 Implementation of the Theme Approach 154.5.3 Pros and Cons of Theme Approach 154.6 Restructuring the SC Component - The Matrix Approach 16ii

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed AshrafCont,…, Table of content4.6.1 Basic Structure of Matrix 164.6.1.1 Departments 174.6.2 Themes 184.6.2. Suggested Themes 194.6.2 Implementation of the Matrix Approach 204.6.3 Merits of the Matrix Approach 214.7 Changes in Human Skill Structure 214.8 Infrastructure Requirements 224.8.1 Access to Telephone, Computer, and Internet 224.8.2 Access to Library 224.8.3 Green House 234.8.4 Nutrition and Food Quality Laboratory 234.8.5 Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory 234.8.6 Biotechnology Laboratory 234.8.7 Geographical Information System (GIS) Laboratory 234.8.8 Modern Equipment for Laboratories 234.9 Restructuring of PARC 234.9.1 Strong Research Programming Cell (RPC) 244.9.2 Strong Team for Impact Analysis 244.9.3 Strong Research Coordinated Program (RCP) 245 CONNECTING SC AND AC TO DISSEMINATE OUTPUTS 245.1 Misconception Regarding SC Output Extension 255.2 Real Client – AC Researchers not Farmers 255.3 TTI’s in Extension 255.4 Research Coordination 255.4.1 Research Coordination History 265.4.2 Problems in the National Research Coordination Programs 265.4.3 Recommendations 275.5 Other Measures to Promote SC Outputs 286 RESTRUCTURING OF REGIONAL CENTERS 286.1 Background 286.2 Southern-zone Agriculture Research Centre (SARC), Karachi 286.3 Arid Zone Research Center (AZRC), Quetta 296.4 Arid Zone Research Institutes (AZRIs) 306.5 Karakorram Agricultural Research Institute for Northern Areas (KARINA),31Gilgit6.6. Agricultural Economic Research Unit (SERU) 32Annexure I 33Annexure II 42Annexure III 44Annexure IV 62Annexure V 69Annexure VI 72Annexure VII 75iii

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed AshrafACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONAcronymABPACAJKAVRDCAZRCCEMBCGIARCIMMYTCSICSPDDGDGECFMIGAPGDPGISGLOFGMOHACCPHECHKHHRIIABGRICsINRESIPEPIPMIRRIIWMPKARINAMINFALNARCNCRPExplanationAgriculture Biotechnology ProgramApplied ComponentAzad Jammu & KashmirWorld Vegetable Research & Development CentreArid Zone Research CentreCentre of Excellence of Molecular BiologyConsultative Group of International Agriculture ResearchInternational Wheat & Maize Research InstituteCrop Sciences InstituteCrop Sciences ProgramDeputy Director GeneralDirector GeneralExecutive CommitteeFarm Machinery InstituteGood Agricultural PracticesGross Domestic ProductGeographical Information SystemGlacial Lake Outburst FloodsGenetically Modified OrganismsHazzard Analysis Critical Control PointHigher Education CommissionHindukush Karakoram HimalayaHorticultural Research InstituteInstitute of Agriculture Biotechnology & Genetic ResourcesInternational CentresInstitute of Natural Resources & Environmental SciencesInstitute of Plant & Environmental ProtectionIntegrated Pest ManagementInternational Rice Research InstituteInstitute of Water Management ProgramKarakoram Agricultural Research Institute for Northern AreasMinistry of Food, Agriculture & LivestockNational Agricultural Research CentreNational Coordinated Research Programsiv

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed AshrafCont,…, Acronyms And AbbreviationAcronymExplanationNFQLNutrition and Food Quality LabNGONon Government OrganizationNIABNuclear Institute of Agriculture and BiologyNRMNatural Resource ManagementNTRINational Tea Research InstituteNWFPNorthern Western Frontier ProvincePARCPakistan Agriculture Research CouncilPASCProject Approval & Supervising CommitteePFIPakistan Forest InstitutePGRIPlant Genetics Resources InstitutePGRPPlant Genetics Resources ProgramPIDEPakistan Institute of Development EconomicsPSCProgram Steering CommitteeRMCResearch Management CommitteeSARCSouthern-Zone Agriculture Research CentreSCStrategic ComponentSSISocial Sciences InstituteTFPTotal Factor ProductivityTTITechnology Transfer InstituteTWGTechnical Working GroupWAPDAWater And Power Development AuthorityWHCWater Harvesting & ConservationWRRIWater Resources Research Institutev

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed AshrafSRATEGIC DIRECTION FOR AGRICULTURE RESEARCH IN PAKISTANMUBARIK ALISocioeconomist, AVRDC-The World Vegetable Center, TaiwanMOHAMMED ASHRAFEx-Director General, National Agricultural Research Center, IslamabadEXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe main objectives of this study were to provide strategic direction for Pakistan research byanalyzing the structural and performance efficiency of the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council(PARC) and its subsidiary national and regional institutes, and propose reforms in PARC toimprove research efficiency and the flow of its outputs to stakeholders. We discussed Pakistanagricultural strategy in terms of macro- or system-level outputs, and micro- or individual-grouplevel activities to achieve these outputs, and segregated the later into the sphere ofresponsibilities of federal, provincial, and private sector components of research, whilerecognizing these different components as a continuum just as assembly lines of a firm aim toproduce one final output but each line specializes in delivering a part of the final output.In our view, the agriculture research strategy in Pakistan should deliver the following macro-leveloutputs:• High level of productivity and sustainability of farming-systems;• Alleviation of poverty and income equality among rural communities;• Food and nutritional security;• Food quality and safety;• Diversification and commercialization of agriculture;• Competitiveness of the agriculture sector; and• Research efficiency.The researchers of every component should realize that the delivery of these system-leveloutputs reflects the success of all components, irrespective of their administrative control. Thecompulsion to deliver the system-level outputs can bind all researchers in one chain irrespectiveof what component they belong to. However, such compulsion does not emerge automatically butrequires organizational structure, which is discussed later.To achieve system-level outputs, we suggest emphasizing on following micro-level activities:• Collection, characterization, and distribution of animal and crop germplasm on scientificlines;• Development or acquisition of gene for improved crop and animal traits using modernscientific tools;• Development of crop and animal varieties (both open pollinated ad hybrids dependingupon crop) for higher productivity, improved quality traits, pyramid resistance, and stresstolerance;• Improvement in crop and animal management practices,• Development of vaccines, bio-fertilizers, and bio-pesticides, and• Development of high demand machines.We suggested that the research system should expand its sphere of activities to off-farm incomeopportunities, such as:• Development of innovative methods of food processing;vi

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashraf• Formulation and implementation of the modalities for quality control for agricultural inputsand outputs; and• Provision of information and technologies on emerging niche markets.We also emphasized that the research system should continuously engaged into activities thatcan improve its efficiency such as:• Evolution of efficient extension methodologies;• Evaluation of impact of agriculture innovation system,• Training on scientific methods,• Publication in international journals, and• Holding and participation in international symposiums and workshops.With this framework of agricultural strategy for the whole agriculture research system, we thensegregated the responsibilities for the federal-level component of research continuum termed asStrategic Component (SC) and for provincial or regional component in the public or private sectortermed as Applied Component (AC). We concluded that due to its linkages with internationalresearch systems and advanced laboratories, sophisticated equipment it possesses, andgeographical location that limits its operation in various ecologies, the SC should focus onstrategic issues of agriculture research, and provide materials, methodologies, and inputs for theAC of the system. In the words of Dr. Clause Lampe, ex-DG of IRRI, “the strategic researchshould produce only spare parts of doors, windows, and brick (i.e., advance breedingmaterials, genes, molecular marker, decision making models, etc.) and leave completion of thehouse (i.e., varieties, chemical products, management technologies, etc.) on the AC as it suitsthem to their own eco-regional environments”. 1 For the rapid transformation of these semifinishedproducts into final products and transferring these products to its clients (farmers andconsumers), the SC should conduct its research activities in close collaboration with its main andimmediate stakeholders, i.e., AC of the research system.The careful analysis of research activities of each institute of NARC indicated several duplicationssometimes even within an institute. In many cases, the NARC component has stepped on theactivities designed for the AC of the research system creating duplication with provinces and theprivate sector, especially in developing animal breeds, crop varieties, and managementtechnologies. The analytical tools being used in research are primitive, and need to be upgradedespecially in biotechnology and agricultural economic research. Research focus of manyprograms is not clear that need to be sharpened and deepened. This has reduced the efficiencyof both SC and AC and reduced the delivery of the system-level outputs. While SC is unable todeliver the final products for various ecoregions (e.g., NARC has released only 2 varieties ofwheat, 2 of chickpea, 3 of Mash, non of vegetables, fodder, sugarcane, and other crops), the ACdid not get enough inputs from SC necessary for their research (e.g., germplasm supply foralmost all crops, except for wheat, is very weak if not absent). 2PARC cannot do everything. It should focus only where it has the comparative advantage, i.e.,upstream strategic research, and leave the adaptive-type research on to the AC of the researchsystem in provincial research institutes and private sector. Following should be the focus ofNARC.1 In some cases, however, the difference in strategic and applied research is blued. The main principleshould be that any research that has national-level impications should be conducted by SC and any activitywith regional implications should go to the AC of the research system.2 It does not mean that SC did not generate any useful output so far. In fact, there are many good examplesof SC outputs. The most prominent ones are germplasm supply especially in wheat, training, and synopsisof zero-tillage technology, IPM methodologies, and certain machines. The point we want to make here isthat such output would have been much more, and the efficiency of AC would have been much higher hadSC been concentrated on delivering strategic-level outputs.vii

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashraf1. Collection, documentation, characterization, and distribution of germplasm on scientificlines. The documentation with appropriate characterization should be made available onthe Internet.2. Screening of germplasm for various traits,3. Procedures for molecular assisted breeding and tissue culture systems,4. Hybrid development methods,5. Identification of gene for specific quality and nutrient traits,6. Gene incorporation methodologies.7. Regulating procedures for testing of transgenic plants to assure safety.8. Decision making tools, synopsis, and sketches for innovative crop managementtechnologies such as soil nutrient management procedures, weed control systems,pesticide and fertilizer application methods, low tillage approaches, water applicationmethods, pest management tools, animal feeding systems, etc.9. Sketches for high demand agricultural machines in critical operation where lack ofmachine hinders overall agricultural development;10. Develop standards that can be used to monitor the quality of chemicals and fertilizers.11. Develop protocols for GAP, HCCP, etc. especially for horticulture and livestock products.12. Internationally accepted certification system for quality food production.13. Develop the synopsis of low cost drip irrigation system.14. Develop synopses and machinery designs to reduce production cost only in criticaloperation where lack of machine hinders overall agricultural development;15. Develop and adapt new extension methodologies.16. Collect and disseminate information (price, quality standards, and technologies) inemerging niche markets abroad.17. Develop crop forecasting models using advance GIS tools.18. Identification of agriculture business activities (such as processing, grading, packaging,advertising, financing etc.) and train rural households to successfully conduct theseactivities.19. Constraints in the promotion of agricultural business activities, and develop agriculturalbusiness policies and rules that can promote off-farm activities in rural areas.20. Impact evaluation of agricultural technologies especially designed by the SC component.21. Training of AC scientists for methodologies and analysis tools.The SC should not do the followings:1. Developing final varieties using elite lines, identified gene, gene marker, and tissueculture.2. Testing nutrient management procedure, weed control systems, pesticide and fertilizerapplication methods, zero-tillage, animal feeding, etc.3. Testing various pesticide, herbicide, or chemical materials developed by the privatesector.4. Direct dissemination of its technologies to the farmers.5. Up scaling of extension methodologies which should be left on to the NGOs, privatesector, or provincial extension departments.6. Developing, testing, evaluating, and distribution of agricultural machines, chemicals, biopesticides,bio-fertilizers, feeds, etc.7. Macro policy research, collection of macro-data (although SC can compile such data),prediction of demand for commodities, etc.viii

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed AshrafA detailed analysis of the existing structure of PARC, we observed following problems:1. The individual-group level outputs are constrained due to lack of operational funds,access to modern literature, Internet, and in certain cases equipments.2. Duplication of research is wide spread, as a common forum to point out and stop theseduplications does not exist.3. The research is mainly supply-driven, because scientists decide their research agenda.4. There is no structure to convert the micro-level outputs into system-level outputs.5. No immediate incentive is attached with performance in research, and to improvescientists’ professional capacity.6. Policy makers cannot make adjustment in research investment to enhance or reducecertain system-level outputs as activities are not related to outputs.We proposed matrix approach that can remove most of the problems faced to SC. The matrixapproach first groups the professionals under respective departments and then organizesresearch under projects that goes across disciplines and oriented to produce system-level output.The projects are aggregated into themes which are also oriented to deliver common system-leveloutputs. In matrix approach, while scientists are geared towards micro-level outputs, ProjectManagers and Theme Leaders are responsible for system-level outputs. The scientists areadministratively under Department heads, but financially depend upon the Theme Leaders. Wesuggest providing an incentive to all scientists engaged in the project proportion to the cost eachscientist handles. The changes in the project activity and budget can be made by the ProjectManager with the consultation Theme Leader. S(he) has complete control on the financialresources with appropriate auditing mechanism.Matrix approach is demand driven and dynamic as research projects are floated to achieve highpriority system-level outputs. The approach is structured to solve the problems of agriculturesector and hence ensures agriculture growth. It is a multi-disciplinary approach at the project levelthus increases the chance of solving the field problems. Further it reduces the chances ofrepetitions and redundancy. The matrix approach automatically solves the problem of operationalfunds, as it sets aside necessary funds needed for every activity of the project. Both financialpowers and responsibilities are devolved to the Project Manger, who is the main player in thewhole set up. To implement the matrix approach, we suggest the following:1. Dissolve all institutes;2. Create professional divisions, and group all scientists based on their respective disciples;3. Create 4-5 research themes and clearly define the system-level outputs for each. Wehave suggested following five themes:• Enhancing productivity and sustainability of farming systems;• Improving resource conservation in agriculture;• Promoting agriculture diversification and commercialization;• Improved agriculture competitiveness through developing value chain; and• Cross cutting issues.4. Allocate research funds to each based on relative importance of the output(s) of eachtheme;5. Organize Technical Working Groups under each theme to evaluate different projectsproposals;6. Project Manager should have full financial powers on project resources with appropriateauditing procedures;7. All the participant scientists in the project should be given 10% of the project cost theymanage as honorarium.8. We suggest to appropriate 5% of the project costs for the department of the scientistsengaged in the project for ensuring the department lab and field facilities.ix

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed AshrafWe also suggested following reforms in the PARC structure:1. A strong Research Planning Cell should be established which shall continuously prioritizeresearch and bring issues related to emerging income opportunities to researchers, whileexisting Research Motoring and Evaluation Cell should continue monitor the financialdisbursement and activity progress of various projects.2. A strong multidisciplinary impact evaluation team should be established in PARC SocialSciences Division, which continuously evaluate the impact of different projects andagricultural research as a whole through various angles, identify constraints in theadoption of technologies suggested by various project, and suggest adaptation in thesetechnologies for wider adoption.3. Set up National Research Coordination Programs in cereals, oilseeds and pulses,horticulture, and fodder/forage/livestock. These teams along with Technology TransferInstitutes at various key locations should be main vehicles for dissemination of SCoutputs to AC researchers.Following recommendations were made regarding human resources and infrastructure:1. A significant redistribution of professional staff towards biotechnology, animal sciences,food technology, and agricultural business, marketing and post-harvest economists areneeded to modernize the SC level;2. A well-connected virtual library to provide comprehensive excess to scientists toprofessional journals, scientific books, and workshop proceedings;3. A reasonable size of green houses in relevant departments with controlled environment;4. Access to telephone ad internet to every scientists;5. Establishment of or upgradation in the following laboratories:• Nutrition and Food Quality Laboratory• Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory• Biotechnology Laboratory• Geographical Information System (GIS) Laboratory• Modern Equipment for LaboratoriesWe discussed strategies to disseminate the SC outputs (including from international centers andadvanced laboratories) to AC researchers and other stakeholders. We suggested that:• Coordination programs should be the main vehicles to disseminate SC outputs, whileTTI’s at key sites serve as liaison between SC and AC researchers.• The research-coordinated programs should be consolidated from 13 to 5 in number.• The name of National Coordinated Research Program (NCRP) should be changed toNational Research Coordination Program (NRCP) to emphasize that these are not toconduct research by itself,• Learning from the history, special care should be taken to avoid slipping the researchcoordinatedprograms into research and TTI.s into farm-level extension.• The NRCP should be stationed at PARC.• The research staff of the existing coordination programs should be transferred to theirrespective departments.• The TTI’s should be stationed at key site where major provincial research activities arecentered, and at each station, its strength should not be more than 2–3 staff each havingprofessional communication skills.• The TTI’s should also bring the concerns of AC researchers on SC outputs.• The design of research projects should include testing and evaluation of its output,conducted by the AC researchers through the collaboration of coordinated programs.x

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed AshrafWe made critical analyses of existing structure and functions of PARC regional centers (viz.AZRC, AZRIs, SARC and KARINA). We recommended that:1. Various SARC laboratories should be merged into:• Institute of Post-harvest Technologies (IPHT);• Coastal Agricultural and Biotechnology Research Institute (CABRI); and• Livestock & Fisheries Research Institute (LFRI).2. We recommend the closure of Feed Mill, Larkana and transfer to private sector.3. The AZRC should focus on arid and semi-arid agriculture of Balochistan and leaveirrigated agriculture on provincial agriculture research system. It should develop work planin closer cooperation with ICARDA for capacity building, sharing technologies andgermplasm, and evaluation and adaptation of technologies, etc., while evaluation oftechnologies should be carried out with farmers’ participation.4. The AZRI Bhawalpur should be converted into National Institute for Desert Agriculture(NIDA) which should focus on deserts ecosystem for the sustainable development of theregion. AZRI, Umerkot be its sub-station.5. All the regional enters have serious human resource and capacity constrain. The PARCmay not be able to overcome this constrain at least in the short-run. The only way toovercome this constrain is to develop a joint multi-disciplinary projects with appropriatedepartments in NARC. While the NARC researchers should focus the strategic aspect ofthe project and regional centers should test and adapt the SC output. However, PARCshould try to fill the gaps in human resources in strategic areas of research beingconducted in these regional institutes on priority basis.6. The Agricultural Economic Unit’s (AERUs) in the region should develop their researchagenda in collaboration with biological and social scientists of the institutes they arelocated, and help them to build capacity of social sciences research in these institutes.They should also highlight emerging field issues that need immediate attention. However,they should be pro-active rather than responsive in this task. To take up theseresponsibilities, they should be provided enough human and financial resources.In summary, the effectiveness and efficiency of PARC can be increased many folds by takingfollowing steps:• Limit the research activities of PARC scientists in the areas of strategic issues;• Link evaluation of technologies with the AC scientist;• Become competitive by grouping themselves into professional departments anddeveloping international links;• Build multidisciplinary research projects through matrix approach to deliver system-leveloutputs;• Provide financial autonomy to Project Managers with appropriate auditing mechanism;• Provide incentives to the scientists for delivering project output;• Establish strong research programming mechanism at PARC which should be proactivein bring merging issues in agriculture for research;• Develop appropriate flow of technology mechanism through effective researchcoordination system;• Develop strong teams to evaluate impact analyses of prominent agricultural technologies,and agricultural research system as a whole; and• Upgrade infrastructure so that scientists have access to Internet, telephone, greenhousewith controlled environment, well-connected virtual library, and modern laboratoriesespecially in the field of biotechnology, food quality and nutrition, GIS, and animaldisease diagnostics.xi

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed AshrafSRATEGIC DIRECTION FOR AGRICULTURE RESEARCH IN PAKISTAN1.1. IntroductionMubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashraf1 FRAMEWORK AND SCOPE OF THE STUDYThe agriculture research system can be divided into public and private, and the public researchcan be further grouped into federal, provincial, or district depending upon the administrativecontrol at different federation level. The international research collaborates directly at the federallevel and the private research is free from regional boundaries, and its collaboration with thepublic research stretches both at the federal, provincial, and international levels. Although eachcomponent of the research system has different administrative control, in this study we considerthem a continuum of the same system just as assembly lines of a firm aim to produce one finaloutput but each line specializes in delivering a part of the final output. While emphasizing theinterdependence of all the components of the research system in Pakistan, we clearly define thedivision of responsibilities among each component, and suggest strategies for the smooth flow ofoutputs from one component to the other.1.2. Basic Framework1.2.1. Types of Agriculture Research OutputsWe wish to divide the agriculture research outputs into two groups.1. Macro-level (or system-level) outputs. These include outputs related to the system-levelissues of agriculture sector such as enhancement in productivity, improvement insustainability, eradication of poverty, improvement in health, increased diversification andcommercialization, improvement in competitiveness, etc. The relative importance of thesedepends upon the research planners and policy makers.2. Micro-level (or individual scientist-level) outputs. These outputs are important forindividual scientists or group of scientists for their professional advancements. These arealso called activities to achieve the system-level outputs. These may further bedifferentiated into two groups as follows:Unfinished micro-outputs. These outputs include methodologies, formulas, principals, andguidelines of doing certain scientific activities that will facilitate or improve the efficiency ofproducing the finished outputs.Finished micro-outputs. These are the final outputs such as varieties, machines, orchemicals that are delivered to the farmers, traders, and consumers.The micro-level outputs are important but do not assure that the system level outputs will bedelivered unless institutional organization is specifically structured by assigning somebody’sresponsibility for this. Usually, multi-disciplinary collaboration is required to synergistically link themicro-level outputs to solve the system-level problems. In fact, policy makers consider micro-leveloutputs just inputs or activities to achieve the system-level outputs.1.2.2. Components Agriculture Research SystemIrrespective of the administrative control, we divide the research system into two components:1. Strategic Component (SC). As the term applies, it deals with the strategic issues ofagriculture system and supplies unfinished products such as methodologies, inputs, andmodels of technologies that improve the efficiency of agriculture research system. The SCcomponent in Pakistan includes research done at the federal-level, but we will mainly refer to1

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashrafthe research conducted at National Agriculture Research Center (NARC) – a subsidiaryorganization of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) and the largest organizationfor agriculture research at the federal level.The SC has comparative advantage of dealing the strategic issues of agriculture researchbecause of the following reasons:1. It has more sophisticated infrastructure, laboratories, and human resources.2. They have access, in some cases only legal authority, to interact with internationalcenters (ICs) and advance laboratories where similar research is being conducted.3. They are not located in the hub of agricultural production in various eco-regions.2. Applied Component (AC). On the other hand, the AC conduct applied-research to solve theimmediate issues of its cliental by using un-finished products supplied by the SC and deliverfinal products according to the demand of its stakeholders such as varieties, GMOs,management technologies, chemicals, etc. The AC includes research conducted by theprovincial research institutes, private sector and non-governmental organization (NGOs). TheAC has comparative advantage in conducting adaptive research because of the followingreasons:1. It is located in the hub of agriculture production and close to its cliental, therefore, cangauge the needs of various cliental in different eco-regions.2. It does not and in some cases not allowed to collaborate with ICs and advancelaboratories to have access on advance materials and methodologies.3. Its laboratories, infrastructure, and human resources are all built to only fine-tune theunfinished products to meet the immediate needs of its clients.4. Political realities do not allow it to spend longer time on strategic issues. It has to tacklethe day-to-day problems emerging in agriculture mostly on crisis basis.1.2.3. Linkage between ComponentsAlthough both components have different responsibilities, they are synergistically linked with eachother to produce the system-level outputs. In fact the efficiency and success of the SC dependson how effectively the AC utilizes its materials, methodologies, models and inputs, while thesuccess of the AC also depends on the relevance of the materials supplied by the SC to theproblems of the agriculture sector in different ecologies of the country (Figure 1). To improve theefficiency of each component, it is important to draw boundaries of each component to avoidduplication and confusions, and suggest ways to improve the synergistic links between the twocomponents.Federal PublicResearchGermplasm,elite lines,methodologies,trainingInternationalResearch SystemUnfinished productsMethodologies and inputsfor provincial and privateresearchProvincialPublicResearchPrivate and NGOResearchFinished productsImpact Assessment and Project EvaluationFinished productsSolution ofagriculturesectorproblemsFigure 1. Interaction among various components of national agriculture research system2

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashraf1.3. Objective of the StudyThe main objective of this study was to analyze the structural and performance efficiency ofPARC research system, while recognizing its interdependence with other components of thesystem. The overall goal is to enhance the efficiency in delivering the outputs of not only SC butoverall agriculture research system in the country.The specific terms of reference of this study were:1. Define the outputs of SC of agricultural research system (i.e., what it should deliver),2. Prioritize research activities to efficiently achieve system outputs (i.e., what scientistsshould do),3. Provide the division of responsibilities among SC and AC of agriculture research system,4. Critically analyze its existing structure, and propose an alternative structure to moreefficiently produce the outputs (i.e., how it should do, or suggest restructuring),5. Specify the key resources required to affectively produce the outputs (i.e., capital andhuman infrastructure required to deliver the output), and6. Define an effective delivery system for its outputs (i.e., extension and coordination).The scheme of the report is as follows. Pakistan agriculture research strategy in terms of systemleveloutputs as well as micro-level activities to achieve these outputs is proposed in the followingsection. Agriculture research priorities in broader terms as well as priorities for SC after analyzingits existing research agenda is elaborated in section 3. The existing structure and suggestedreforms in SC structure is discussed in section 4. Section 5 proposes innovative approach ofresearch coordination to take the research outputs generated by SC to its stakeholders. Section 6suggests reorganization of the regional centers. The last section summarizes the results.The analysis was done within the framework of Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF)for agriculture that emphasized the following outputs at the research system level:• Enhance productivity and profitability of crops, livestock, fisheries, and poultry especiallyon small farms.• Ensure food security.• Diversification of agriculture with horticulture, livestock and fisheries.• High efficiency irrigation.• Strengthen agricultural institutions for research and extension and improve coordination.• Compliance with international quality standards.2. PAKISTAN AGRICULTURE RESEARCH STRATEGYThe purpose of this section is to provide the tenants of Pakistan agriculture research strategy interms of the outputs that the research should deliver both at the macro and micro levels. Whileelaborating agricultural strategy at the micro-level, we will also specify the responsibilities of eachSC and AC based on the comparative advantage of each in the public and private sector.2.1. Macro-Level OutputsIn the following sections, we discuss more in detail the type of outputs the Pakistan agricultureresearch system as a whole should strive for as outputs. It should be noted that because theseare system-level outputs, we do not have to differentiate the outputs of different components.2.1.1. Productivity EnhancementIndividual Crop and Animal Productivity. It is well known fact that the productivity of Pakistan’sagriculture measured in terms of output per unit area (i.e., yield) or per output unit production costremained lower than international comparator, despite some improvements since 1970s. Some of3

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashrafthe factors responsible for low agricultural productivity in Pakistan are related to infrastructure andpolicies, but others are directly linked to agriculture research. The low turn-over of crop andanimal varieties and agricultural technologies, and irrelevance of these technologies to farmers’conditions are the research factors that keep agricultural productivity low in the country.Therefore, research system should strive to push the productivity frontier of each crop and animalbreed upward, while agricultural policies and extension should strive to narrow down the gap inproductivity between average and experiment or best-practice farms.Total Factor Productivity. More than improvement in yield, the agriculture research system shouldemphasize to enhance the growth in total factor productivity (TFP), a measure of returns to allproduction factors. This is because individual crop productivity, especially when measured on perha basis, may be a misguided indicator of research system output when resource degradationaccompanies yield enhancement, or individual crop productivity is achieved at the cost of theproductivity of other crops in the system. For example, despite improvement in per ha yields inPunjab, the growth in TFP of the crop sector was insignificant during 1993-2003 – and all thegrowth in output came through input increase while the contribution of TFP in growth during thisperiod was negative (Table 1). This suggests that agricultural growth in crop yields during the1990s was input driven, rather than science-based.The research system should specifically emphasize to curtail the declining productivity ofpesticide, fertilizer, and machinery, and enhance the productivity of water. The off-farm focus ofagriculture research should help to reduce the surplus labor in agriculture and curtail the decliningtrend in labor productivity during 1993-2003 (Table 1).Table 1. Growth in total and partial TFP indices in Punjab by period 1971-2003PeriodTotal TFP (percentagegrowth)Output Input TFPContributionin outputPartial TFP (percentage growth)growth Fertilizer Labor Land Water Machine Pesticide1971-81 2.71 1.92 0.79 29.2 -8.69 0.89 2.05 -2.14 -12.36 -1982-92 3.91 1.05 2.86 73.1 -1.50 5.92 3.01 0.75 ns -5.75 -6.291993-2003 1.69 1.80 -0.11 ns -6.5 -0.20 ns -0.79 1.56 3.27 -1.32 -2.73 nsOverall 3.01 1.47 1.54 51.2 -2.86 2.84 2.38 0.76 -6.09 -4.392.1.2. Resource Sustainability, Environment, and HealthThe mismanagement of input use in the past has serious consequences for the environment,sustainability of agricultural resources, and human health. Over-exploitation of underground waterhas resulted in rapidly falling water table in some areas. The percentage of area with a watertable depth of more than 3 meters has increased from 68% to 83% within three years. Over halfof the samples analyzed by the Soil Fertility Institute in various districts were found unfit forirrigation during 1994-2002. Likewise, over-reliance on chemical fertilizers and monocropping hascaused a continuous decline in organic matter in soils.Apart from the resource sustainability, the environmental and health impacts of agricultureproduction are becoming quite obvious. The most serious agricultural pollution problem relates tothe rapid increase in pesticide use⎯from less than 1000 t in 1980 to 70,000 t in 2002. Thewidespread use of generic and often dangerous pesticides has a number of potential healthhazards, contamination of soil and groundwater used for drinking, and contamination ofconsumers of agricultural products. Economic costs of these negative health effects have beenestimated at over one billion Rupees annually (Jabbara (1994). Keeping in view these facts,protecting the environment and consumers’ and producers’ health by promoting sustainable andenvironmental friendly technologies should be the responsibility of the agricultural researchsystem in the country.4

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashraf2.1.3. Alleviation of Poverty and Income InequalityPoverty rate is consistently high with over one forth of the population always living below thepoverty line in Pakistan, and majority of them are in rural areas. The economic research hasestablished the negative relationship between indicators of poverty and investment on agricultureresearch. To attack poverty in a decisive manner, it is necessary that agriculture researchactivities for technology development should clearly focus the resource poor farmers and landlesspeople living in marginal areas to remove income disparity among rural communities. Suchtechnologies may be related to the production of fruits and vegetables, processing, grading, andpackaging of agricultural produce, and identification of new niche markets. Agriculture researchcan also help in poverty alleviation by developing innovative ways of linking the poor with marketsand institutions and helping them socially organize to overcome the feeling of powerlessness.Moreover, the research should address the issues of neglected regions on priority basis.2.1.4. Food SecurityThe food security initially implies assured access to the basic food (mainly cereals), which hasbeen expanded to include food quality issues such as access to nutritionally balanced, palatable,and healthy food. The balance diet is becoming an important dimension of food security indeveloping countries like Pakistan where majority of the population, especially women andchildren is micronutrient deficient.Although, agricultural technologies are one of the major factors in ensuring food security of thepoor and the nation as a whole, it is not the only factor. The other parameters of food security areaccess of the people to agriculture resources and markets and policy environment. Therefore, therole of policy and trade has surfaced prominently to ensure especially national food security.However, appropriate agricultural technology can improve productivity, reduce its variability, andenhance diversity of food production – all are important parameter of food security among smallfarmers and landless households. To achieve food security through agricultural technologies,however, the research should focus on the issues of small and landless farmers.2.1.5. Food Quality and SafetyAgriculture research is becoming increasingly important in securing the new dimensions of foodsecurity which include balance, healthy, hygienic, and safe food. In fact, improving consumers’health by supplying balance, healthy, and safe diet has become a major goal of agricultureresearch system in many developing countries. For this, the research system is not onlyspecifying the food quality standards, but also supplying technologies to produce healthy andsafe food such as organic food, and contaminations free food. Moreover, research should placeincreasingly more emphasis on micronutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, and water foods.2.1.6. Diversification and Commercialization of AgricultureThe advantages of agricultural diversification in generating additional income and employment,reducing risk, overcome the challenges of declining profitability and growth in agriculture,shortage of water, and globalization of markets, and enhance productivity of manual workershave been well documented. Therefore, enhancing agricultural diversification should be one ofthe main goals of agriculture research strategy in Pakistan.Increasing demand for high value products, like livestock, horticulture, etc. have encouragedcommercialization in agriculture. While most of the large farmers tend to move towardsspecialization, diversification will happen across regions, as different regions will specialize invarious activities depending upon their own environment. Agriculture technology research shouldfacilitate this phenomenon by providing technologies and market information regarding high valuecrops, processing, etc. while policy research should overcome biases against diversification.2.1.7. Improved CompetitivenessImproved competitiveness implies higher remuneration for the resources engaged in production.Enhanced competitiveness of agriculture sector is also important in view of opening up5

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashrafagricultural market to regional and international competition. It will not only enhance agriculturalexport but also empower farmers to compete against the flood of imported agricultural produce.The competitiveness of agriculture sector depends upon how good its production system meetsthe changing demand of consumers, especially increasingly influential urban consumers. Thisrequires shifting the production system from supply to demand driven. The ability of theproduction system to make this adjustment in turn depend upon how good the research systemexplore the emerging new markers and provide technologies to the farmers to adjust theirproduction according to the demand. For this shift, research system should empower the farmerswith information on price and quality standards of especially new products, technologies toproduce quality products, procedures for efficient transportation and export, etc.Strategies for the improved competitiveness also include encouraging the multiple uses ofagricultural products and value addition activities, such as processing, grading, packaging, etc. Italso requires reducing post-harvest losses and linking farmers with markets. All these diversifyincomes of farmers and landless households, and generate off-farm employment.2.1.8. Improve Research EfficiencyThe research system always has to do more than its resources can permit. The daunting task forthe policy planners is to focus on those issues which have high return with high possibility ofresolution. Moreover, the research system needs to be organized in such a manner that it caneffectively deliver the task to its stakeholders. Therefore, the SC should continuously proposenew structure of research system and identify high pay-off research areas that can enhance notonly its own efficiency but also the efficiency of other components in the dynamic environment.2.2. Micro-Level OutputsThis section elaborates the types of activities (or micro-level outputs) agricultural research systemshould undertake to deliver the above system-level outputs. Our emphasis is more on activitiesrelated to the SC at the federal level. In case an activity is a continuum on the spectrum ofresearch system, we also specify the responsibilities of each SC and AC.2.2.1. Crop, Tree and Animal GermplasmThe advanced germplasm of crops, trees, and animals is the key for the success of an agricultureresearch system. The SC has comparative advantage in collecting, characterization, anddistribution of germplasm within Pakistan. Its links with other germplasm collection centers, like ofCGIAR and advanced agriculture laboratories, enable SC to exchange germplasm.The gene banks at NARC need to substantially improve its role in varietal development in thecountry by enhancing the germplasm collection activities, especially in fruits and vegetables,improving the documentation and characterizing of the collected materials on scientific lines, andactively exchanging collected material with AC in the provinces and the private sector. Thecharacterization of the collected germplasm should be made available on the internet for the freeand easy access. The staff of the gene bank should be trained for scientific documentation andcharacterization of germplasm.2.2.2. Gene Identification and IncorporationBiotechnology is increasingly becoming a major tool in manipulating the potential of crops andanimals. To achieve this potential, developing genes for improved crop and animal traits orobtaining such genes from ICs, advanced laboratories and private sector should be a high priorityof Pakistan’s research system. Before embarking on such endeavor, however, it is necessary toprioritize the commodity traits for which gene should be developed or purchased.Because of the sophistication and international links involved, the gene identification researchshould be done at the SC level. Developing methodologies for gene identification and itsincorporation, and development of protocols for testing of GMO’s is also the responsibility of SC.However, actual incorporation of gene into traditional breeding lines should be left on the AC.6

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashraf2.2.3. Elite Materials and Finished LinesThe traditional breeding does have a role in agriculture research system in screening germplasmand developing lines for selective quality traits (especially for nutrition density), disease andinsect resistance, salt tolerance, and drought resistance. These lines should also provide pyramidresistance against multiple viruses and incorporating multiple quality traits into single line. Themolecular marker can assist the breeders in this job.However, the SC should focus on developing a large number of elite lines, while the developmentof finished crop varieties and animal breeds for different eco-regions should be left on ACbecause performance of these varieties is environment specific. In fact, the development ofanimal breeds should ultimately be transferred to the private component, although initially it canbe undertaken by AC in the public sector.2.2.4. Hybrid DevelopmentThe development of hybrids makes it possible to personalize the gain in breeding, which isimportant to commercialize such breeding advances by the private sector. The hybrid seeds inmany crops have produced significantly higher per ha yield compared to open pollinated seed.Moreover, the technology has freed the seed business from the public sector seed parastatals andenhanced the involvement of the private sector. This has improved the access of farmers onbreeding gains, and gave boost to agriculture production.The imported hybrid seeds are usually expensive and out of reach of small farmer. Therefore,development of hybrids in commercial crops, such as oilseed, cotton, maize, and fruits andvegetables, should be the priority of Pakistan agriculture research system. However, the privatesector has the comparative advantage to produce hybrids and reach to a large number of farmers.Therefore, the public sector should provide competitive environment to the private sector inproducing hybrids. The SC in the public sector should select the parental lines, while the massproduction and distribution of hybrid lines can be left on the private sector. In certain crops,however, it is not profitable for the private sector to develop hybrid lines due to open pollinatednature of the crops. In this case, the SC and AC in the public sector should collaborate indeveloping the open pollinated lines.2.2.5. Improved Management PracticesThe research on improved crop and animal management practices is important to enhance thesustainability of agricultural production system, reduce per unit output costs and save resources,and mitigate the environmental and health consequences of agriculture production. The majorproblem of management research in Pakistan is lack of its focus and repetition not only acrosscomponents but also institutes within a component and overtime. Therefore, the priority issuesneed to be carefully identified at production system level to focus the management research onhigh priority areas. The researchers should stop testing the traditional management practicesrepeatedly, and move towards developing high tech crop and animal practices.The division of responsibilities in management research across various components is blurredand in fact most difficult. According to our set-criterion, the SC should develop synopsis ofimproved management technologies for major cereals and horticulture crops and animal breeds.When such synopses are ready, NARC scientists should involve AC to generate information inthe eco-specific context. Taking up this information, SC scientists should develop computerbasedusers’ friendly models where optimum levels of a practice can be predicted for differentcrops to achieve various objectives of the farmer working under varying socioeconomicenvironment. The models can also see the cost and benefit of continuing farmers’ as compared tothe recommended practices by using farm-specific prices. Once such model is developed, SCscientists may involve AC scientists in validating the model.The best example of SC and AC collaboration is zero-tillage technology, the principal of whichwas developed at SC, but Punjab scientists did its validation, adaptation, and farm-levelpromotion. The same can be done in developing principals and decision-making tools for weed,soil, and water management and salinity control.7

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashraf2.2.6. Development of Vaccines, Bio-fertilizers, and Bio-pesticidesNew vaccines are needed to overcome new emerging diseases in animals. Similarly, newchemicals, bio-fertilizer and bio-pesticides will be needed to enhance productivity, keep quality ofthe produce, and protect the environment. Before starting research on these materials, however,international markets should be properly explored, as many other national and internationalcenters are extensively working on these materials. Therefore, a strong collaboration with othernational and international research programs will significantly reduce the workload in this area.Once the formulas for these materials are established or obtained by SC, the provincial researchshould be involved in their testing and evaluation. None of the public component should involve inthe production and distribution of these materials as this is the job of the private sector. Thepublic sector should also not involve in the evaluation of chemicals of a particular company asthis generates anomalies of unfair support of certain manufacturers at the cost of others.2.2.7. Developing and Improving Agricultural MachinesThe war between muscle and machine is as old as human being. In agriculture, machines canremove the drudgery of muscles, and bring timeliness in operations which can enhanceproductivity and induce growth. However, the demand for machines is driven by economic forcessuch as wage rate and land size, and private sector usually respond these forces by developingnew machine demanded. Therefore, public sector research funds should be carefully allocated onagricultural machinery research. It is justified only to facilitate the private sector for theidentification of machinery demand by the socioeconomists, and removing constraints inmachinery development by providing sketches of high demanded by agricultural engineers bothworking in SC of the research system. Using these models the AC researchers should developand test the machines under their own socioeconomic environments.2.2.8. Animal and Crop Disease Diagnosis TechniquesNew animal and crop diseases and viruses are continuously emerging in agriculture production.Such diseases and viruses sometimes cause havoc by inflicting losses to the tune of billion ofrupees, and putting the livelihood of small farmers at risk. To keep the agriculture production freefrom such shocks, the research system should diagnose these viruses before their epidemicspread and develop low-cost user-friendly treatment methods. The responsibility of SC is todevelop diagnosis and treatment tools, while actual diagnose should be left on the AC or incertain cases on the private sector where these methods can be commercialized.2.2.9. Innovative Methods of Food Processing and PreservationThe agriculture research system as a whole should expand its sphere from farm-level to foodprocessing, preservation, and other value addition activities. This can improve thecompetitiveness of the agriculture sector in the domestic as well as in international market,generate employment, and eradicate poverty in rural areas. Again SC should develop the broaderprinciples of processing and preservation while AC should apply these principles to develop postharvesttechnologies. The SC should also develop new methods of food cooking that canmaximize its nutrient bioavailability to help population to overcome micronutrient deficiency. TheAC should use these methods to design nutrient-rich dishes that fit to their own cultures.2.2.10. Modalities for Quality ControlResearch has to devise the modalities for checking the quality of agricultural inputs and outputs,which should be the responsibility of strategic component. However, the component should notinvolve itself in checking the quality of inputs and outputs. The agricultural policy shouldencourage the private sector to involve in the certification mechanism using the modalitiesdevised by SC researchers. Moreover, the SC research should provide information to the farmerson the food quality and safety demands in different national and international markets of variousregions and countries. The AC should implement the input quality standards devised by SC andinform the farmers to use these standards for the evaluation of various inputs. The AC shouldalso help in linking farmers with food certification mechanisms.8

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashraf2.2.11. Information and Technologies on Emerging Niche MarketsThe competitiveness and success of modern agriculture depends on who grab the emergingniche markets and whose research system is able to provide information and technologies to firstadjust its production system to supply to these markets. Therefore, identification of emergingmarkets and providing technologies to help farmer adjusting their production systems to meet thedemands of these markets has become an important task of agriculture research system.Because of its international linkage, SC should provide market information (such as price, quality,compatibility, etc.), and technical solutions (such as how to produce, store, transport, and market)on emerging opportunities. The AC component in the public and private sector can take up theinformation and solutions and help farmers’ to adjust these in their own site-specific context.2.2.12. Extension MethodologiesThe extension system of the country has done a good job in promoting Green Revolutiontechnologies in cereals. However, to promote knowledge-based management practices anddecision-making, different extension strategies are required. The agriculture research system hasthe responsibility to develop, refine and fine-tune new extension approaches to enhance thespeed and cost of innovation spread in agriculture. The SC can work with farmers on selectivesites in developing and adapting extension methodologies. However, up scaling and fine tuning ofthese methodologies should be left on the AC of the research continuum.2.2.13. Impact Assessment and PrioritizationImpact assessment and research prioritization is a continuous process of interacting with itsstakeholders. It improves the research efficiency by redirecting the whole research systemtowards high payoff emerging issues in the agriculture sector. The analysis of research impactwill highlight the appropriateness and effectiveness of the whole research system. The SC shoulddevelop new approaches to study the impact and prioritization of agriculture research system.2.2.14. Training on Scientific MethodologiesAs SC will be involved in upstream research, its scientists will develop new scientific tools andmethodologies in research. These methodologies and scientific tools are public goods, and needto be transferred to AC. Therefore, it is the responsibility of SC to enhance the research capacityof the AC researchers through training that enables them to use these methodologies and tools.2.2.15. Publication in Impact JournalsThe publication in the refereed quality journal, judged by its impact factor, is one of the proofs thatthe materials, methodologies, or processes developed by the researchers are innovative andapplicable, therefore, is a major output at individual scientist level. The SC should not onlyencourage its scientists but also AC researchers to produce at least one publication every year.2.2.16. Holding and Participation in Professional MeetingsTo improve research efficiency, it is important that both SC and AC participate in professionalmeetings. The specific role of SC in this regard is to develop interaction with professionalsocieties to the extent that they agree to hold their scientific meeting in the country. The SCshould also facilitate the AC researcher to participate in these meetings.2.3. Summarizing NoteIn this section we discussed the strategy of Pakistan agriculture research system in terms ofoutput at the micro level, and activities of the scientists at macro-level to achieve the macro-leveloutputs. We suggested using modern tools in scientific research, expand the sphere of agricultureresearch to off-farm income opportunities, and continuously engage in research activities that canimprove the efficiency of research system. For each micro-level activity, we clearly specified therole of SC and AC, and the public and private sector research as summarized in Figure 2.9

Mubarik Ali and Mohammed Ashraf•• Enhanced productivity and sustainability• Reduced poverty• Improved food and nutritional security• Reduce income disparities among region and communities• Improved competitiveness of agriculture sector• Improved agriculture diversification and commercializationSystem’s OutputExtension• High yielding and quality OP lines for small farmers• Supply of basic seed of advanced OP lines• Hybrids of crops where private sector is not strong• Evaluation of improved crop and animal management technologies(soil, water, weed, salinity, animal feeding, etc)• Vaccines where private sector is not effective• Diagnose animal diseases• Demonstrate GAP, HACCP, etc. to farmers• Test food quality and safetyProvincial Public Research• Punjab (agriculture, livestock, forestry and fisheries, food, and irrigationdepartments)• Sindh• NWFP• BalOchistan• Hybrids for high yielding and quality fruits and vegetables• Quality output using GAP and HACCP procedures.• Quality chemicals, machines, etc. using guidelines set up by federalcomponent• Vaccines and treatment of animal diseasesFinished products (Individual)Private and NGO Research System• Research NGO’s• Seed Companies• Sugar, cotton, rice, and oil processing industries• Livestock product industries (milk, meat, cheese, etc.)• Horticulture processing (juice, product packaging, etc.)Inputs for AC of the Research SystemImpactEvaluation• Crop, tree and animal germplasm• Elite but not finished lines• Gene identification and methodologies for gene incorporation• Methodologies for hybrid development• Improved farm management methodologies (soil nutrient, water, weed, salinity,animal feeding, etc.)• Animal and crop disease diagnosis techniques• Formulas for various vaccines• Modalities for quality control of chemicals, machines, and crop and animaloutputs• Technical and market information on emerging opportunities• Technology evaluation and extension methodologies• Impact assessment and priority setting• Training of provincial researchers and private sector on methodologiesRaw material for provincial and private sector researchSC of the Research System• Pakistan Agriculture Research Council• Pakistan Central Cotton Committee• Atomic Energy Commission• Center of Excellence in Water Resources• Pakistan Council for Research in Water• International Water & Salinity Research Institute• Soil survey of PakistanGermplasm,elite lines,methodologies,trainingInternational centresIRRI, CIMMYT, AVRDC, ICARDA,ICRISAT, IFPRI, IWMI, IITA, CIP, ILRI,ICRAF, etc.Figure 2. Division of responsibilities between various components of agriculture research system in Pakistan10

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research3. RESEARCH PRIORITIZATIONIn this section, we first look into the budget allocation across sub-sectors of agriculture and across region,and see if it conforms to the emerging opportunities in the agriculture sector and to the system-leveloutputs. Then we summarized our activity-by-activity analysis for each institute in NARC in line with ourtheoretical framework.3.1. Budget Allocation by Sector and CropThe SC made disproportionately high expenditures on crops compared to the livestock sector despitetheir contribution in GDP was almost equal (Table 2). The livestock sector received only 9% researchresource allocation while its contribution in the GDP was 47%. On the other hand, 87% of PARC researchresources were allocated to the crop sector, while its contribution in GDP was 50%. Within the cropsector, cereals received disproportionately high resources.Other important parameters used in evaluating the research resource allocation were potential for povertyreduction, employment generation, contribution to environment and sustainability, future expansion. Thelivestock sector has high potential in contributing positively in all these parameters, except its low or evennegative contribution to the environment and resource sustainability. On the other hand, the impact of thecrop sector on all the parameters ranged from low to high depending upon the crop chosen. Therefore,the relative share of the livestock sector in research investment should be increased overtime. Theexpansion in the forestry is warranted based on its’ contribute in preserving environment especially infragile upland areas.Table 2. Potential contribution of agriculture sub-sector in growth and sustainability parametersSector/crop groupResearchallocation 1Contribution inGDPPotential forpovertyPotential togenerateContribution toenvironment &Potential ofexpansion 2(%) (%) reduction 1 employment 2 sustainability 2Livestock 8.93 47.0 High High Low HighForestry & fisheries 4.50 3.0 Low Low High LowCrop 86.57 50.0 Low-high Low-high Low-high Low-highCereals 46.80 43.3 Low Low Low LowFruits & vegetables 11.78 14.6 High High Low HighCommercial crops 23.26 29.3 Medium High Low HighOrnamental 1.81 * High High Medium HighPulses 3.42 2.9 Low Medium High HighMinor crops 12.93 9.8 Low Low High Low1We highly acknowledge the IFPRI team with gratitude for allowing us to use this survey data.2These potentials are related to additional research investments made on the sector.In the crop sector, a major adjustment in resource allocation will be required. The expansion in fruit,vegetable, and ornamental crops can substantially contribute in poverty reduction, employmentgeneration. Therefore, the relative share of investment on these crops should be substantially enhanced,with proper guard of its impact on the environment. Initially, the emphasis should be to improveproductivity of major crops such as citrus, mango, banana, chili, onion, tomato, etc. But the researchsystem should continuously adjust its focus depending upon the emerging demands. High priority shouldbe given to improve the quality of these products. The investment on pulses should be improved on theground of their contribution in sustaining resources and potential of their expansion. Short-duration pulsessuch as mungbean can be introduced in between major crops without replacing any of these.3.2. Budget Allocation by RegionThe relative poverty index was highest in the cotton-wheat and low intensity cropping regions in NorthernSindh and Southern Punjab (Table 3). Skewed land distribution, lack of alternative income opportunities,injudicious chemical use with high environment and health costs in cotton-wheat region, low fertility of11

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Researchland in low-intensity region explain this poverty concentration. On the other hand, poverty index isrelatively low in the barani region and Baluchistan because of diversified income sources, as off-farmincome contributes a significant portion of family income in these regions. This analysis suggests thatresearch to enhance income diversification can play a significant role in poverty alleviation. Currently nomechanism exists to give priority to the regions of poverty concentration or its issues.Table 3. Poverty head count and change in the incidence of poverty by agro climatic zones, 2001-02Agro-climatic zones Relative poverty index 1 Agro-climatic zone Relative poverty index 1Cotton/Wheat Sindh 220 Rural Pakistan 188Cotton/Wheat Punjab 218 NWFP 184Low Intensity Punjab 209 Rice/Wheat Punjab 152Rice/Other Sindh 208 Balochistan 151Mixed Punjab 188 Barani Punjab 100Source: Estimated from Sohail (2005) by equating the highest poverty rate region to 100.3.3. Analysis of SC Research ActivitiesThe activities of each institute of NARC were evaluated against our framework elaborated in section 1and 2. Our major emphasis was to identify the repetition of activities and see if these meet the researchobjective of SC. We also analyzed each research activity with the lenses of modern science, andsuggested to delete obsolete in lieu of high science activities. This analysis suggested that severalduplications sometimes even within an institute (e.g., identification of resistance sources in CSI, IPEP,IABGR; resource conservation technologies across many institutes, etc.). In many cases, the NARCcomponent has stepped on AC activities creating duplication with provinces and the private sector,especially in developing animal breeds, crop varieties, and management technologies. On the other hand,activities related to upstream research need to be boosted especially in the fields of biotechnology,agricultural economics, and animal sciences. Research focuses of many programs are not clear that needto be sharpened and deepened (Refer to Annexure I for the detailed activity by activity analyses).NARC cannot do everything. It should focus only where it has the comparative advantage, i.e., upstreamstrategic research, and leave the adaptive-type research on to the AC of the research system in provincialresearch institutes and private sector. Following activities need to be strengthened at SC:1. Collection, documentation, characterization, and distribution of germplasm on scientific lines. Thedocumentation with appropriate characterization should be made available on the Internet.2. Screening of germplasm for various traits,3. Procedures for molecular assisted breeding and tissue culture systems,4. Hybrid development methods,5. Identification of gene for specific quality and nutrient traits,6. Gene incorporation methodologies.7. Regulating procedures for testing of transgenic plants to assure safety.8. Decision making tools and synopsis of innovative crop management technologies such asnutrient management procedures in soils, weed control systems, pesticide and fertilizerapplication methods, low tillage approaches, water application methods, pest management tools,animal feeding systems, etc.9. Develop standards that can be used to monitor the quality of chemicals and fertilizers.10. Develop protocols for GAP, HCCP, etc. especially for horticulture and livestock products.11. Internationally accepted certification system for quality food production.12. Develop the synopsis of low cost drip irrigation system.13. Develop synopses and machinery designs to reduce production cost only in critical operationwhere lack of machine hinders overall agricultural development;.12

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research14. Develop and adapt new extension methodologies.15. Collect and disseminate information (price, quality standards, and technologies) in emergingniche markets abroad.16. Develop crop forecasting models using advance GIS tools.17. Identification of agriculture business activities (such as processing, grading, packaging,advertising, financing etc.) and train rural households to successfully conduct these activities.18. Identify constraints in the promotion of agricultural business activities, and develop agriculturalbusiness policies and rules that can promote off-farm activities in rural areas.19. Impact evaluation of agricultural technologies especially designed by the SC component.20. Training of AC scientists for methodologies and analysis tools.The SC should not do the followings:8. Developing final varieties using elite lines, identified gene, gene marker, and tissue culture.9. Testing nutrient management procedure, weed control systems, pesticide and fertilizerapplication methods, zero-tillage, animal feeding, etc.10. Testing various pesticide, herbicide, or chemical materials developed by the private sector.11. Direct dissemination of its technologies to the farmers.12. Up scaling of extension methodologies which should be left on to the NGOs, private sector, orprovincial extension departments.13. Developing, testing, evaluating, and distribution of agricultural machines, chemicals, biopesticides,bio-fertilizers, feeds, etc.14. Macro policy research, collection of macro-data (although SC can compile such data), andprediction of demand for commodities.4. REFORMING THE SC OF AGRICULTURE RESEARCH SYSTEMThis section critically analyzes the current structure of PARC and NARC. We critically look into itsorganizational structure, human resources, other infrastructure, and research prioritization mechanism.The analysis helped us to highlight the pros and cons of the system, which will be the basis of oursuggestion for alternative structure in the later part of the section.4.1 Existing StructureThe PARC structure is composed of PARC Headquarter, National Agriculture Research Center (NARC),and Regional Centers. PARC is an apex body for agricultural research at SC-level, and NARC is itslargest institution for conducting research. The latter was established to support the provincial system byconducting the upstream research and provide raw materials and inputs that can be used in the provincialsystem to produce the finished products. In particular, research requiring sophisticated instruments likeelectron microscopes, ultracentrifuges, and elaborate analytical and quality testing facilities is undertakenat NARC, supported by highly qualified and trained manpower. The adaptation of technologies availablefrom the international research systems is also managed by NARC. The location of NARC at Islamabadfacilitates liaison with international and national scientists.The NARC is organized into 12 institutes each having its own research agenda (for the detail ofinstitutions, see Khan at al, 2002). Most of these institutes, except few such as social sciences, aremultidisciplinary. But in fact, each institute has concentration of one or two disciplines, while others are inminority and largely ineffective. Thus, each institute has become a box for certain discipline with little orno cooperation across the institutes.The PARC has established various regional centers at strategic locations to fill the gap of AC in certainareas or in certain case gap of the SC. See more details of these regional centers in Chapter 6.13

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research4.2 Current ManpowerPARC has the total professional strength of 470 staff. Among them 344 are stationed at NARC while 126are in the regional center. Out of the total staff, less than 10% (32 in number) are in the animal science,while over 90% are working on issues related to crops. The highest professional staff is of breeders andgeneticists (58) and agronomists (61), followed by entomologists (44), soil scientists (42), economists(33), and biological scientists (37). During 2006, only 9 food science technologists and 7 biotechnologistswere working in PARC (Table 3). Nobody had degree in agriculture trade and agriculture business. Thedetail of professional staff disaggregated by program and region is given in Annexure II.4.3 Research Prioritization MechanismIn NARC, every scientist presents his/her plan in the annual meeting of Technical Working Groups(TWGs) of each institute/program. The plan is discussed and revised in the meeting and sent to ResearchPlanning and Monitoring Cell of NARC who forward it to the relevant Technical Committee at PARC. Afterreview, they sent it back to the institute/program for appropriate revision. After receiving the revision, theplan is sent to Research Committee of PARC which provides a rubber stamp on the program. However,TWGs have not functioned for the last 7 years, implying that the institute head or program leader collectsthe work plan of each scientist and send it directly to the Technical Committee of PARC.4.4 Pros and Cons of the Existing System1. The PARC structure is comprehensive with a complete and dedicated team of professionals.2. The individual-group level outputs are constrained due to lack of operational funds, access tomodern literature, Internet, and in certain cases equipments.3. Duplication of research is wide spread, as a common forum to point out and stop theseduplications does not exist.4. The research is mainly supply-driven, because scientists decide their research agenda.5. No immediate incentive is attached with performance in research, and to improve scientists’professional capacity.6. No incentive is attached to improve scientists’ professional capacity.7. Policy makers cannot make adjustment in research investment to enhance or reduce certainsystem-level outputs as activities are not related to outputs.4.5 Restructuring the SC Component – The Theme ApproachEarly this year, a serious attempt was made to reorganize NARC research activities by organizing thosefunded by development-budget under themes. The twenty-two themes (we will call them projects) wereaggregated into four themes as follows: 34.5.1. Themes4.5.1.1. Plant Sciences. 1. Genetic improvement of crops through the application of biotechnology andmolecular marker.1. Epidemiology, diagnosis and control of emerging and re-emerging infections and pests of crops.2. Diversification of agriculture emphasizing horticulture, for improved farm profitability (farmingsystem approach) return/farm/year.3. Integrated pest management models for cotton-wheat, rice-wheat, horticulture systems and theirfield implementation, scaling out and scaling up strategies.3 There is some confusion on themes, sub-themes, and activities in the PC1 document. While the Chairman of PARC insisted ofhaving 4 themes, the document reports 22 themes, and in the discussion these themes are referred as projects. In the followingdiscussion, we will call 4 major themes, 22 projects, and several activities under each project.14

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research4. Fate of Pesticides and other pollutants in food chain and Environment and Impact of Pesticides onhuman, animal health and environment5. Reduce post-harvest losses and improve product quality in field crops through improvement ofequipment, facilities and methods to make them more efficient and less costly.7. Farm machinery research focus on developing and improving machinery for planting, harvesting,grading and processing.4.5.1.2. Natural Resources. 1. Soil Management for improving crop productivity and environment2. Improving water productivity under irrigated and rain-fed production system3. Realization of improved rangeland productivity4. Apiculture for quality honey production and increased crop productivity4.5.1.3. Animal Sciences. 1. Genetic improvement and reproduction of animals2. Epidemiology, diagnosis and control of emerging and re-emerging infections of animals3. Improving feed resources and technologies4. Genetic improvement of carps/trout and breeding of catfish.4.5.1.4. Social Sciences. 1. Agricultural production and value chains2. Agricultural growth and poverty3. Agricultural diversification4. Agricultural policy analysis5. Globalization, trade and marketing6. Technology transfer and Impact assessment7. Knowledge management and sharing.4.5.2. Implementation of the Theme ApproachA high-level Program Steering Committee (PSC) has been constituted for overall review and coordinationof research program and decisions on emerging strategic national research issues. The PSC shallprovide overall policy guidance and approve annual research plans, conduct periodic review of programimplementation, and resolve/decide policy and financial issues emerging during program implementation.Within the overall approved program scope and cost, the PSC shall be authorized to carry out, if requiredin project interest, restructuring of program objectives/activities, reallocation of funds between differentprogram components and other essential changes without fresh reference to initial approving authority.There shall be a Project Approval and Supervising Committee (PASC). The PASC shall be responsiblefor overall supervision of the program implementation, approval of research projects under the majorthemes/areas of research included in the annual research plan, review of program implementation andestablishment of technical, experts and other committees required for the program execution.4.5.3. Pros and Cons of Theme ApproachThe suggested theme approach has following advantages:1. It groups scientists into four themes around current four technical divisions.2. The structure is able to remove several duplications.3. We noticed a significant transformation in traditional breeding program towards biotechnologybasedprograms, although serious shortage of biotechnologists may hinder this ambition.4. We also observed inclusion of post-harvest and off-farm activities.5. Certain incentives are provided to those involved in projects, although these are only for theproject manager, and are fixed irrespective of the size of the activities handled by the scientist.6. Some, but not all, projects promise system-level outputs, such as reduction in post-harvestlosses, improved rangeland productivity, diversification of agriculture, etc.15

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchHaving said this, however, we observed following problems in the structure:1. System-Level Output are not Clear. All the four themes are discipline or institute oriented, andsystem-level outputs are not clear. The Crop Science theme, for example, may give any of thesector level outputs, such as enhanced productivity, improved sustainability, reduced poverty,and enhanced diversification. The theme may represent any eco-region. If government wants toincrease investment, say on poverty alleviation, the suggested themes do not guide her exactly.2. Most of the Projects Outputs are Micro-level. Although some projects are geared towardssystem-level outputs, the majority of them remain focused on the micro-level outputs such asimprovement in genetic potentials, control of emerging infections, soil improvement, etc. In fact,all these projects under different themes contribute towards one system-level output and can bemerged into one theme, “Improved Crop Productivity”.3. No mechanism is Suggested for Research Prioritization. While PASC is authorized toapprove projects under various themes and PSC is authorized for restructuring of programs, it isnot clear on what grounds these projects will be selected or who will decide the research priority.4. Scattered Professional from the Peer Groups. The scientists of various professions remainedscattered across institutes, and their professional expertise are unchallenged. This hinders theprofessional growth that comes along by grouping all the peers in the same department. 45. May or May not Remove Duplication. We are not sure if the theme approach will completely orpartially replace the existing research activities. In case of partial replacements, duplications willremain, as scientists will continue doing what is not funded under the development fundsreceived for theme implementation.6. Many Important Activities are Missed. Many important activities have been ignored (such asgermplasm collection and characterization, improvement of pulses productivity, etc.).7. Hierarchical Control Remains. Clearly the implementation of the whole program isadministratively heavy handed with PSC and PASC. While the Project Managers and ThemeLeaders are responsible for delivering all the outputs, they have no financial and administrativepowers. The release of funds and approval of changes in the project structure, if necessary, willrequire a long bureaucratic and hierarchical process which has been disgusting the scientists toget involved in any such project in the past.8. Prepared in Hurry. We took suggested activities of PC1 (listed in Tables on page 45 to 67 of thedocument), and linked them with outputs (listed in Annexure III) [See Annexure III of thisdocument for the details of our comments on each activity and output]. In almost each theme, wefound several inconsistencies; many outputs were suggested without linking them with anyactivity and many activities did not have any outputs. In this situation, monitoring the progress ofPC1 program will be almost impossible.4.6 Restructuring the SC Component - The Matrix ApproachTo overcome the shortcomings and inject accountability in the system we recommend the matrixapproach. It first gathers all the professional staff into their respective departments and then put anotherlayers of themes on departments (Table 4). The theme represents a unique or few system level outputs,while departments are center of professional excellence. To achieve the sector level output, severalmultidisciplinary projects are initiated each supported by many scientist(s) from various departmentsdepending upon the activity in the project. Micro-level outputs related to every discipline are continued tobe strived by every scientist, but the Project Manager and Theme Leader are responsible to deliver thesystem-level outputs and watch if the micro-level output contributes to the system outputs. In this way,micro-level outputs remain in line with the system-level outputs.4 This result became clear when we analyzed the outputs of economists in commodity coordination programs withthose stationed in the peer group departments or institutes.16

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchAlthough, purpose of the whole theme group is to achieve system-level output, but professionalexcellence is not ignored in this effort. The scientists for each activity in a project are coming fromprofessional departments. The professional quality of their outputs are checked and evaluated by theirpeers in the department as well as by the Department Head. The interaction with peers in the departmentas well as visiting scientists from other institutes, university departments, and centers of excellence fromwithin the country and abroad helps to maintain the professional quality of research output. Theaccumulated professional literature in the department also facilitates to produce the quality output.Table 4. Matrix approach to efficiently utilize the agricultural research resourcesThemes/Departments Theme 1 Theme 2 Theme 3 Theme 4 Theme 5Department 1 X X XDepartment 2 X X XDepartment 3 X X XDepartment 4 X X XDepartment 5 X X X4.6.1. Basic Structure of Matrix4.6.1.1. Departments: To overcome the problem of ineffectiveness of dispersed professional staff, thematrix approach first groups all professional staff under their respective departments. In fact, this is not anew suggestion for PARC. Khan et al. (2003) also proposed to organize NARC on department rather thaninstitute basis. We simply reinforce their suggestion of dissolving all institutes, and transfer theprofessional staff under respective departments. The suggested departments and their current strength(collected from all institutes), parent departments and extent of reallocation are shown in Table 5.Table 5. Proposed research departments, strength, mother institute, and reshufflingDepartment NameCurrent Mother Staff StaffStrength Institute transferred out transferred in1. Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology 53 IABGR 15 442. Agronomy and Agriculture Meteorology 43 CSI 64 153. Entomology (including one 10 out of 21 biologists) 42 IPEP 5 314. Social Sciences and Biometrics (including AERU) 30 SSI 0 05. Soil Science 28 INRES 22 116. Food Sciences (including Chemistry, Biochemistry and23 CSI or ASIDairy Technology)0 237. Irrigation Management 22 WRRI 4 08. Plant Pathology (including one 11 out of 21 biologists) 32 IPEP 0 169. Animal Nutrition, health, and Livestock Management 19 ASI 3 010. Horticulture Sciences 13 HRI 7 411. Farm Mechanization 14 FMI 0 012. Animal Breeding and Reproduction 11 ASI 0 013. Agriculture Informatics and Knowledge Management9 TTI(including TTI’s)0 014. Plant Genetic Resources 8 IABGR 8 015. Aquaculture and Fisheries 6 ASI 0 0Total 1 353 144 144We suggest shifting the Range management staff to Range, Forestry and Medicinal Herbs Program of AZRCThe total number of staff here does not match with that reported in Annexture II, because we included Regional TTI’s staff (including AERU)here, while excluded the Rang Management Staff here.17

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchFollowing reorganization will be required.1. IABGR will be converted two department:a. Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology, andb. Plant Genetic Resources;2. The CSI will be converted into Agronomy and Agriculture Meteorology.3. IPEP will be converted into two departments:a. Entomology, andb. Plant Pathology.4. INRES will be converted into Soil Science department.5. The scientists related to Range management should be shifted to Range, Forestry and MedicinalHerbs Program of AZRC6. Food Sciences Department will be completely a new department which will consists of Chemist,Biochemist and Dairy Technologists, and will collect its staff from spread in various institute.7. The ASI will be converted into three departments:a. Animal Nutrition, health, and Livestock Management,b. Animal Breeding and Reproduction, andc. Aquaculture and Fisheries.8. The departments of Social Sciences, WRRI, Farm Mechanization and Agriculture Informatics andknowledge Management will simply require converting “institute” into “departments” without anyshift in staff. The Water Research and Farm Mechanization Departments should ultimately bemerged into one as both contain engineers.Generating departments from institute will require 40% of the total staff (144 out of 353) to be relocated(Table 5). It looks a big reshuffling, and indicates the extent of the problem of staff dispersed from theirparental departments. But only three disciplines will face major reshuffling:• Agronomy and Agriculture Meteorology because CSI has gathered so many breeders, soilscientists, entomologists, and pathologists in it.• Plant Breeding, Genetics & Biotechnology department because IABGR has very low staffing, andmost breeders are located in CSI.• IPEP because of most entomologists are located into Coordinated Programs.All these reshuffling will be required in any case even if we do not change the institute structure intodepartments because of dismantling the present Coordination Programs (See Chapter 6).4.6.1.2. Themes: A theme is defined as development goal or system-level outputs. Each theme focusesto resolve one or few development issues, although it may have some contribution towards other systemleveloutputs as well. Themes are differentiated from professional departments as the former strives atmaximizing the macro-level outputs, while the later at micro-level outputs. For example, the output ofBreeding and Plant Genetics Department is measured in terms of improvements in genetic resources,while the theme on Productivity strives to maximize the crop or system level productivity by synergisticallycombining the outputs of different departments.Under each theme, various multi-disciplinary projects are initiated. Each project contains severalprofession-specific activities handled by professional from different departments. Although the output ofeach activity is measured in professional terms, project and theme management ensures that itcontributes towards theme goals which are system-level outputs. By floating several projects eachinvolving several professional departments, the theme gathers necessary professional resources indelivering the system-level outputs. The project and theme management also ensures that the outputs ofdifferent activities in various projects do not nullify each other. The interaction among project members inplanning and evaluation meetings also ensures this. In this way, organizing research under themesensures that the micro-level outputs are geared towards system-level output(s).18

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchWe suggest that all PARC research should be organized under projects and these projects to be groupedunder themes each of which represents certain system-level outputs. Initially the themes suggested in thePC1 documents can be superimposed on 15 above departments. However, in this case, theresponsibilities of Theme Leader and Department Head will overlap, as Themes suggested in PC1 areprofessional-based.4.6.2. Suggested ThemesTo provide issue-based themes and overcome other problems listed in PC1 Document (See Annexure IIIfor details and section 4.5.3 for summary), we would like to suggest the following five themes and 4-6projects under each theme. These mega projects can be further divided into 2-3 sub-projects dependingupon the difference in system-outputs that each project will deliver.A. Enhancing Productivity and Sustainability of Farming SystemsMain goals: To enhance total factor productivity and sustainability of various production systems in thecountry with emphasis on those system where large number of poor lives.This theme can have following six multi-disciplinary projects, each focus to achieve the theme goals atthe eco-regional level.• Rice-wheat• Wheat-cotton• Mixed cropping• Low intensity eco-region• Rainfed Medium Land and Mountainous System• Peri-urbanB. Improving Resource Conservation in AgricultureMain goals: To conserve natural resources (land, water, range, pasture) and environment by improvingresource use efficiency in the long and medium terms.Here four projects can be initiated each is striving for the theme goals at individual resource level:• Improving sustainability of soils• Reducing Environmental Impacts of Agriculture• Enhancing Water Use Efficiency• Range Management for Long-Term SustainabilityC. Promoting Agriculture Diversification and CommercializationMain goals: To eradicate poverty by increasing small farmers’ incomes and employment and nutritionalsecurity through improving production and marketing efficiency of high value crops.We suggest following projects under the theme.• Expansion in the Cultivation of horticulture and medicinal plants• Improvement in the productivity of pulses and minor crops• Improvement in the productivity of commercial crops (sugarcane and oilseed)• Improving the profitability of livestock production• Mechanization of agricultural production activities for diversification and commercializationD. Improved Agriculture Competitiveness through Developing Value ChainMain goals: To enhance agriculture competitiveness and vertical diversification of rural incomes bypromoting agricultural processing, reducing post-harvest losses, and promoting efficientmarketing..19

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchThis theme may have following projects:• Overcoming major constraints at the production, market, consumption, and trade levels in majorhorticulture products.• Reducing Post-harvest losses• Taping the new emerging markets• Linking small farmers with efficient market systemE. Cross-Cutting IssuesMain goals: To take research across themes to enhance research efficiency.Following projects can fall under this theme.• Research prioritization with emphasis on bringing emerging issues• Monitoring, evaluation, and impact• Gender, WTO, and poverty issues• Development of new research approaches/methodologies• Maintenance/service ResearchWe took all the activities suggested in PC1 and grouped them (only if we agree with the activity to beundertaken by PARC) under above projects (see Annexure IV for details). We have also suggested someadditional activities under each project, which we thought were important but missed in the PC1document. However, we would like to emphasize that all the suggested projects and activities under thetheme are tentative and can be changed as new researchable issues emerge. Moreover, not all theprojects and activities in the project need not to be started at the same time. Sometime, the sequence ofthe activities in a project is important, especially when the output of one activity becomes an input for theother. Therefore, keeping in mind this sequence, the Theme Leader should develop a rolling plan.4.6.3. Implementation of the Matrix Approach• The total development resources available to PARC should be allocated to different themes according tothe importance of the theme outputs in solving agriculture sector’s problems and priorities of the MTDP.• Each theme will be headed by Theme Leader (TL) appointed by DDG of NARC (See TOR for DDG inAnnexure V). The TL will call for proposals on projects listed above or the new projects necessary todeliver the main system-level outputs of the theme. S(he) will have control on Theme resources andallocate these to various projects based on the importance of project outputs in achieving Theme goals.• The TL will formulate Technical Working Group (TWG) to help him (her) in announcing and evaluatingappropriate projects every year. The group will also assist the TL in broadly specifying the activities to beundertaken under each announced project. The TWG will consist of professionals from differentdepartments, farmers, provincial researchers, and traders. If no good proposal comes from within PARC,the TWG can suggest to the TL to open up the bid for other national, international, or private sectorbidders (See TOR for TL in Annexure V).• Each department will be headed by Department Head (DH) appointed by the DG. The DH will encouragescientists to write project proposals and participate in various multi-disciplinary projects. The DH will beresponsible to arrange human resources, facilitate laboratory use, and provide other logistics to conductthe agreed activities related to the department in various projects. He will be also be administratively headof the scientists in his/her department (See TOR for DH in Annexure V).• Project Manager (PM) will emerge from the system in the process of successfully biding the project. Theproject will involve several scientists from different professional department. The team members willmutually agree on the PM depending upon the contribution s(he) makes in preparing and successfullybiding the project. The PM will control the financial resources of the project. The cost-allocation for eachactivity in the project will be clearly specified, and will be changed only with the consultation of thescientists running the activity (See TOR for PM in Annexure V).20

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research• The PM, however, can drop or add certain activities in the middle of the implementation of the project,depending upon the performance of the activity in delivering certain outputs or to address certainemerging issues related to the project that need immediate attention. Accordingly, adjustments in projectresources can be made in consultation with the TL.• The PM will be allowed to involve scientists from provinces or from the private sector if professional skillneeded in the project is not available in PARC by paying an agreed upon remuneration for their services.The Coordination program of PARC can help to identify such skills.• A fixed percentage of the project cost (say 10%) will be proportionally distributed as honorarium amongthe project members depending upon their contribution in completing the project activities. A fixedproportion of the project cost (say 5%) will also be given to the DH for maintaining the laboratories andother infrastructure of the department. The PL will get additional 1% as Management Cost.• The member of PARC and DH will be responsible for professional monitoring of the project (i.e., quality ofthe output), and monitoring and evaluation unit of PARC will do financial monitoring. However, none ofthem will control the resources. The evaluation of project outputs, such as breeding materials,management technologies, formulae for chemicals, etc. will be done in collaboration with provincialscientists and/or private sector through National Research Coordination Programs.• The matrix approach provides a mechanism for demand-driven research by bringing all research underthemes and projects. However, the identification of appropriate project activities is the key in the successof this approach. It is suggested that PARC Project Monitoring and Evaluation Unit should not only be justkeep record-keeper of on-going projects, but also play an active role in identifying and redefiningemerging issues in view of the changing national and international agriculture markets. For this purpose,the unit need major revamping, and highly qualified crop, livestock, forestry and fisheries economistsshould be injected in the in the unit. These professionals should have continuous consultations withstakeholders (farmers, consumers, traders, processors, etc.), and only if necessary, conduct surveys toset priorities in agriculture research. Moreover, they should analyze the impact of the theme in deliveringsector goals. This should be the basis for resource allocation to various themes.4.6.4. Merits of the Matrix ApproachThe matrix approach has the following merits:• It is demand driven, thus takes the major emerging issues in agriculture.• The approach is structured to solve agriculture sector problems, therefore, ensures its growth.• While it proposes the structure to ensure system-level outputs, it does not ignore the importance ofprofessional excellence in research, which is ensured through DH.• It ensures the professional growth of scientists by assigning the responsibilities of forging professionalcollaboration to DH. It also ensures professionals growth through enhanced interaction with peers bygathering all professionals in their respective departments.• The incentive for professional growth comes through delivering a quality output that will generate thedemand for their skills in future projects.• It adopts multidisciplinary approach at project-level thus increasing the chance of solving the problem.• It reduces the chance of repetition.• It devolved the financial and administrative powers to PM who knows the exact need of the project.• The approach is dynamic in the sense that themes, projects, and project activities keep on rotatingbased on the demand.• It enables policy planners to make investments to achieve certain target goals and system-leveloutputs. For example, if emphasis on poverty alleviation has to be enhanced, the projects focusing onneglected eco-regions like wheat-cotton, or theme having higher poverty focus such as “PromotingAgriculture Diversification and Commercialization” in our structure can be picked.• The matrix approach solves the problem of operational funds, as it sets aside necessary funds toconduct research. However, all equipments and operational costs need to be properly estimated and21

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Researchincorporated in project planning. This will require training of the scientists on costs estimation.Moreover, purchase of equipments has to be simplified.The major challenge for the policy planners is to adjust the demand for scientists or certain scientific skillwith the supply. The demand for certain skills will continuously change in the matrix system.4.7 Changes in Human Skill StructureThis distribution of professional staff at PARC cannot meet the need of modern agriculture research. Asignificant improvement of the profession staff towards biotechnology (especially biotechnologist andgeneticists), animal sciences (especially animal biotechnologists, breeders and nutritionists), economics(especially market and trade specialist, policy analysts, and agricultural business specialists) and foodtechnology (especially nutritionists) is needed to modernize the agricultural research system at the SClevel. Following recommendations are made to improve the human skill mixture.1. The strength of Agronomy and Agriculture Meteorology need to be reduced overtime. Moreover,number of scientists with traditional agronomy background should be reduced, while those withthe capacity of developing decision-making tools need to be injected.2. The strength of Animal Nutrition and Livestock Management department need to be improved.Special attention should be paid to hire livestock scientists with modern skill of livestockmanagement, and biotechnology background in developing animal feeds.3. The strength of Animal Breeding and Reproduction should be enhanced with the objective ofincreasing the use of biotechnology in resolving the low livestock productivity problem.4. Looking at the demand for biotechnology and molecular marker work, it is suggested to reducethe strength of traditional breeders and increase the number of biotechnologists, geneticists, andmolecular marker breeders/biotechnologists.5. All the breeders working on horticulture crops should be transferred to Horticulture Department.Similarly, all scientists specialized in horticulture insects and diseases should be moved toHorticulture Department. Moreover, the Department should include agriculture business scientiststo resolve the post-harvest and marketing problems of horticulture crops.6. The human skill of Socioeconomic and Biometric Department should shift from productioneconomists to agricultural business, marketing and post-harvest economists.7. The food Science Department should include nutrition and food quality scientists, and its strengthshould be improved.4.8 Infrastructure RequirementsIn the matrix approach, the scientists involved are responsible to deliver quality research outputs in timeboundmanners as the delay and quality of one output affect other micro- as well as system-level outputs.The delivery of output, however, greatly depends upon the infrastructure provided to the scientist. Withoutappropriate infrastructure, it is almost impossible to conduct strategic research, irrespective ofprofessional skill of the scientist. The following infrastructure needs to be updated and improved.4.8.1. Access to Telephone, Computer, and InternetIn this modern age, one cannot think of doing innovative research especially the strategic researchwithout connecting scientists with outside professional world. The Internet access, once it is available,has reduced the knowledge divide between developing and developed countries. Therefore, it issuggested that each scientist (above 17 th grade) should have his (her) own computer and telephone, andInternet connections should be made available at the 18 th grade and above levels. Every departmentshould have a list of favorite websites where important professional information can be obtained, and thislist should be shared among all scientists. A small unit for computer and Internet Management should beestablished to help scientists in day-to-day digital problems (such as virus and website management).22

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research4.8.2. Access to LibraryThe NARC library has been receiving 80 journals (Hard copies) yearly since 2004-05 (thanks to HigherEducation Commission (HEC) funding). The list of these 80 journals covers all major discipline ofAgricultural (Biological) sciences. The Library is the national liaison office for (a) AGRIS database of FAO,(b) CARIS database of FAO, (c) PRISM RWC CIMMYT and (d) SIAC SAARC. At national level Uniondatabase of journals containing information of 3000 journals in 36 libraries of Pakistan (Mainly Agri.Universities/Research Institutes) has a network of 36 libraries mostly in agricultural sciences. The link ofthe library with international libraries such as with CGIAR system is poor. Most scientists complainedabout the lack of access to internationally reputed journals and books.The NARC library should provide a comprehensive collection of latest literature and information on allaspects of agriculture. In modern days of Internet, this is not a difficult task. Following need to be done toimprove the library access of scientists:1. Provide e-journal link, such as Sprigelink and SPOL, to every scientist to his (her) own computer. Itprovides access to hundreds of journals in the agriculture sector. The AVRDC pays annual fee ofUS$13000 for SPOL and Euro6300 for Apringelink, which is a small cost compared to thetremendous research benefit it will generate. It provide access to hundreds of journal in eachdiscipline in most cases to full articles and in some cases to abstracts2. Document all the available literature using scientific documentation system. An internationalconsultant should be hired for this purpose.3. Scan important most demanded literature, and put it on the library website.4. Develop document-sharing system with CGIAR and other national and international libraries.5. Provide access to the listing of library documentation, scanned material, e-journal, and collaboratinglibrary websites to every scientist through his (her) own computer.6. Each project under themes should have money assigned to purchase important literature needed inthe research.4.8.3. Green HousePGRI has six screen houses with 18000 square feet area. However, no screen house has control onenvironmental conditions. The Agronomy, Horticulture, Plant Breeding and Genetics, Plant GeneticResources, Entomology, and Pathology Departments each should have their own respectable size greenhouse with the controlled environments. This is very important in conducting strategic research.4.8.4. Nutrition and Food Quality LaboratoryThe Food Science Department should have a strong Nutrition and Food Quality Laboratory (NFQL) toguide scientists on the impact of their research on nutrition content in food and its bioavailability.Moreover, this laboratory should develop protocols for enhanced nutrient bioavailability from diet. Finally,it should have the capacity to develop food quality and safety procedures.The Ecotoxicology Research Program of the IPEP should be merged with NFQL. Initially NFQL shouldtake the responsibilities of evaluating the residue content of food, which ultimately should go to the privatesector. The Laboratory should establish international linkages in developing new food products andcooking methods to improve nutritional status of Pakistani diet.4.8.5. Animal Disease Diagnostic LaboratoryObjectives of this lab is to serve as a reference lab for the for the diagnosis of infectious diseases ofpoultry and livestock and to act as repository of viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens of livestock.4.8.6. Biotechnology LaboratoryA strong molecular laboratory is needed to use biotechnology tools in breeding work. However, PARCshould collaborate with Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB) in Lahore and Nuclear Institutefor Biology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) in Faisalabad to complement each other’s facilities.23

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research4.8.7. Geographical Information System (GIS) LaboratoryWe noticed an ambitious research plan being undertaken by GIS laboratory at NARC. The remotesensing capacity will greatly improve the forecast accuracy of agriculture production, thus contribute infood security. Therefore, it is suggested that the GIS laboratory should be upgraded this capacity.4.8.8. Modern Equipment for LaboratoriesWe do not propose a list of equipments in each laboratory to be upgraded. The up-gradation oflaboratory equipments should be on need basis and be part of every project plan.4.9 Restructuring of PARCThe main functions of PARC are to conduct, support, coordinate, and promote agricultural researchthroughout Pakistan. PARC also provides training for research staff and acquires and disseminatesresearch information to improve the use of new technologies. The PARC is governed by a Board ofGovernors, which provides overall policy guidelines. The day to day business is run by the Chairman ofPARC through the Executive Committee consists of five members and the Chairman. The PARC isorganized into four discipline base divisions: crop, animal sciences, natural resources, and socialsciences. The fifth member appointed by the Ministry of Finance is responsible for maintaining thefinancial discipline and record as well as implementing the administration rules issued by the ExecutiveCommittee or Chairman of PARC. The Research Planning and Monitoring Cell (RPMC) keeps financialand progress record of all development projects funded by the Government of Pakistan or foreign donors.The danger of subject-matter based organization structure is that the members heading up each subjectmatter will be judged on their ability to identify and fund research projects in their own subject arearegardless of the overall priority for such research. There is also the related danger of project boundariesbeing determined by an artificial subject matter rather than a perceived overall need for the piece ofresearch (similar to NARC (section 4.3), no mechanism for setting system-level priorities exists at PARC,and every scientist set his/her own agenda). The responsibility of preparing the master research plan isassigned to the Planning Unit, which has little professional capacity for the job. Moreover, each divisionreviews the effectiveness of its own projects. To overcome these problems, following recommendationsare made:24

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research1. Strong Research Programming Cell (RPC). The main problem of agriculture research is that itis reactive not proactive. No mechanism is available to show researchers the emerging issues andopportunities in the agriculture sector. A strong Research Programming Cell at PARC is neededfor this purpose. The research programming and planning is not one for all time job; it requirescontinuous stakeholder’s consultation through informal meetings and formal surveys. A smallnucleus team of competent scientists in every major sub-sector in agriculture should be gatheredin the cell to perform this job on missionary basis. The name of the current RP&MC should bechanged to RPMC and it should focus only on project monitoring.2. A Strong Team for Impact Analysis. The agriculture research has done wonderful job in thepast in feeding the fast increasing population as well as improving the quality of life throughenhanced food security. However, the impact of agriculture research was not properly exposed topolicy makers creating difficulties in securing research funds. We suggest organizing a strongimpact analysis team under the socioeconomic division of PARC. The team should be assigned tolook various aspects of impact of different research projects as well as the whole agricultureresearch in the country. In the process of impact analysis, the team should also identify theconstraints in achieving the desired impact of the project and suggest adaptation in technology ormethodology promoted through the project.3. A Strong Research Coordinated Program (RCP). A poor mechanism of research coordination,one of the main functions of PARC, has been devised at PARC. This not only creates duplicationsbut a poor flow of SC outputs to its stakeholders. We suggest a strong research coordinationprogram at PARC (more detail in the next section).PARC should provide leadership for the whole agriculture research systems, not just for NARC or itsregional centers. The members of PARC should provide the scientific vision not control to the researchersof the whole system. Its strong RPC and RCP can restore the role of PARC as leader among scientists.5 CONNECTING SC AND AC TO DISSEMINATE OUTPUTSSo far we have treated the SC and AC of the research system separately in assigning theirresponsibilities. But we started treating them as continuum of the research system in section 1. Therefore,there should be a mechanism to combine the spare parts produced by each component to make a finalproduct. Unless this mechanism exists, output of each component will remain segregated, and theefficiency of each component will suffer. The purpose of this chapter is to propose a new mechanism aftercritically evaluating the existing mechanism for this purpose which has admittedly failed.5.1. Misconception Regarding SC Output ExtensionUsually extension for SC outputs is emphasized in a wrong context. To start with, the slow adoption of itsoutputs is attributed to the weak extension department of the provinces. Using this pretext, the SCestablishes its own extension. The shift of Technology Transfer Institute (TTIs) of PARC from “creatingawareness about agricultural innovations” toward “conducting extension” is an example of this thinking.The main source of misconception regarding SC output extension arises with the drift of the componentfrom producing unfinished research products like methodologies, specification for chemicals, elite lines,genes, etc. As the final products of SC were less relevant for different eco-regions of Pakistan, strenuousefforts were needed to promote them to farmers’ field. The SC researchers had weaker link withextension as it is a provincial subject, which motivated them to create their own extension.The diversion of resources and professional time of the SC toward extension, in which they did not haveexpertise, reduced their efficiency. This also reduced the effectiveness of provincial research system withthe decreased, if not eliminated, supply of inputs for their research. It also created tension amongprovincial extensions and TTI’s, and made the overall extension of SC outputs even less effective.25

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research5.2. Real Client – AC Researchers not FarmersIf SC focuses on strategic research, their clients change from farmers to AC researchers. 5 Then itdemands collaboration with provincial and private sector researchers. It requires training of AC to enableit to understand and use their methodologies and inputs. The SC also has to develop innovativeapproaches to increase the collaboration between AC and provincial extension system.5.3. TTI’s in ExtensionWe do believe, however, that TTI’s have a role to play in disseminating SC outputs. But it should confineto its original role in “creating awareness about agricultural innovations (among AC researchers) inrespective regions”. The TTI at NARC should perform the following functions:1. Arrange workshops/symposia/conferences to enhance knowledge and skills of AC,2. Acquire and synthesize available information on research outputs of SC in simple language,3. Develop innovative methodologies that can improve the efficiency of extension system, and4. Develop innovative ways that can improve the collaboration of provincial researchers withprovincial extension departments.The TTI’s should be used to establish linkages with line departments for expeditious testing, transfer andutilization of research outputs generated by the SC. Moreover, they should bring the demand of ACresearchers and their concerns to SC researchers. For this, 1-2 liaison officer having personnelcommunication skills and some experience in extension should be stationed at key site where provincialresearch is centered. The link of TTI’s in the region with TTI at NARC is very important to remain informedabout the printed and other materials available to be promoted to stakeholders.5.4. Research CoordinationThe philosophy of Coordinated Research Program (CRP) is based on cooperation among researchgroups working at different components of the research system. The CRP creates a network ofresearchers across the country, and generates a national spirit of problem solving. The relationshipbetween collaborating units is cooperative not competition. The SC provides some financial support,advance research methodology, capacity building of scientists, while AC provides land, human resources,link with farmers, and eco-regional environment. Following are the pillars of coordination.• Knowledge, germplasm, and resource sharing• Joint planning an implementation• OwnershipThe joint research planning meetings provide a mechanism to develop these pillars, and avoidduplications. The National Coordinator provides intellectual leadership, removes bottlenecks, ensureuniformity and quality of research methodology, and obtain desired quality data.5.4.1. Research Coordination HistoryIn mid 1970s, PARC instituted National Coordinated Research Programs (NCRP) as a mechanism forcoordinating research in the country based on the above philosophy. At present, the Technical Divisionsof PARC has 13 Coordinated Research Programs for wheat, rice, oilseed, maize, millet and sorghum,fruits, vegetables, potato, rangelands, sugar crops, pulses, fodder, small ruminants, and large ruminants.The main activities assigned to these programs were as follows:• Germplasm acquisition, evaluation & distribution• Uniform Yield Trial• National Annual Planning Meeting5 Only when SC is developing or adapting extension methodologies, its researchers can work directly with farmers.26

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research• Traveling Seminar• Monitoring & Review• Documentation• Symposium/Workshops• Trainings (Short-term, Degree locally or at ICs).It is worth noting that the original mandate of NCRP does not include conducting research activities in theprogram. It was supposed to provide a flow of materials, inputs, germplasm, and methodologies frominternational sources or from the SC to the AC of the research system. Note its objective statement:“Acquire germplasm, research material & equipment for partners”, not for the program itself.5.4.2. Problems in the National Research Coordination ProgramsShift from Original Mandate. The NCRP deviated from its original mandate of coordination, and gotengaged into research. Moreover, the research of NCRP was of adaptive type (job of the AC). Therefore,rather than providing the bridge between SC and AC, it became a source of technology by itself. AsIslamabad was not appropriate ecology for conducting adaptive research, its technologies becameirrelevant for several ecologies. To overcome this problem, some programs stationed their own scientistsin the provinces, rather than forging collaboration with them. This shied of provincial collaboration.Conflict of housing NCRP. As the mandate of NCRP was coordination not research, original housing ofthese programs in NARC was inappropriate. Housing NCRP with researchers induced its scientists tostart their own research. It created confusion about its location. Those who wanted it to be engaged inresearch supported its stay at NARC, while those who liked its original mandate lobbied its shift in PARC.Competition Rather than Complementarities. Involvement of the coordination program in researchdeprived the provincial scientists form the inputs they needed for their research. Most of the breedingmaterials flowing from international centers were held up in these programs, and rarely reached to AC. Inthe National Yield Trials, NCRP and AC varieties competed with each other. This created competitionrather than complementarities among the two.Disappearance of the Planning Meeting. Partly due to lack of resources and partly provincial researchers’reluctance to collaborate on the terms of NCRP, planning meetings were rarely held. As a result, theNCRP deepened their in-ward looking approach. The NCRP was unable to remove duplications, rather ititself became the source of duplication.Commodity Focus. Another problem of NCRP was its commodity-oriented focus. Every program focusedon its own commodity in a limited sense and forgot the system problems. When the focus of internationalagriculture research shifted from individual crop to farming systems, new system-level programs (such asrice-wheat) were created to absorb international funds, rather than merging commodity into systemprograms.Limited Focus. The focus of the NRCP was only on varietal development, although they had a largenumber of other scientists too. Originally the multi-disciplinary team was created to take up the systemissues, but it was not possible because of the commodity orientation of the program. Then the multidisciplinaryteam in each program was used just to develop and test varieties of the crop or breed ofanimals.Weekend International Collaboration. The focus of international donors and national government onshort- and long-term training in agriculture in Pakistan reduced over time. As Pakistan developed acapacity to hold such training by herself, their focus shifted towards becoming an equal developmentpartners. Rather than just supplying germplasm (which ICs continue to do), they wanted to collaborate ongene identification and its incorporation technologies, virus identification, hybrid development skill, etc.Pakistan stood poorly in these areas, because of its low priority to strategic research. This has weekendcollaboration with international centers.Squeezed Resources. A large army of scientists in NCRP reduced the operational budget per scientistsfor coordination. Most of the development budget was consumed in conducting research activities within27

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Researchthe NCRP, and little was left to share it with provincial researchers and to conduct the coordinationactivities.Weakened Leadership. The leaders of NCRP weekend overtime thus lost the respect of provincialpartners. On the other hand, they did not have a boss, i.e., Member in PARC, for several years. This losttheir ability to decide and act.Bias in Selection for Training Facility Abroad. As many research scientists were engaged in the NCRP,they were close to the information and bosses handling the training opportunities abroad. Competitiveand transparent procedure was not used in the selection for these trainings, creating misunderstandingand embarrassment among provincial scientists.5.4.3. RecommendationsWe offer following recommendations:Change the Name. The name of National Coordination Research Program (NCRP) should be changed toNational Research Coordination Program (NRCP) to emphasize that the program is not do research.Focus on Original Mandate. The NRCP should focus on the original mandate of NCRP of coordinationwith more focused targets. The broader philosophy should be to:• Share knowledge, germplasm and resource,• Link SC researchers with ICs through forging bilateral and multilateral programs.• Identify research outputs developed by SC for dissemination.• Help SC to link with AC in evaluating research materials and methodologies,• Identify different scientific skills sources absent in PARC but needed in its various projects.• Enhance SC and AC research capacity through collaborative training programs, workshop, etc.Shift the NRCP to PARC. To keep NRCP on coordination without letting it to slip to research, it should behoused in PARC.Reduce the Number of Programs. We suggest consolidating all the 13 existing coordination programs intofollowing five programs:• Cereal Crops• Oilseeds and Pulses• Commercial Crops (Sugar Crops, Cotton, Tea, Coffee, Palm oli, etc.)• Horticultural Crops• Fodder/Forage and LivestockAdministrative Changes. Following administrative changes are suggested• Transfer all the scientists in coordination programs to their respective departments.• Each NRCP headed by National Coordinator should report to the respective Technical Member.• Shift the offices of the Coordinators to PARC.• Provide only a handful of key staff (may be 2-3) to implement the coordination programs.• The position of Senior Director in technical division can be converted into National Coordinator.5.5. Other Measures to Promote SC OutputsSteps can be taken at the project planning level to ensure the flow of SC project outputs to AC ofresearch system. Followings are suggested for this purpose.• In the project planning, initial test of all project outputs should be left on AC researchers.• The AC researchers should be compensated for their time and resources used in this testing.• The coordinator of NRCP should attend the project meetings related to the program, so that s(he)is aware of the matured output in the pipeline to be tested by the AC.28

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research• The TTIs in NARC should prepare briefs on project outputs for wider circulation among ACresearchers and other stakeholders through regional TTI’s. On the other hand, the regional TTI’sshould inform the concerned coordinator about the AC researchers’ interest in the output.• Once such testing was satisfactorily conducted, the project manager should arrange a massivetraining program to train scientists of AC through key researchers involved in initial testing.• The concerned coordinator should make sure that all essentials for the wider adoption of theoutputs are in place. S(he) should use his (her) good office and professional respect to convincethe provincial research administration on the utility of providing such essentials.6.1. Background6. RESTRUCTURING OF REGIONAL CENTERSIn this section, we consider regional centers of PARC mainly to fill the gap in the provincial research,therefore, part of AC. In some case, we treat them both strategic and applied components when they fillthe gap in strategic research for certain ecoregion. We analyze the structure, human resources andactivities of regional centers (see details of regional center activities in Annexure VI and human resourcesin Annexure II), and make suggestions to consolidate them for the purpose of improving their efficiencyand interaction with other institute researchers at NARC, provinces and the private sector.6.2. Southern-zone Agriculture Research Centre (SARC), KarachiThe evolution of SARC is spread over the past 30 years. Presently it is comprised of the followingresearch institutes:1. Grain Storage Research Institute (GSRI) (10 scientists)2. Pesticide Research Institute (PRI)(8 scientists)3. Cereal Diseases Research Institute (CDRI) (3 scientists)4. Vertebrate Pest Control Lab (VPCL) (5 scientists)5. Coastal Agricultural Research Station (CARS) (7 scientists)6. National Sugar Crops Research Institute (NSCRI), Thatta (12)7. Livestock and Fisheries Research Unit (LFRU) (3 scientists)8. Feed Development Mill, Larkana (1 scientist)It also consists of the following laboratories.• PRI: Toxicology, Pesticide residues, Microbiology and Pesticide quality testing• CDRI: Pathology, Nematology• VPCL: Medical zoology, Toxicology and Microbiology• GSRI: Plant Pathology, Storage management, Insect resistance and Insect control• GQTL: Chemistry, Cereal chemistry, Contaminant testing, Food technology• NSCRI: Soil and Water, Sugarcane juice, Tissue culture• LFRU: Animal nutrition, Fisheries• Feed Mill: Livestock feedSARC research establishments are located at strategic locations, near Karachi export terminal, withtropical climate that has lot of potential for off-season vegetable and high value tropical fruits productionviz. mango, banana, papaya, coconut, pineapple, etc.The research agenda of the institute lack focus and necessary human resources to address the issues ofthe region. The thinly spread professionals across institutes and geography bares them to do anystrategic research. Only 3 breeders and 2 animal nutritionists were working, while no animal healthscientist, dairy technologist, range/forestry/wildlife scientist were recruited in the center (Annexure II).29

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchSARC has no capacity of strategic research, therefore, should focus on applied research. Keeping in viewthe location of various SARC institutes, we give the following recommendations for its restructuring:Restructuring of research at SARC• PRI, GSRI, and GQTL. be merged and upgraded as “Institute of Post-harvest Technologies”.Research focus should be on upgradation of post-production technologies, phytosanitarymeasures, food grains, fruits, vegetables, ornamental, medicinal, aromatic mushroom, valueaddition,logistic, storage, packaging, marketing, etc.• NSRI, CDRI and CARS be merged and upgraded as “Coastal Agricultural and BiotechnologyResearch Institute (CABRI)”. Research focus should be on tropical fruits, vegetables,sugarcane genetic improvement, peri-urban agriculture, biotechnology, organic foods, technologyfor coastal shelter belt etc.• LFRU be upgraded to a full fledged institute as “Livestock & Fisheries Research Institute(LFRI)”. Research focus should be on peri-urban dairy, fresh water aquaculture, animal wastemanagement, export orientation etc.• We recommend the closure of Feed Mill, Larkana and transfer to private sector6.3. Arid Zone Research Center (AZRC), QuettaAZRC was established in 1973 with a mandate to address “issues of dryland and livestock-rangelandfarming systems”. Currently, three farms are associated with it in Quetta, Mustang and Tomagh. It hasAnimal Sciences, Range, Forestry and Medicinal Herbs, Crop Sciences, and Soil and Water programs.AZRC very ideally located in arid zone ecology of Baluchistan (See Annexure VII for the details ofagroecological conditions in Balochistan), where the problems are acute poverty, sustainability, lowproductivity, and degradation of natural resources. Present team of AZRC is very weak and lacks focus.We propose the following research themes:• Improving productivity and sustainability of rangeland-livestock farming system,• Productivity and profitability enhancement in Sailaba and Khushaba dryland farming system.A multi-disciplinary team should be developed to work on above themes with following professionals:• Rangeland/Forestry specialists,• Arid horticulturalist,• Livestock specialist,• Water management engineer,• Agronomist,• Socioeconomist / Statistician / Computer specialists.The dryland farming system theme should also include plant protectionists. Moreover, trained scientists inRangeland Research Program (RRP) of NARC should be transferred to AZRC. We also suggest:1. Closer cooperation with NARC for evaluation and adaptation of technologies in AZRC prospects.2. Closer collaboration with ICARDA for capacity building, sharing technologies & germplasm etc.3. Upgrade and strengthen infrastructure–especially lab, library, screen houses, and transport.4. Focus on arid and semi-arid agriculture of Balochistan and leave irrigated agriculture onprovincial agriculture research system.5. Most of research work should be carried out with farmers’ participation. AZRC farms should beused only for germplasm evaluation, multiplication and controlled experiments.30

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research6.4. Arid Zone Research Institutes (AZRIs)In the past AZRIs were satellite stations of AZRC, Quetta. Now, they are directly managed by technicalmember of PARC. They represent following ecologies:• AZRI, D.I.Khan: Rod-kohi ecology• AZRI, Bahawlapur: Desert ecology• AZRI, Umerkot: Desert ecologyResearch team in AZRI is weak with 4-7 scientists mainly agronomist in each (Annexure II), with no clearresearch focus. Other resources are also thinly spread. We have following proposals for each AZRI:6.4.1. AZRI, D.I. Khan4. AZRI, D.I. Khan, being located in Rod-kohi, an important ecology with lots of potential, should begiven a revised mandate for the overall development of Rod-kohi ecosystem.5. A joint multi-disciplinary team (agronomy, soil, horticulture, engineers) by linking AZRI, D.I Khanand WRRI in NARC that will strengthen the Rod-kohi project implementation.6.4.2. AZRI, Bahawalpur & UmerkotThese institutes are located in the desert region that spread over 12 million hectares mainly in Cholistan(Punjab) and Thar desert (Sindh). No other institute is working on desert ecosystem. Therefore, wesuggest that both AZRIs’ mandate should be revised to study “deserts ecosystem for the sustainabledevelopment of the region”. The AZRI, Bahawalpur should be renamed as “National Institute forDesert Agriculture (NIDA)” and the Umerkot research farms should be attached with it. The NIDAshould focus on:1 Coordination among R&D organizations in desert ecosystem,2 Inventorization, characterization and monitoring of natural resources using modern tools,3 Conservation and management of biological diversity of rangeland,4 Landscape management for arresting desertification,5 Livestock health, management and genetic improvement,6 Upscaling of land use management experiences,7 Utilization of marginal quality waters for agriculture, and8 Study arid farming system to improve income, employment and poverty in the desert region.For this focus, the human resources of NIDA should be substantially improved. We also propose toorganize an international workshop to assess the state of knowledge on desert agriculture and set outNIDA research priorities. Multidisciplinary teams should be organized by linking NIDA with NARCprofessional departments to work on priority issues.6.5. Karakorram Agricultural Research Institute for Northern Areas (KARINA),GilgitKARINA was established in 1984 at Juglot about 55 km south of Gilgit to address the issues of neglectedmountain agriculture, extended over 72120 km 2 . It has following objectives:• Conduct research in all disciplines of agriculture to improve crop productivity and livelihood ofrural population in northern areas (NA).• Develop package of production technologies and disseminate to end-users.• Capacity building of researchers in mountain agriculture.The institute research focus covers improvement of field and horticultural crops especially cherry, apricot,almond, persimmon, walnut, grape, and chestnut; management of orchard, range, forestry, and waterresources; collection of indigenous medicinal herbs and selections for different zones; and developmentof trout fish culture and screening of its exotic species. However, this extensive research agenda cannot31

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Researchbe achieved by only 8 researchers (See Annexure II for the details of human resources). We suggest thatKARINA should be given mandate for “integrated agriculture research for sustainable development ofMountainous Region”. It should focus on:• Inventorization, characterization and monitoring of natural resources using modern tools,• Collect, adapt, improve, and disseminate the indigenous knowledge and technologies forsustainable mountain development• Explore opportunities for income generation, gender empowerment, & community developmentincluding in the areas of honey bee, livestock, and fisheries,• Conservation and exploitation of biological diversity (medicinal herbs, fruits, vegetables, cereals,range grasses, etc.) for sustainable agricultureWe also propose that KARINA should:• Organize an international workshop in collaboration with ICIMOD to set research priorities.• Adopt problem solving approach by organizing multidisciplinary teams linked with NARC.• Establish close linkages with CG Centers (ICIMOD, ICARDA) through exchange of personnel andpromotion of joint research programs and technology endeavors.6.6. Agricultural Economic Research Unit (SERU)Agricultural Economics Research Units (AERUs) were established at major agricultural research institutes(NARC, Islamabad; ARI, Tarnab; AARI Faisalabad and ARI, Tandojam, and ARI Sariab) with the purposeof providing immediate and regular access to information on farmers’ problems and circumstances. Asprovincial research was weak in socioeconomic, these centers were supposed to fill the gap in this area,and help the biological scientists in the region to make economic analysis of experimental data.Moreover, these centers were supposed to bringing immediate and emerging issues of agriculture, andhelp the provincial institutes in setting research priorities. They were also supposed to build the capacityof socioeconomic analysis in provincial organization.Despite resource constraints, these centers produced remarkable outputs in terms of bringingfarm-level issues that were incorporated in the research agenda of the provincial researchinstitutes. The diagnostic surveys in major crops and cropping ecologies and productionconstraint surveys conducted by AERU’s generated lots of useful information which became thebasis of policy planning not only in the AC in the provinces, but also in SC at he federal level.The popular information generated by these centers were yield trade-off due to the conflicts ofmajor crops in cropping systems, prioritization of production constraints, early warning of virusinfection and insect attacks, demand of particular machinery, livestock-crop interaction, etc.Having said that, however, the AERU’s failed to build the capacity of AC in the provinces, orcollaborated their activities with the biological scientists in the provinces. As a result, biologicalscientists failed to see the utility of economic-analyses. An environment of distrust perpetuatedquickly after the initial years of honeymoon between social scientist of AERU’s and leadershipof provincial research institutes. This was part of the distrust generated with the involvement ofSC scientists into applied research that created the competition between the two.We believe that AERU;s can still play an important role in building weak capacity of AC inprovinces. Being in the region, they may have better feeling of the field environment, and cangather quick information on emerging and sometime crisis situation. They should pay moreattention on trust-building measures by engaging biological scientists in AERUs research planand vice versa. They should evaluate the impact of regional technologies, and bring emergingfield issues for research. They should also involve in setting up regional research priorities. Todo all these, however, the AERU’s should be properly staffed and funded.32

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchAnnexure I. Institute-wise program and activities and comments of the consultantby activity(normal black color=modification of the statement; yellow color=suggested addition; red color =did not understand the activity)1 INSTITUTE OF AGRI-BIOTECHNOLOGYAND GENETIC RESOURCES (IABGR)A Plant Genetic Resources Program(PGRP)1. Germplasm collection and evaluationfor morphological and biochemicaltraits.2. Rejuvenation and multiplication ofconserved genetic resources.3. In Vitro culture of grape, sweet potato,potato, and cut flower (namelygladiolus) germplasm.4. Collection and maintenance ofgermplasm of vegetatively propagatedspecies namely; peach, pear andgrape.5. Cryopreservation of grapegermplasm.6. Study of antifungal activity ofmedicinal plants.BAgricultural Biotechnology Program(ABP)1. Transgenic plant production of rice forbacterial blight resistance gene.2. Evaluation of Basmati lines expressingrole of C gene for short stature.3. Improvement of wheat for diseasesresistance using gene transfertechnology.4. Developing a high frequency regenerationsystem and transformation protocol inwheat.5. Improving salt tolerance in tomatocultivars by gene transfer technology.6. Optimization of protocols for transgenicbanana plant production.7. Genetic transformation of potato forinduction of disease resistance againstfungal pathogens.Comments by the Consultants1. Germplasm collection and characterization for morphological traits. Thiscollection should be separated as base-collection for long-term conservationcomplemented with active collection for immediate utilization.2. Regeneration of conserved germplasm .3. In Vitro culture of grape sweet potato, potato, and cut flower (namelygladiolus) germplasm.4. Collection and maintenance of germplasm of vegetatively propagatedspecies namely; peach, pear, grape, and garlic.5. Cryopreservation of grape germplasm.6. Study of anti-fungal activities of medicinal plants, indigenous vegetables,and pulses- needs mycologist.7. Safety duplication of germplasm in other international gene banks, andexchange for enhancement.8. The germplasm should also be evaluated for resistance for biotic andabiotic stresses and nutritional quality in collaboration with other scientistsof NARC.9. The Genetic Program should develop proper virus elimination and indexingprocedures with the help of virologists at NARC. These procedures shouldbe used before sending germplasm to any scientist in NARC or any wherein the country.10. Need to develop a proper documentation system. Any international, likeAVRDC, center can provide training for this.11. The germplasm should have a good seed processing and packing unit forproper seed extraction, cleaning, drying and packaging.12. The Germplasm Program can be one of the very effective programs ofNARC to trigger scientific innovation in the agriculture sector in the country.It should effectively involve develop a very comprehensive program forgermplasm distribution to the public and private sector in the country withproper record and feed back from the recipients. The recipient should bemade obliged to acknowledge the use of PGRP germplasm whenever theyrelease any new variety.Overall the ABP program is narrowly focused on few traits. Looking at thepotential of biotechnology, the programs should have following initiatives:1. The ABP program should have very extensive and exhaustive researchactivities on identifying Molecular Markers for various traits in cereals,horticulture, and pulses crops, and develop (phenotype) trait assay capacity.A highly qualified professional, preferably from a competent foreignuniversity, should lead the activities in each of the three groups of crops. Thetraits they should identify should be:a. High yielding genes for all the three crop groups.b. Disease resistance genes in all the three crop groups by focusing on majordiseases in each..c. Gene for abiotic stress especially salinity tolerance for cereals, cold, frost,and heat tolerance in vegetables, and drought tolerance in pulses andcereals, and temperature insensitive fruiting-citrus.d. Nutrient traits in cereals and pulses by collaborating with internationalcenters. Higher oil content in soybean and protein content in other pulsesare also important traits to look at.e. Quality traits in horticulture cops. A consumers’ preference survey need tobe conducted to prioritize these traits in different horticulture products.f. The ABP program should develop methodologies for incorporating theidentified gene into locally adapted varieties, and to develop transgenicplants. An extensive training program should focus to enhance the capacityof provincial and private sector agriculture research programs in this.g. Develop methodologies for hybrid seed development in various crops, and33

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research2 CROP SCIENCES INSTITUTECrop Science ProgramThe program is organized into commodityoriented research program that includenational coordinated program of wheat,rice, oilseeds, pulses, sugar crops, fodder,and maize, sorghum and millet. The majorresearch focus of each commodityprogram are:1. Evaluates promising varieties across theagro-ecological zones in National UniformYield Trials and makes data available toVarietal Evaluation Committee.2. Germplasm enhancement, developinghigh yielding varieties, and evolution ofvarieties.3. Efficient and resource saving cropmanagement techniques including tillageand stand establishment.4. Yield gap analysis.5. Suitability of cropping systems; climatechange and crop modeling.Food Quality and Nutrition Program1. Screening of food crop varieties fornutritional content2. Assess the nutritional quality andquantity in selected crops mainly incereals (i.e., grain quality).3. Establish linkages with national andinternational research organizations tosolve priority nutritional problems.4. Development of new food products toimprove people’s nutrition.build capacity of provincial and private sector research programs ondeveloping their own hybrids.h. The ABP program should also develop regulatory procedures for testing oftransgenic plants to assure safety. There should be a central body tomonitor and certify that proper procedures are adopted in testing.i. The ABP program can work only if PGRP can provide rich and wellcharacterizedgermplasm. Moreover, the ABP program need not have todo everything by itself. A strong collaboration with international centers andpublic sector advance universities and laboratories in the west will greatlyreduce their burden of responsibilities.j. The non-transgenic procedure of developing mutants (mutation breeding)should be left on Nuclear Institute fro agriculture and Biology.1. Separate out the coordination responsibility from research, and shift thecoordination responsibility to PARC headquarter, along with the evaluation ofthe promising technologies across the agro-ecological zone.2. The focus of CSI of developing finished crop varieties should be graduallytransferred to the provinces (in case of cereals, pulses, and orphan crops) or tothe private sector (in case of major fruits and vegetables). The traditionalbreeding, however, has role in developing the elite unfinished lines oridentifying germplasm for selective traits where provinces and private sectorhave no activity. The traditional breeding should incorporate molecular markersand other biotechnology tools in their approach.3. The duplication of technologies for resource conservation (RCT) across manyinstitutes should be removed by developing output-oriented projects wherescientists across the federal and provincial institutes can be involved. Inaddition to the problem of cross institutes collaboration within NARC system,the duplication of RCT work with provinces is also a serious concern. Toresolve this issue, our suggestion is that NARC should focus on themethodological issues of resource conservation technologies filling informationgaps, and training of the provincial organization to validate, evaluate, and adaptthese methodologies in their own environment. Using the available information,NARC should develop a computer-based model where optimum levels ofoutcomes for various RCT can be predicted for different crops to achievevarious objectives of the farmer working under varying socioeconomic andecological environment. Once such model is developed, the NARC scientistsshould involve the provincial counterparts in validating the model with thefarmers by showing them the difference in outcome with farmers’ levels ofnutrient versus the outcome predicted by the model.4. The focus on narrowing yield gap needs rethinking by working only on buildingefficient extension methodologies for the promotion of efficient managementpractices and training of provincial partners both in research and extension touse these methodologies in disseminating their finished research products.This should be done by Technology Transfer Institute.5. The more advance form of the model can also predict the impact of thecombined action of a community on soil, water, and on resource sustainabilityand environment in general.6. The CSI should develop crop expert systems suggesting available varieties andtheir yield potential, source of seed availability, optimum control of majordiseases and insects, efficient nutrient application, optimum crop managementpractices, and post-harvest management, etc. for major cereals and horticulturecrops. This information can be put on computer in a way that it is user’s friendlyfor the extension agents and farmers.7. Set up the modalities for GAP and HACCP for the farmers and processors tofollow and provide internationally accredited certificate for those who followthese procedures.1. This objective is novel, as researchers should make sure that new varietieshave at least equal or higher content of all nutrients than the existing varieties.However, as CSI is not developing new varieties, this program has littleservice to provide to CSI. However, it can provide services to nationalbreeding programs by testing the nutritional content of their new varietiesMoreover, it can provide efficient methodologies for nutrient evaluation indifferent crops and food items. To do this, however, the program needs strongnutrition laboratory and nutritionists and biochemists in their program. ThisNutrition and Food Quality Laboratory, however, should be merged withEcotoxicology Research Program of the INRES which should not onlyevaluate the residue content of food, but also the nutrient contents and their34

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research3 HORTICULTURE RESEARCH INSTITUTE(HRI)ABVegetable research activities1. Development of vegetablevarieties/hybrid2. Off-season vegetable productiontechnologies3. Organic Farming4. IPM in vegetable production5. Post-harvest technologiesFruit research activities1. Improvement of orchard managementtechnologies.2. Production of certified nursery plants ofrecommended fruit varieties.3. Organic fruit farming.bioavailability of crops and foods.2. Screening of the germplasm for nutrient content should be an importantactivity of CSP, therefore, this as a separate activity does not make sense tous.3. The suggested Nutrition and Food Quality Lab to be under currentlyEcotoxicology Research Program should establish international linkages aswell as develop new products to improve people’s nutrition status.Because of increasing importance of the horticulture sector, developing anhorticulture research institute is a good idea, but unless its’ current professionalcapacity and infrastructure is improved, it is of no use. We strongly recommend tobeefing up the professional capacity of the institute by adding breeders,pathologist (especially virologist), entomologist, post-harvest specialist, andagriculture business specialists both in the vegetable and fruit program of theinstitute.1. The varietal development in horticulture should finally be the responsibility ofthe private sector. However, at this stag as the private seed sector is notdeveloped, the institute should work closely with PGRP and ABP of the IABGRin developing elite lines and hybrid parental lines for selected characteristics inselected vegetables. These elite and parental lines should be given to theprivate sector and the provincial research organization for their varietaldevelopment programs. The major vegetable crops that should be taken up forimprovement at this stage are onion, chili, melons, tomato, and ladies fingerbecause of their higher share in total vegetable area. The major biologicalstress in each vegetable should be prioritized through appropriate farmsurveys before start working on breeding. To strengthen the private sector bysupplying elite lines that can overcome the major production constraints inPakistan, and train the private small-sector seed enterprises to develop hybridlines in the country, a project in collaboration with AVRDC-The WorldVegetable Center and financed by international donors (perhaps ADB) shouldbe developed. The AVRDC has rich gene bank as well as breeding experiencein vegetables.2. The off-season vegetable production technologies include protectedcultivation, hydroponics, grafting, etc. The AVRDC-The World VegetableCenter has rich experience in adapting these technologies to local condition.3. The HRI institute should develop protocols for organic farming, GAP, andHCCP in different vegetables. They should also develop internationallyaccepted certification system for such vegetable production. This program canbe linked with AVRDC organic farming program.4. The Institute of Plant and Environmental Protection (IPEP) also claims to workon IPM of vegetables. Because of the no IPM personal in HRI, this activityshould be left on IPEP, although it is difficult to work on IPM in IPEP asresistant varietal development and vegetable protected cultivation, importantcomponents of IPM, remain with HRI.5. Ientify the low-cost post-harvest technologies in different vegetables at variousmarket-chains and test these technologies with the help of post-harvestinstitutes in the provinces to reduce post-harvest losses. A recent survey ofthese technologies are available at ???.6. The HRI institute should identify agricultural business activities (such asprocessing, grading, packaging, advertising, financing, etc.) in the vegetablesector, and train rural households to identify and get engage in these activitiesby providing them technical information and skill on these.7. The institute should identify the niche high-value vegetable markets in citiesand foreign markets, train the farmers to meet the requirements of thesemarkets, and link farmers with these markets by providing appropriateorganization and information support.1 Develop computer-based models for the estimation of optimum inputsand timing and optimum harvesting schedule for different fruits underalternative environments and cropping systems.2 We don’t think that HRI institute should involve in the production anddistribution of certified nurseries, which can be left completely on theprivate sector.3 Develop protocols for organic farming, GAP, and HCCP in differentfruits. Develop internationally accepted certification system for such fruitproduction. This program can be linked with AVRDC organic farmingprogram.4 Identify fruit germplasm which can bear fruits in different seasons tospread the harvest of fruits over longer period of the year. This not only35

Strategic Direction for Agricultural Research4 WATER RESOURCES RESEARCHINSTITUTEA Irrigation and Water Management1. Designing, layout and installation of highefficiency irrigation system (trickle andsprinkler) using locally manufacturedmaterials to reduce the cost.2. Development of sustainable parametersfor optimum utilization of scarce waterresources.3. Permanent raised beds technology forirrigated cropping systems.4. Sustainable agriculture through serialbiological concentration.5. Use of low quality water under salineenvironment.B Water Harvesting and Conservation1. Testing and evaluation of integrated landand water use techniques aimed atenhancing productivity of scrub forestlands, gully-eroded areas and Baranilands on sustained basis.2. Development of management strategiesfor rainfed lands.3. Sustained productivity of water erodedlands.C Resource use planning1. Digital database development foragricultural planning and naturalresource management (NRM).2. Inventory of Glaciers, Glacial Lakes andIdentification of Glacial Lake OutburstFloods (GLOF) in HKH Region.3. Preparation of National Land Use Plan.5 FARM MACHINERY INSTITUTE (FMI)A Crop Establishment engineeringresearch1. Refinement of FMI seeder.2. Development, testing and demonstrationof dibbler and chaff spreader.3. Field performance evaluation of peasplanter.B Crop harvest engineering research1. Field performance and evaluation offodder harvester.2. Commercialization of groundnut sheller.C Post-harvest engineering research h1. Development and evaluation of mobileflat-bed dryer for sunflower and canola.2. Testing of seed processing unit for foddercrops.3. Agricultural mechanization informatics.6 INSTITUTE OF PLANT ANDENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONwill reduce seasonality in fruit supply, but also improve the feasibility offruit processing plants.5 The HRI institute should identify agricultural business activities (such asprocessing, grading, packaging, advertising, financing, etc.) in the fruitsector, and train rural households to identify and get engage in theseactivities by providing them technical information and skill on these.6 The institute should identify the niche high-value fruit markets in citiesand foreign markets, train the farmers to meet the requirements of thesemarkets, and link farmers with these markets by providing appropriateorganization and information support.1. Need to collaborate with International Development Enterprises (IDE), whohas already developed such systems.2. One does not develop parameter, rather a model that can predict outcomeunder alternative parameter values. So research should focus on developingan efficient water use computer-based model that can predict the optimumquantity of water for alternative parameter values of crop, soils, rainfallfrequency, temperature, slope, etc. In fact, such model will be very useful forextension.3. What this research will do? Suggest delete this activity. The impact of raisebed on water consumption is site specific, and should be done by theprovinces.4. We don’t understand the activity, too broad and not problem specific. Suggestdelete the activity.5. Specify what the research will be conducted. Do you want to suggesttreatments to improve the quality of water (can be done at NARC)? Or you arelooking for the impact of low quality water (should be done by the provinces).6. Suggest methods to reduce the impact f wastewater use on food safety andfarmers’ health in peri-urban areas.1. Develop computer-based models for the efficient and sustainable land andwater use in scrub-forest, gully eroded, water eroded, and Barani areas.2. Rainfed is covered under Barani in (1)3. Covered in (1).4. In fact, it is not clear at all what they are doing?1. OK2. OK3. OK4. All these activities should be linked with GIS.5. How about remote sensing?1. To solve what problem?2. To solve what problem? What is the demand?3. Such evaluation needs to involve the provincial farm machineryorganization and socioeconomists of NARC.1. The evaluation should involve the provincial farm machinery organizationand socioeconomists of NARC2. Why NARC has to commercialize the machine?1. The evaluation should involve the provincial farm machinery organization andsocioeconomists of NARC2. Does the seed-processing unit is in demand? Why the private sector cannot doit if it is in demanded.3. Please define the parameter of the informatics.36

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchABCInsect Pest Management Program1. Studies on mass rearing of predators andparasitoids for their potential use againstinsect pests of sugarcane, cotton,vegetables and fruits.2. Studies on Integrated Management offruit flies.3. Research and Development of BotanicalPesticides against Insect Pest of Cropsand Stored grains.4. Integrated Management of honeybeediseases.5. Screening of wheat germplasm forresistance against aphids.Crop Diseases Research Program1. Monitoring patterns of physiological racesand virulence of pathogens causing stem,leaf and stripe rusts in wheat.• 2. Genetic analysis of availablegermplasm/commercial varieties to stem,leaf and stripe rusts for ascertaining thelevel of genetic diversity present in thematerial for resistance to wheat rust.3. Identification of sources of resistance tostem, leaf and stripe rusts, powderymildew and karnal bunt of wheat,diseases of rice and maize from diverseinternational sources and local breeder’smaterial.4. Studies on biology and management ofmajor diseases of maize, rice, cotton,sunflower, potato, chilies, onion, tomato(these important crops were missed),citrus, banana and stone fruits.5. Surveys and distributional patterns ofmajor disease of cereals, vegetables andfruits for different ecological zones ofPakistan.6. Research and development of biocontrolagents and natural products of plantorigin for the management of diseasesand their insect vectors.Weed Management Program1. Economic threshold levels of majorweeds in wheat, maize and rice.2. Evaluation of herbicides and applicationmethods.3. Studies on biocontrol of some importantweeds.4. Mapping and scouting of weeds indifferent agro ecosystems.1. These studies should confine on the identification of parasoites against insectpest,and obtaining or importing initial materials for multiplication. Appropriateprotocols for mass rearing should also be developed by this program.However, mass rearing and release of these parasoites should be theresponsibility of the provincial research institutes.2. Lots of work on the integrated management of fruit flies has already been doneby this institutes and in research organization in other countries. Therefore, itis a time now to develop a model by putting all this knowledge together thatcan answer what will happen if farmers do this under different sets ofenvironment (some experiment can be conducted to fill the missinginformation gaps, which should be clearly defined at the outset). This modelthen can be validated by the provincial organization and extension workersand demonstrate its efficacy to the farmers.3. Many botanical pesticides have already been developed by the private sector,international organizations, and advanced laboratories. The program shouldfirst explore and test the exiting materials in collaboration with the provincialresearch organizations before start developing its own. The efficacy tests ofbotanical pesticides should be tested in collaboration with provincial researchinstitutes.4. The ultimately goal should be to develop a package of practices which canefficiently manage honey-bee diseases, and then develop a computer-basedmodel to show its applicability under different sets of environment. This modelshould then be transferred to provincial institutes and extension agents todemonstrate its efficacy to farmers.5. The CIMMYT is in a better position and has a richer gene bank to make suchscreening. Therefore, we suggest to developing a strong collaboration forsuch screening with CIMMYT.1. We are sure this is being done or already have been done by the CIMMYT.In any case, collaboration with CIMMYT will be required.2. Again this program should strongly collaborate with CIMMYT.3. We believe that the identification of resistant sources for different diseasesshould better be done by the ABP of IABGR using molecular markers andother advanced biotechnology approaches.4. The management of diseases is site specific, therefore, should involveprovincial researchers. Ultimately, the activity should be able to develop acomputer-based model that can predict the impact of different managementpractices on disease incidence and yield losses under different set ofenvironments.5. The disease distributional patterns in different crops are not only eco-regionspecific, but also season, cropping pattern, and management specific.Therefore, in surveying diseases patterns, temperature, rainfall, croppingpattern, land preparation practices and other management practices shouldbe related. This information will be very helpful in developing computermodels.6. This activity needs strong international collaboration.1. The economic thresholds in different crops are physical and economicenvironment specific. The same intensity of insect may not require control ifoutput prices are low. Therefore, computer-models which can predicteconomic thresholds under different environments are required. Thesemodel should be users’ friendly for extension agents to predict the thresholdin their locality.2. NARC should seriously debate on its involvement in herbicide evaluation,because it may invite anomalies and influence from herbicide industry.However, developing herbicide standards and monitoring mechanisms areurgently needed to regulate the industry.3. Biocontrol of weeds is relatively difficult process, and should have low priorityunless something is in the pipeline.37

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchDEBiological control research program1. Maintenance of national insect collection.2. Addition of new species of national insectcollection.Ecotoxicology Research Program1. Determination of Pesticides residues andtheir fate in food chain and environment.2. Investigation on the impact of pesticideson human health and non-targetorganisms.F Vertebrate Pest Management Program1. Identification of vertebrate pest problemsand assessment of losses in field crops,grain stores, forest plantations,rangelands and other natural resources.2. Evaluation of rodenticides, baits anddevelopment of baits delivery systems forthe management of rodent pests in rice,wheat, groundnut crops and in grainstores.3. Development of toxicant baits, fumigantsand their delivery methods for control ofporcupine in forest plantations andrangelands.4. Evaluation of toxicants, baits anddevelopment of bait delivery methods forthe management of wild boar.5. Evaluation of trapping, netting andscaring techniques for management ofbird-pests in croplands and fruit orchards.7 INSTITUTE OF NATURAL RESOURCESAND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES(INRES)4. This is good activity, especially if it is related to wider parameters of agroecosystem,such as residual moisture, temperature, soil and land type,fertilizer application, cropping system, etc.Non-of these activities match with the title of the program. Nothing is beingcontrolled, instead insects are being added and maintained, which are usefulactivities. Suggest to specifying the main morphological characteristics of insects,especially of new collection.1. Suggest this activity should be confined to the food chain in peri-urban areas.The consumers should be involved in this work, and results should be widelypopularized to create awareness among consumers and demand fororganically produce agricultural products.2. This is veru useful and very costly study, and perhaps NARC can not affordit. Some studies on it has already been conducted (See Prabhu Pingalistudy in rice).3. The program should not only evaluate the residue content of food, but alsothe nutrient contents and their bioavailability of crops and foods, and shouldabsorb part of the food quality work under CSI.4. The name of the program should be changed to “Nutrition and Food QualityLaboratory”1. Most of these vertebrate pests in major field crops have already beenidentified, and assessment of losses is situation specific. Needs extensiveliterature review.2. NARC need not have to involve in rodenticide evaluation. However,development of the delivery system and rodenticide standards andmonitoring mechanisms should be developed.3. We believe that Pakistan Forest Institute (PFI) might be working on thesimilar lines. This activity needs to collaborate with PFI.4. NARC should develop a manual explaining all such materials and theirdelivery system, and crop coordination program should organize theprovincial research groups from cereal research institutes to make suchevaluations.5. NARC should develop a manual explaining all such techniques and settingup procedures, and crop coordination program should organize theprovincial research groups from horticulture research institutes to make suchevaluations.Does natural resources mean only soil? What about the following:1. Land Resources Research Program2. Water Resources Research Program3. Honey Bee Research (Apiculture) ProgramABSoil salinity and saline agriculture1. Growth response of rice cultivars ofCa/K under graded level of sodiumunder controlled conditions.2. Growth response of sunflower cultivarsto Ca/K under graded level of calciumunder controlled conditions.3. Growth response of different ricecultivars to boron application undersaline conditions.Soil fertility and plant nutrition1. Long term effect of micronutrients undercotton-wheat cropping system.4. Coordinated Rangeland Research ProgramWe do not agree that growth response of different crops with different nutrientunder graded level of sodium or salinity should be studied at NARC, because ofthe site-specificity nature of the research. As we have suggested in CSI, vastinformation have been generated on nutrient response of different crops all overthe world. The researchers should explore the existing information(experimentation with province institutes can be conducted at different locationswhere information is lacking) for the purpose of developing computer-basedmodels that can predict the optimum levels of different nutrients including Ca/K fordifferent crops under alternative cropping system, availability of soil nutrients,irrigation and rainfall regimes, land type, etc. In fact such model can be part of thegeneral soil nutrient management model where salinity graded level of sodium isonly one condition.1. The long-term fertility research needs lots of commitments and politicalstability in the research system, which is usually lacking in many developing38

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchCD2. Long term effect of micronutrients undermaize-based cropping system.3. Long term effect of micronutrients underrice-based cropping system.4. Leaf color chart aided nitrogen fertilizermanagement in rice.Soil biology and biochemistry1. Field evaluation of selected diazotrophswith wheat under rainred (Potowar area)conditions.2. Quantification of nitrogenase activity ofdiazotrophas isolates from rainfed wheatroots using Gas chromatograph.3. Testing of the PGRP isolates for theireffects on growth/yield of rice and wheatcrops under green house and fieldconditions.4. Residue management studies incollaboration with FMI team will becontinued on “Improvement in soil healthwith the addition of crop residues byusing happy seeder” under ACIARProject.Soil physics and mineralogy1. Determine changes in soil structure, soilwater and nutrient use efficiency inresponse to crop residue applications.2. Determine decomposition rates ofvarious crop residues and dynamics ofvarious soil organic matter fractions.3. Model dynamics of various soil organicmatter fractions in different agro-climaticconditions.4. Evaluate relative release rates and soilprofile redistribution mechanisms ofselected metals derived from sludgeapplication.5. Development predictive models forselected metal’s redistribution throughleaching studies.countries. Therefore, such research is confined to international centers andfew national programs. In Pakistan, Soil Fertility Survey and Soil TestingInstitute, Lahore conducts long-term experiments on rice and wheat yields indifferent regions on same plots. Many scientists have used this data toanalyze the long-term impact of cereal cropping pattern. Unless NARC useddifferent methodology or approach, we suggest using this data in making anylong-term soil fertility analysis.4. The activity should be more broadly defined as development of methodologiesfor determining fertilizer application on crop need basis judging from themorphological characteristics of the crops.1. The field evaluation of diazotrophs is the responsibility of the provincialresearch institutes under farm-specific environment.2. Did not understand3. We do not understand why PGRP isolates need to be tested for their effects ongrowth/yield by Soil Biology and Biochemistry unit. Such isolates should beevaluated for growth and yield by PGRP themselves.4. A lot of literature is already available on the impact of residue incorporation onsoil health in rice (see for example ???)1. Soil Biology and Biochemistry is doing the same thing (see item 4 above).2. The 1&2 can be merged, which is still duplication of Soil Biology andBiochemistry activity 4.3. Don’t understand4. Don’t understand5. Don’t understand8 SOCIAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE (SSI) Most of the research suggested here are theoretical, while the unit shouldshow how research for development should be conducted not only by usingthe information generated by them but also the research results generatedby other institutes and programs.ABCAgricultural production and value chains1. Assessment of post-harvest losses ofselected fruits and vegetables in Pakistan.Agricultural growth and poverty1. Research strategies for agriculturalgrowth and poverty reduction.2. Role of livestock sector in povertyalleviation.Agricultural diversification1. Role of urbanization in stimulatingagricultural production diversification inperi-urban areas.2. Economic analysis of policies andmeasures for promoting production andconsumption diversification in Pakistan.1. Identify and introduce technologies to reduce the post-harvest harvest losses atthe critical point of market where losses are high.1. Here the scientists of SSI proposed to work on designing research strategiesfor agriculture growth and poverty reduction, especially evaluating the role ofthe livestock sector in this regard. Prioritization of research and designingresearch strategies for agriculture growth and poverty reduction is animportant function of social scientists, but it should be done at PARC level,not in NARC.2. You have already done it. Isn’t it?1. The consultants feel that extensive research on policy environment thatpromote diversification has already been known. These reports alsodiscuss the type of agricultural technology mix required to promoteagricultural diversification in a country. This consultants report is preparedgiving high priority for those sectors and technologies that can promotediversification in the country.2. We, however, do suggest prepare a development project on peri-urbansystem for few selected cities to highlight the role of the system in supplyfresh food to the city and providing employment to urban poor, and39

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchDEFAgricultural policies analysis1. Demand and supply projections forlivestock and livestock products (i.e.milk, meat) at national and regionallevel.Globalization trade and marketing1. Impact of globalization and tradeliberalization on domestic foodproduction.Technology transfer and impactassessment1. Evaluating the existing extensionapproaches and methods used bypublic, private, NGOs and communitybased organizations.G Knowledge management and sharingSeminars/lectures on analyticaltechniques in agricultural economics.9 ANIMAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE (ASI)A Animal Health1. Development of Vaccines:a. HPS for Poultry.b. HS for livestock.2. Discovery of new pathogens (PPR virus,Bird flue virus, HPS virus, EDS virus).3. Establishment of Central Avian Influenza(Bird Flue) Lab at Animal HealthProgram and 12 Provincial CollaborativeLaboratories.4. Nation-wide Warble Fly Mapping andMonitoring.B Animal Reproduction1. Improved semen freezing methodsdeveloped for over 20% better pregnancyrate in buffalos.2. Develop hormonal treatment regime toget buffaloes pregnant in time aftercalving.3. Successful Embryo Transfer in Cattle andSheep.4. Wild life conservation.C Animal Nutrition (or Enhanced AnimalProductivity)1. Development of research based cattlefeed and urea molasses block and itsdissemination.2. Development of feedlot meat productiontechnology.3. Development of milk replacer/earlyweaning diets as milk substitutes for costeffective calf rearing.4. Inventory on bio-available nutrients offeedstuffs for poultry.quantifying its impact on environment, production diversity, and foodquality.1. The IFPRI has done that or in a better position to do it in collaboration withPIDEWe, however, feel that the analysis of the impact of globalization on agriculturecompetitiveness by sector should be left on PIDE or Policy Commission, whileNARC should study the impact of globalization on agriculture technologygeneration. The socioeconomists should show through development projectshow the implementation of IPM and resource saving technologies or organicfarming could improve farmers’ competitiveness in international markets. Theprogram should also develop procedures for certification in collaboration withIPEP.1. Evaluation is OK if it also accompanied with suggestion on applyingappropriate approach under alternative cultural and socioeconomic context.2. Surprisingly, very important activity was missed, which is quantifying theimpact of agricultural research on economic growth, poverty alleviation andresource degradation in Pakistan. This study is suggested with high prioritypossibly by involving a foreign consultant.This is very good if it is done for the province partners.1. Develop Recombinant-DNA vaccines against major livestock diseases2. Monitoring the development of new pathogens in the country3. OK4. OK5. Clearly the program need more resources and well equipped laboratories tomonitor the animal health across the country.1. Already available with the private sector2. Already available with the private sector3. Will it be economical?4. How and what?1. Development of computerized least-cost ration formulation for variousspecies of livestock and multi-nutrient urea molasses blocks for animalfeeding.2. Don’t understand.3. Don’t understand.4. This is controversial issue and nutrient bioavailability depends upon the healthand age of poultry, mixture of the different feedstuff, and environmental factor.NARC should not involve into this controversial issue. Rather the programshould develop poultry and other feed standards to monitor the quality of thesefeeds.5. Demonstrate standard procedures for GAP and HACCP (available fromInternet) at a pilot site, train provincial researchers for scaling up, and arrangeto provide internationally acceptable certificates for these.6. The program should expand its scope of research to include all aspects of lowanimal productivity; nutrition is only one aspect. Others are related to poormanagement of animals such as watering, timing of feed, living environment,etc.40

Strategic Direction for Agricultural ResearchDAquaculture and Fisheries1. Developed technology for inducedbreeding of carp fish Thaila.1. Introduction of exotic American ChannelCat Fish.2. Development of trout feed.3. Development of aquaculture technologyfor freshwater prawn.1. Should be collaborated with countries like Vietnam who has developed thesetechnologies1. Getting the fish seed and making few demonstration with the private sector isOK, but testing and introduction should be mainly done through the provincesthe private sector.2. Many formulations of trout fish feeds are available. Make many alternativesavailable to fishermen is the issue. Once these are available, developing acomputer-based model that can select an optimum feed under alternativeenvironments should be the target.3. Earlier efforts have failed in Pakistan. This research should be built byovercoming the constraints highlighted in these efforts, mainly the scarcity offresh water availability for aquaculture and its low demand.2.41

Annexure II. Institute and Program wise professional staff of PARCInstitute/Programs A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S TotalWater Resources Research Institute(WRRI)Institute of Natural Resources &Environmental Sciences (INRES)Land Resources Research Program(LRRP)2 21 1 1 251 2 17 2 0 0 0 1 0 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 392 17 3 3 1 26Rangeland Research Program (RRP) 1 2 1 1 8 13Institute of Plant Protection &Environmental Protection (IPEP) 0 0 0 2 15 12 0 0 0 15 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 47Crop Disease Research Program 11 7 18Insect Pest Management Program(IPMP)Vertebrate Pest Management Program(VPMP)3 1 41 2 1 4Weed Management Program (WMP) 2 2 4Eco-toxicology Research Program(ERP)2 2Honeybee Research Program (HBRP) 0 5 0 1 6National IPM Program (Nat-IPM) 3 2 5National Insect Museum 2 2 4Institute of Ag. biotechnology &Genetics Resources (IABGR) 8 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22Agricultural Biotechnology Program(ABP)Plant Genetic Resources Program(PGRP)1 2 1 1 1 1 77 1 1 1 1 1 4 16Horticulture Research Institute (HRI) 3 3 1 9 16Crop Sciences Institute (CSI) 29 1 6 28 2 10 1 0 1 1 6 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 92Wheat program 7 4 1 1 1 14Rice Program 1 1 3 3 2 1 11Fodder program 2 5 1 8Sugarcane program 1 3 1 5Maize, Sorghum & Millet Program 3 1 2 6Pulses Program 7 1 3 2 2 15Oilseed program 9 1 1 6 2 1 20Food Quality & Nutrition Program 1 1 3 4 9Stress Physiology Program 1 3 4Provincial Coordination Program 17 3 7 2 6 3 1 39Social Sciences Institute 11 11Animal Sciences Institute 11 6 13 3 6 39Farm Machinery Institute (FMI) 14 14Training Institute 1 2 3TOTAL NARC 55 6 28 43 20 32 14 1 36 26 13 13 7 11 6 13 3 6 11 344Regional Institutes 3 1 19 18 7 12 19 10 7 9 2 9 2 2 0 1 0 2 3 126SARC, Karachi 2 1 9 5 6 6 2 1 3 7 2 1 2 2 49Coastal Agricultural Research Station,Karachi2 1 1 0 2 1 7Pesticide Residue Institute, Karachi 1 1 3 1 2 8Crop Diseases Research Institute,KarachiGrain Storage Research Institute,KarachiVertebrate Pest Control Institute,KarachiNational Sugarcane ResearchInstitute, Thatta3 31 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 101 4 55 3 1 1 1 1 1242

Institute/Programs A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S TotalFeed Mill, Larkana 1 1Livestock Research Institute, Karachi 1 2 0 3AZRC, Quetta 0 3 3 1 1 1 0 1 2 12AZRI, D.I.Khan 1 2 1 4AZRI, Bahawalpur 1 3 1 2 7AZRI, Umerkot 1 2 2 1 6KARINA, Gilgit 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 8NTRI, Mansehra 4 2 1 1 3 11Technology Transfer Institutes 0 0 0 0 1 2 15 9 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29NARC, Islamabad 1 1 4 6Tandojam 1 5 1 7Faisalabad 4 2 6Quetta 3 1 4Peshawar 1 2 3Gilgit 1 1 2Muzaffarabad, AJK 1 1Total58 7 47 61 27 44 33 11 43 35 15 22 9 13 6 14 3 8 14 470A= Plant Breeder and Geneticist; B = Biotechnologist; C = Soil Scientist; D = Agronomist/ Weed scientist/Stress Physiologist; E =Plant Pathologist; F = Entomologist/ Plant Protectionist; G = Economist/ Statistician; H = Extensionist; I = AgriculturalEngineer/Water Management; J = Biological scientist; K = Chemistry/ Biochemist; L = Horticulturist; M = Food Scientist/Technologist; N = Animal Reproduction/ Animal Breeder & Geneticist; O = Animal nutritionist; P = Animal health Scientist; Q = Dairytechnologogist; R = Aquaculture & Fisheries Specialists; S = Range/ Forestry/ Wild Life Scientist.43

Annexure III. General Comments on Activities (we call them projects) and Outputs Suggestedin Theme Approach in PC-I‣ The suggested outputs• Suggested activities.Plant SciencesTheme-1: (Page 45 Vs page 78): Genetic improvement of crops especially through application ofbiotechnology and molecular genetics.‣ Transgenic plants of rice and wheat (resistant to a-biotic stresses) and bunchy top virus inbanana will be developed.The following activity schedule matches to certain extent with the above output.• Marker assisted breeding in rice, wheat, using micro satellite marker technique• Genomic studies for stress tolerance in rice and wheat (specify what stress are beinglooked for).Gene postulation, virulence analysis and marker assisted selection for resistance against wheat rusts inPakistan. –• Studies on genetic diversity in wheat and rice using DNA marker technique.• Qualitative trait loci (QTL) mapping in wheat and rice (a complete genomic map for riceis already available, while CIMMYT is working for wheat).• Application of Micro-array analysis or chip DNA technology for improvement ofvarieties.• Development of transgenic banana resistant to banana bunchy top virus‣ Genes for improvement of shelf life in tomato and disease resistance in potato and chillies willbe incorporated.• Shelf life improvement in tomato through genetic transformation• Improvement of disease resistance in potato and chillies using biotechnologicalapproaches‣ Five thousand plants of date palm and 50,000 plants of banana raised through micropropagation will be made available.• In vitro mass propagation of uniform and pathogen-free plants of date palm, mango andcitrus• Genetic improvement of Mango through non conventional breeding for sustainablemanageability and enhanced productivity•The activities schedules of following are provided, without linking them with output indicators.• Development of oil seed crops with focus on sunflower, canola hybrids and canola typemustard”• Genetic improvement of pulse crop• Hybrid development in vegetables‣ 10-20 elite germplasm lines in wheat and rice will be identified and used to develop at least twovarieties in each crop (No activity was designed to achieve this output-The output requires toscreen the germplasm extensively).44

General Comments: 1. Gearing traditional breeding towards biotechnology based breeding ispositive step, but we should avoid what has already been done or can becollaborated with international centers or advanced laboratories.2. Certain activities are reported in activity schedule, but no performanceindicators (or outputs) are provided for them, and vice versa.3. Development of varieties should be left on provinces or on the privatesector.4. Providing micro propagation methodology and improved materials is thejob of NARC, but it should not be engaged in producing and distributing thenurseries, which will create tension among provinces by raising questions aswhere these plants will be distributed, etc.5. Identification of quality genes, especially for fruits and vegetables,are completely left out.4. To our surprise, no activity schedule as well as output was related tocollection and characterization of germplasm, which is an importantingredient for this theme.Theme-2: (page 46 vs 79). Epidemiology, diagnosis and control of emerging and re-emerginginfections and pests of crops.‣ Maps of major economic diseases including Karnal bunt, Powdery mildew, phytoplasmaldiseases in citrus, palm and potatoes, late blight of potato and sudden death disease in fruits.‣ Standardized disease diagnostic techniques and mechanism of incidence in above diseases.Following activity schedule was given to achieve these outputs• Epidemiology and management of Karnal Bunt in wheat.• Epidemiological Studies on Powdery mildew of wheat and its race spectrum inPakistan.• Molecular based characterization of fungi causing sudden death inmango/citrus/guava/apricot and is on farm management.‣ Disease and pest management models for above crops and fruitsFollowing activity schedule was specified to achieve this output:• Biology and Management of Phytoplasmal diseases in Citrus, Palm and Potatoes.• On farm management of fungi causing sudden death in mango/citrus/guava/apricot.• Identification, isolation and integrated management of nematodes (missed from theabove list of important diseases) of economic importance.Following activities were specified without any related output:• Determination of mycotoxins in chilies at farm, market and consumer levels• To Study the Impact of Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) and its vector Bemesia (whitefly)on the vegetables grown in the cotton belt• Epidemiological studies on chili diseases and their managementGeneral Comments: 1. Certain activities are reported in activity schedule, but no performanceindicators (or outputs) are provided for them, and vice versa.2. The determine of mycotoxins, dioxin, or aflotoxins should not be restricted tochili only. More important crops with regard to effluents are eggplant, tomato,and okra grown in peri-urban areas. This is the problem of supply-drivenresearch that you pick an activity convenient to the researchers, rather thanwhat is important out in the market.45

3. The Ecotoxicology Research Program of INRES should be doing this activity,not IPEP.4. NARC should confine itself to develop models or simple computer-baseddecision-making tools for the management of different diseases in differentcrops. These models should be demonstrated to provincial researchers and/orextension agents, which should implement these models under the site-specificenvironments.Theme-3: (page 46 vs 79). Diversification of agriculture emphasizing horticulture, for improvedprofitability and value addition.‣ Identification of field and horticultural crops with comparative advantage.• No activity was specified to achieve this output. This activity should be done incollaboration with the Socioeconomists at NARC.‣ Availability of production packages for citrus grapes and olives• Post harvest management of fruits and vegetables (in fact, this should be an output,and the above output should be just one activity to achieve)‣ Production technology through organic farming• No activity schedule for this. The output is vague.‣ Introduction of exotic plants of high value• Introduction and propagation of exotic plants of high agriculture value-more detail isneeded-what crops, where, etc.Following activities have no associated outputImprovement of horticultural crops (citrus, grapes and olives)- the horticulture institute has nocapacity to do this. Repetition with Theme-1Breeding of indigenous varieties to meet export market such as seed lessness in citrus, uniformity inquality, extended shelf life and ease in cultural manageability in mangoes. The HorticultureResearch Institute has no capacity of doing this. The theme-2 should be doing this. The NIAB workis much advanced in seedless citrus.Vegetable seed production system in Pakistan. What research will be done here?General Comments:a) This theme is very poorly organized. Many activities do not have any output.b) The Horticulture Research Institute currently has no breeding capacity what soever. So breeding activity should be left on Them-1 and Theme-2.c) The theme should identify new methods of cultivation to reduce cost, improveseasonality, and produce for the nitch market.d) The theme should develop protocols for organic farming, GAP, and HCCP indifferent vegetables. They should also develop internationally acceptedcertification system for such vegetable production. This program can be linkedwith AVRDC organic farming program.e) The theme should identify agricultural business activities (such as processing,grading, packaging, advertising, financing, etc.) in the vegetable sector, andtrain rural households to identify and engage in these activities by providingthem technical information and skill on these.46

f) The theme should identify the niche high-value horticulture markets in citiesand foreign markets, train the farmers to meet the requirements of thesemarkets, and link farmers with these markets by providing appropriateorganization and technical information support.Theme-4: (page 47 vs 79). Integrated pest management models for cotton-wheat, rice-wheathorticulture systems and their field implementation, scaling out and scaling up strategies.• Document on Pest Risk Analysis in cotton-wheat, rice wheat and horticultural systems• Studies on Pest Risk Analysis in cotton-wheat, rice-wheat and horticultural systems.• IPM Models for quarantine and filed pests• Development of Integrated Pest Management Models for important pests (insects,diseases, weeds and vertebrates) under rice wheat, cotton wheat and horticulturecrops.• Development of toxicological research activities to prevent the under and over sprayingof pesticides.• Development of IPM procedures for the control of insect pests of stored wheat, rice andpulses at farm, market and public sector.• Establishment of bio-control laboratories for sugarcane, fruit and vegetable pests.• Studies on biological safe procedures for the control of insect pests infesting crops,fruits and vegetables including use of biological agents and bio pesticides.• Pest maps of new species• No activity was specified for this output.No output was specified for these activities• Studies on monitoring of resistance to pesticides in pest organisms.• Implementation of IPM through Farmer Field School approach.General Comments: 1. The consultant happily noticed that the researchers under this theme aremoving from developing IPM practices to developing IPM models (we hopedecision making).2. Study on monitoring resistance mechanism to pesticide in pest organism ispurely a theoretical research, which NARC does not have comparativeadvantage. Much work has already been done on this in advancedlaboratories and universities in the west.3. Implementation and scaling up of Farmers Field School (FFS) should be lefton the provinces. The Punjab province is already spending a large sum ofmoney on this activity. However, improving the methodology of FFS approachcan be taken up under this theme.Theme-5: (page 47 vs 79). Fate of Agrochemical Pollutants in food chain and Environment andtheir Impact on Health and Environment.‣ Identification and documentation of pesticide residue levels in food chain and environment.• No activity is associated to achieve this output.‣ Data providing levels of heavy metals and dioxins in various products47

• National Program to determine extent of heavy metals and dioxins in agriculturalproducts‣ Awareness about the residual effects of toxic materials• Organizational improvements, farmers training and research needs for more effectiveand safer use of pesticides in Pakistan• How about activity on consumers’ awareness?‣ Availability of quality materials and agricultural products• We accept that no activity has to be associated with it as all the above activities cangive this output.General Comments: 1. Suggest that the heavy metal and pesticide residue related activities shouldinvolve consumers in the peri-urban areas, and results should be widelypopularized to create demand for organic agriculture produce.2. The program should not only evaluate the residue content of food, but alsothe human nutrient contents and their bioavailability of crops and foods.Theme-6: (page 48 vs 80). Reduce post-harvest losses, and improve product quality throughimprovement of equipment, facilities and methods to make them more efficient and less costly.‣ Development of rice germplasm for aerobic environment adaptation• Development of Water Saving Aerobic Rice Production Technology for Pakistan. The outputemphasizes on germplasm, while activity wants to develop aeobic rice production technology.‣ Efficient and cost effected method for post harvest management of food grains.• No activity is defined to achieve this output.‣ Upgraded facilities and improved designs of post harvest equipments‣ Quality food grain• No activity is defined to achieve this output.Following activity is not linked with any output.• Determination of physico-chemical quality characteristics of wheat and rice produced inPakistanGeneral Comments: 1.This theme is hurriedly prepared. Many outputs are claimed without any activityassociated with them.2. Activity of Water Saving Aerobic Rice Production Technology does not makesense under this theme.2. It overlooks several potentials activities that can improve post-harvesthandlings of cops, such as development of improved shelf-life varieties,identification of improved packaging and simple processing technologies, etc.48

Theme-7 (page 48 vs 80): Developing and improving machinery for planting, harvesting,grading and processing‣ Appropriate and improved machinery for planting, harvesting, grading and processing viz. chilidrying technology, mobile flat bed dryer, mechanical milking system, vegetable and seedprocessing units and dual mode seeder• Adaptation of Drying Technology for Chilies• Adaptation of Mobile Flat-bed Dryer for Maize and Groundnut• Indigenization of Mechanical Milking Systems for Water Buffaloes and Cows• Development and commercialization of vegetables and fodder seeds processing unit.• Sowing Machinery for wheat establishment under heavy residue• Development of precision dual mode Seeder• On-Farm Technology for Value addition in tomatoes• Development of Canola Swather and Pickup Header• Design and development of the chickpea and lentil harvester‣ Enhanced productivity• We accept that no activity has to be associated with it as all the above activities cangive this output.General Comments: 1. The theme should carefully review the work already done on most of thesemachines either by the FMI, or in the neighboring counties like India. Forexample, India has fairly advanced chili-drying method.2. The provincial farm machinery organization and economists at NARC shoulddemonstrate and conduct field evaluation of different machinery developed bythe machine. So they should be involved from the very beginning of everyactivity.3. The implication of farm machinery on crop management aspects and naturalresource management should be carefully studied in collaboration with otherscientists.Natural ResourcesTheme-1 (page 49 vs 82-83): Soil Management for improving Crop Productivity and EnvironmentOutputs:‣ Technologies for reduced fertilizer cost (10-50%) and enhanced rice, wheat, cotton, maize,potato and fruit yield (20-40%) and produce quality‣ Peanut genotypes with improved nutrient uptake and utilization (40-50%)‣ Innovative technologies (using acids with organic amendments) for soil amelioration andbrackish water management in rice-wheat system‣ Salt tolerant wheat and rice genotypes (one each)‣ Composite bio-fertilizer for rice, wheat and maize crops‣ Technologies for production of high quality composts from organic wastes‣ Technologies to enhance 15-20% water and nutrient use efficiency in wheat, cotton and maize‣ Technologies for carbon sequestration by crop residue management in rice-wheat system.‣ Establish soil and environmental quality testing laboratory facility‣ Technologies for remediation of soils polluted by municipal and industrial waste aroundFaisalabad‣ Technologies for safe use of wastewater and bio-solidsActivities:49

• Integrated plant nutrient management (INM) for major cropping systems usingconventional and biotechnological approaches – Should be output• Saline soil and brackish water management using conventional and biotechnologicalapproaches• Development of bio-fertilizer and composting technologies for improving cropproduction• Soil physical health improvement for enhancing water and nutrient use efficiency –Should be output• Soil environmental: pollutants loading, fate, and management-Repetition with Theme-5,unless here the pollutant impact is studied only on soil not in the food chain. In thiscase, however, the activity title should be “Managing the pollutant to maintain/enhancesoil productivity”General Comments: 1. In analyzing this theme, we are completely confused. Most of the outputs are infact activities, and some of the activities are in fact outputs. So we failed togroup activities under outputs, and each of them are separately listed.2. The genotype improvements of peanut should be left with Theme-1 and itstesting should be done by provinces.3. This main focus of this theme is on improved crop management practices forenhanced cop productivity and environment. However, many provincial researchinstitutes have very similar research activities. To resolve this issue, oursuggestion is that NARC should focus on the methodological issues of resourceconservation technologies filling information gaps, and training of the provincialorganization to validate, evaluate, and adapt these methodologies in their ownenvironment (see our earlier comment-3 on Crop Sciences Program (CSP)under CSI).4. The emphasis should be on developing computer-based decision makingtools, rather than putting more experiments on nutrient management,composting, etc.5. The theme should involve scientists from WRRI, FMI, IPEP, INRES, and SSIto effectively develop certain resource saving and conservation technologies(again see our comment-3 on Crop Sciences Program (CSP) under CSI).5. The theme should focus on setting up the modalities for GAP and HACCP forthe farmers and processors to follow and provide internationally accreditedcertificate for those who follow these procedures.Theme-2 (page 49 vs 83-84): Improving water productivity under irrigated and rainfed productionsystem‣ Efficient water use technology for rice-wheat system by adopting dry-wet, direct seeding, andfurrow-bed, with expected water saving 10-15% in rice and 20-25% in wheat.• Identify and test suitable irrigation methods considering land, water, crop, farmer, etc. toincrease productivity and water use efficiency.‣ Introduction of supplemental irrigation technologies for in-time sowing and life saving wateringfor wheat and/or fruit plants in rainfed sub-humid and semi-arid areas.• Introduce supplemental, deficit and life saving irrigation concepts to increase croppedarea and production per unit area and water.• Develop conjunctive use of water (rain, surface and groundwater) for sustainedincreased productivity.‣ Estimation of except area under rice-wheat system; develop the thematic maps. If soil climate,topography (rainfed) socio-economic parameters, soil degradation status (rainfed) etc, and GIS50

analysis for zonation of suitable areas for agriculture- Just say “Zoning of agriculture landresources” as an output.• Develop resource inventories for targeted irrigated and rainfed areas.Following activity has no output associated.• To develop, adapt and demonstrate integrated land and water use techniques forincreased agricultural production on sustained basis under rainfed conditions.General Comments: 1. Lots of literature is available on dry-seeding and direct seeding in rice, andfurrow cultivation for water saving has been done tested several times. Wedon’t think, this activity will generate any new findings. The data generated byearlier research should be used to develop computer-based develop decisionmaking tools which can define the socioeconomic and geographicalparameters for these technologies.2. The concepts of supplemental, deficit, and life-saving irrigation were taught tous by UAF professors during the 1970s, thus it is not an innovative upstreamresearch.3. Developing resource inventories is a good thing to do.3. The ultimate goal of this program should be to develop computer-baseddecision making model for the efficient and sustainable land and water useunder various environments (in irrigated, scrub-forest, gully eroded, watereroded, barani areas, etc)- (see our comment on Water Harvesting andConservation program under WRRI above.Theme-3 (page 51 vs 84): Realization of improved rangeland productivity‣ Rehabilitates rangelands in arid (Thal+Cholistan) and semi- arid (Pothwar) areas througheliminating obnoxious species and introducing desirable forage species.• Range Inventory for Assessing Current Ecology Status of Range Resources, IdentifyingObnoxious Species and Introducing Desirable Forage Species (add the colored part inactivity)‣ Improved integrated forage production technologies (this statement is enough for output, whileafterward statement contains activities some of which does not match with the activitiesreported in the activity schedule) by range reseeding through seed pelting technology;establishing forage resources by introducing promising local/ exotic grass species and silvopastoralinterventions (i.e., growing forage tress and shrubs) for sustainable forage productionin arid (i.e. Thal+Cholistan) and semi-arid (Pothwar) area.• Identification of Promising Grasses, Fodder Trees, and Shrubs• Vegetation Dynamics Studies• Studies on Range Biodiversity Conservation• Participatory Range Management for Sustainable Land UseGeneral Comments: 1. The activities suggested under the theme are reasonable, and should besupported with appropriate manpower.2. Our only comment is that NARC should not involve in introducing new foragevarieties. It should confine itself in identifying the appropriate forage plantingmaterials and elite lines, while final development of varieties, their testing andintroduction should be left with the provinces research organization.Theme-4 (page 51-52 vs 84-85): Apiculture for quality production and increased crop productivity.51

‣ Selective breeding for disease resistance and productive lines• Genetic stock improvement for increased honey yield‣ Honey production will increase by 25% over current production of 7,500 MT/Annum.• Develop management techniques/chemical methods for control of bee diseases‣ Upgradations of honey quality testing lab for almost 25 tests to comply with ISO certification -Activity.• Improve honey quality for enhanced and ensured honey export-output‣ Enhanced Honeybee-associated cross-pollination will increase yield of oil seed (sunflower),vegetable (cucurbits, onion seed), fruit (apple) and fodder (berseem) crops upto 20%.• Investigate pollination potential of honey bees for higher crop productionNo output was suggested for the following activity• Development of byproducts of bee keeping like pollen, popollis, royal jelly and bee wax(The output of this activity could be “enhanced competitiveness of honey-beeproduction)General Comments: 1. Many activities are without outputs, and one activity was confused with outputand output with activity.2. Enhanced honeybee associated cross pollination should be done incollaboration with CSI and HRI who are mainly responsible for increasingoilseed, fruits, and vegetable productivity. The increased production throughenhanced pollination may become a component of overall productivityincrease in these crops.3. Looking at the human resources, the development of byproducts of beekeeping is impossible to achieve by the theme.Animal SciencesTheme 1 (page 53-57 vs 86): Genetic Improvement and Enhancing Reproductive Efficiency ofAnimals (It is better to say “Enhancing Reproductive Efficiency ofAnimals Through Genetic Improvement”‣ Gene distancing of 3 buffalo, 11 cattle, 32 sheep and 25 goat breeds will be available. Basedupon this, breeds that require conservation will be identified.• Purchasing and training of three genetically superior Nili Ravi buffalo and three Sahiwalcow bulls, six Kajli rams and six Beetal bucks• Improvement of Nili Ravi buffalo and Sahiwal cow bulls semen through development ofnew extenders containing different cryo-protectants, energy sources, antioxidants andantibiotics for cryopreservation.• Application of post thaw semen assays (CASA, HOS, NAR) for Nili Ravi buffalo andSahiwal cow bulls• Establishment & maintenance of a gene (semen) bank for Nili Ravi buffalo and Sahiwalcow bulls comprising of 5000 semen doses, and conduct fertility trials on the storedsemen.• Selection of resource population of different Sheep and Goat breeds.52

• Sampling (Blood/Hair/Semen) for molecular genetic studies, extraction of DNA,amplification and Genotyping, DNA finger printing and sequencing, statistical analysisof marker data and Final report submission‣ Reducing the infertility in buffaloes during summer and increasing availability of milk in summermonths.• Study of ovarian dynamics using ultrasonography and hormone assay around inducedheat (Ovsych) in buffaloes in peak and low breeding seasons• Comparison of Ovsynch and CIDR to induce fertile oestrus in buffaloes in peak and lowbreeding seasons and interaction of oestrus induction protocol with controlledenvironmental temperature in low breeding season• Oestrous induction in buffaloes kept under small holder system vs commercial periurbansystem• Effects of altering dietary cation-anion balance on reproductive performance during hotsummer in lactating Red-Sindhi dairy cows• Influence of dietary sodium and potassium bicarbonate on heat stressed lactating Red-Sindhi cows.‣ The nucleus flocks of important sheep, goats, cattle and buffalo breeds will be established in thecountry as permanent source of pure-bred animals.‣ A Gene bank of 5000 cryo-preserved semen doses at ARP (NARC) will be established.• Selection and recording of pure Red-Sindhi cattle at all livestock farms• Storage of germ plasm of selected Red-Sindhi bulls‣ New procedures for embryo and semen sexing are developed and semen and embryo banks ofelite livestock breeds are established. Propagation of animals of high genetic merit starts.• Development of extenders and processing techniques for Kajli sheep and Beetal goatssemen cryopreservation.• Development of artificial insemination techniques (laparoscopic and cervical) in sheepand goat.• Research experiments on development of processing techniques (dilution, cooling,equilibration and freezing rates) for Nili Ravi buffalo and Sahiwal Cow bull semencryopreservation.• Semen quality testing of Red-Sindhi breeding bulls of different livestock farms• Organization of national workshop/seminar on improving the evaluation and productionof bubaline, bovine, ovine and caprine semen• Production of training video on evaluation and preservation techniques of bovine semenfor training purposes‣ New procedures such as embryo and semen sexing are developed and semen and embryobanks of elite livestock breeds are set up to propagate animals of high genetic merit (Repetitionwith one of the above outputs)Following activities have no output. The output of most of these activities can be “Enhance cattleproductivity”)• Bioavailability of minerals from different sources in Red-Sindhi cows53

• Mineral status of lactating Red-Sindhi cows• Effects of weaning age on growth performance of Red-Sindhi calves• Study of improvement in economically important traits of Red- Sindhi cattle• Effects of different level and sources of calcium and phosphorus on the blood acid basebalance and milk yield and composition in Red-Sindhi cattle• Effects of level & source of protein in calf starter on growth & feed efficiency in Red-Sindhi calves• Effect of different levels of molasses in calf starter on growth characteristics and bloodparameter in Red-Sindhi dairy calves• Effects of different levels of urea-molasses liquid supplements on the growth of Red-Sindhi steers• Effects of level & source of grains in fattening ration on growth performance anddigestibility in Red-Sindhi cattleGeneral Comments: 1. The activities related to livestock management practices have no output.2. However, most of these activities are in the jurisdiction of provincial research.The PARC system should not involve in testing the effect of nutrient on variousanimal growth and productivity parameters.Theme 2 (page 58 vs 86-87): Epidemiology, diagnosis and control of emerging and re-emerginginfections of animals‣ Selected potent veterinary vaccines will be developed for different livestock classes.• Field isolation and preliminary studies to identify immunogenic strains of AIV H9N2 virus for usein vaccines.• Usage of vaccine strains to prepare whole virus vaccine and undertake lab and field trials.• Identification and isolation of immunogenic determinants• Standardization of procedures for sequencing of the required genes, cloning and expression,detection of required protein and methods to assess its immunogenicity.• Studies on vaccine development, with and without adjuvant and determine appropriate doseand route of its administration.‣ Recombinant vaccine for avian influenza will be developed.• Cloning of immunogenic gene of Avian Adenovirus-4 in appropriate expression vector (Poxvirus)• Cloning of immunogenic gene of Foot and Mouth Disease Virus in appropriate expressionvector.‣ Human & environment friendly food (animal products with minimal drug and toxins residues,better shelf life and meeting WTO requirements) becomes available.‣ Rapid, quick and precise diagnostic procedures for livestock & poultry disease control will bedeveloped.• Conduct studies regarding safety, potency and efficacy of the developed vaccine both at laband in the field.‣ An eradication program for PPR (Peste Des Ruminant) will be developed -Activity not output54

‣ Based upon epidemiological studies disease control mechanism will be developed.General Comments: 1. The use of biotechnology to control animal diseases is appropriate approach tofollow. However, final testing of vaccine and doze administration should bedone by the provincial research system.Theme 3 (page 58 vs 87): Improving Feed Resources and Technologies‣ Nutrient dynamics/utilization and effect of stair-step feeding scheme on the growth performanceof heifers (8±1 months age) and on pubertal development, conception and pregnancy rate(14±1 months age) in Sahiwal cow, Nili-Ravi, buffaloes, Kundi Buffalo, Red Sindhi cattle, goat,etc.‣ Identification of appropriate age for optimum beef production under different planes of nutritionin Nili-Ravi buf. Calves, Red Sindhi calve, goat, Sahiwal cattle, sheep, Rukhshani sheep.‣ Evaluation of bio-economic efficiency of different planes of nutrition in buffalo calves, Rakhshanisheep, goat, Sahiwal calves, Red Sindhi calve.‣ Effect of meat processing i.e., aging time of carcass of buffalo calves.‣ Farmer participatory demonstration of feedlot fattening for beef and mutton production tofarming community.It is claimed that these activities will produced the following outputs:• A complete technology package for solving major problem of late maturity in buffaloeswill be available. It will include standard feeding calendars to reduce puberty age from36-26 months.• Economical mutton and beef production technologies will be available.• Meat production potential of major livestock breeds will be assessed.General Comments: 1. While the researchers of NARC have already found the positive impact of stairstepfeeding on the growth and performance of various animals, it is the job ofthe provincial researchers to study its impact on various performanceparameters of different animals under various environments.2. Using the data generated at NARC and with the collaboration of provincialorganization, NARC researchers should develop decision making tools formaking standard feeding calendars under various environment andmanagement practices of livestock farmer for different animal types.3. NARC should develop methodology to evaluate the bio-economic efficiency ofdifferent nutritional plan, while actual evaluation should be done by theprovincial researcher under different set of economic and ecologicalenvironments.4. The methodology of farmers’ participatory demonstration of feed flatteningshould be developed by NARC using few demonstration trials. However, itshould be done in collaboration with provinces so that they can use thismethodology for scaling up.Theme 4 (page 58 vs 87-88): Genetic Improvement and Breeding of Carps, Trout and Catfish• Identification and maintenance of landraces of fish and carps species suitable for culture inPakistan• Comparative testing of fish species and different lines, and progeny testing for determining theindividual breeding value• Intraspecific Hybridization55

• Artificial Gynogenesis and Hormonal sex reversion• Producing and maintaining inbred lines for intraspecific hybridization• Producing semi-gynogenetic lines• Producing monosex fish populations with gynogenesis• Intergeneric Hybridization• Biochemical polymorphism investigations• Chromosome investigations• Purchase of channel catfish seed and collection of Khagga fish seed from different wild sources• Development of artificial diets from locally prepared ingredients for different stages of local andexotic species of catfishes• Catfish spawning (indigenous and exotic) using both natural and artificial methods.. Thedifferences in spawning success, spawning latency (the time between hormone injection andthe release of unfertilized eggs) and percent fertilization between M-F pairs will be detected• Larval rearing of catfish will be done in ponds, aquaria and circular tanks and their growth withnatural and artificial diets will be studied.• Development of brood stock from locally hatched fry.• Breeding of locally developed brood stock of catfish. Natural and artificial spawning for seedproduction of catfish will be refined for research and commercial purposes.• Pond culture of local and exotic species on different locally prepared diets using differentfeeding rates, different stocking densities and different culture systems including mono &polyculture. Dissemination of catfish farming breeding technologies to the farmers.• Visit of Mississippi State University, Auburn University and Marion Fish Hatchery Alabama forcatfish culture, breeding and technology transferIt is claimed that these activities will produced the following outputs:‣ 35 to 40% improved growth rate as well as improved production per acre of carps and trout.‣ Development of catfish fries for rearing by farmers – An activity rather than an output.‣ Development of fish feed – An activity rather than an output. The output of this activity can be“Reduction in production cost of fish production”.• Production of training video on breeding and pond culture for training purposes – Verificationindicator rather than activity• Editing and publishing of a brochures and pamphlets to disseminate technology to fish farmers-Verification indicator rather than activityGeneral Comments: 1. The trainers are suggested to visit countries having small scale fish productiontechnology, such as Vietnam and China, rather than University of Alabamathat has relatively more sophisticated fish production technology.2. The technology for inland pond-fish did not work in Punjab because ofshortage of water. Therefore, before developing such technologies, theresearchers should clearly identify the technology domain.3. Dissemination of fish technologies should be left with provincesSocial SciencesTheme 1 (page 64-65 vs 89): Agricultural Production and Value Chains56

‣ Policy suggestions for participation of small farmers in the value chains through verticalintegration in dairy, horticulture, poultry and fisheries sectors.• Participation of small farmers in the dairy value chains in Pakistan – Please differentiatebetween activity and output.‣ Action plan for minimizing post harvest losses of fruits and vegetables.• Assessment of post-harvest losses of selected fruits and vegetables in Pakistan.• Analyzing the vertical integration in horticulture sector of Pakistan.‣ Policy dialogue to making agricultural markets work better for smallholder farmers in the country– Activity and outputs are mixed. Policy dialogue between whom?No output for the following activities were provided:• Growth of poultry sector and emergence of vertical links with farmers, private sector andmultinationals.- An output rather than activity.• Vertical coordination in fisheries sector in Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan.General Comments: 1. The activities specified to achieve certain outputs are not clear, and certainactivities have no output.2. Socioeconomists should identify major constraints which are holding down thewhole supply chain in major fruits and vegetables.3. Socioeconomists should identify the niche markets where small farmers canmake money and then quantify its economic viability, identify adoptiondomain and suggest policy measures to overcome socioeconomic andtechnology constraints in its adoption.4. Marketing and agricultural business scientists need to be involved in thisactivityTheme 2 (page 65 vs 89): Agricultural Growth and Poverty• Research strategies for agricultural growth and poverty reduction.• Agricultural productivity and rural poverty nexus.• Role of Infrastructure, education and health in Agricultural Productivity and Poverty Reduction.• Impact of Social Capital on Poverty Reduction (the above activity already covers this).• Role of Livestock sector in Poverty Alleviation.These activities were claimed to deliver following outputs:‣ Strategies and recommendations to enhance overall growth of the agriculture sector of the countrythrough increasing productivity and efficiency.‣ Suggestions for reducing poverty in the rural areas of Pakistan.‣ Identifying target groups for policy interventions to reduce povertyGeneral Comments: 1. The PIDE, newly created Policy Commission, and Planning Commission are ina better position to propose research strategies for growth and povertyreduction. NARC should focus on the role of agricultural technologies ingrowth and poverty reduction.2. It is important to look the role of the livestock sector in poverty alleviation, butNARC has recently completed this exercise. Therefore, they should move onto do the similar exercise for other emerging sectors like horticulture,agricultural businesses, etc.57

3. The impact of infrastructure, social capital, etc. on poverty alleviation is a widearea, and lots of work on national and international level has already beendone. NARC should just focus on how these factors affect the demand foragricultural technology, and its dissemination and adoption.Theme 3 (page 65 vs 89): Agricultural Diversification• Determinants of spatial agricultural production diversification, diversification potentials and costsassociated in major cropping and agro-ecological zones of Pakistan.• Determinants of consumption diversity, disease incidence and labor productivity in farming andnon-farm households in rural environment of Pakistan –Has already been done (See Ali andFarooq (2203). Consumption Diversity and Labor Productivity, Paper presented in AmericanAgricultural Economic Association meeting in Denver, July ??)• Role of urbanization in production stimulating agricultural diversification in peri-urban areas.• Determinants of consumption diversity, disease incidence and wage earnings in major urbancenters of Pakistan.• Economic analysis of policies and measures for promoting production and consumptiondiversification in Pakistan.These activities were claimed to generate the following outputs.‣ Information is generated on drivers of regional production and consumption diversification inPakistan.‣ Policy implications/recommendations to improve the production and consumption diversification togenerate greater income and reduce poverty.General Comments: 1. Most of the work suggested here has already been done and published. Wesuggest change the name of the program as “Development Role of Urbanand Peri-urban System” and prepare a development project on“Development Role of Urban and Peri-urban System in Promoting Diversityand Harmony in Agriculture” for selected cities to highlight agriculturaldiversity in the system, role of the system in supply fresh food to the city andproviding employment to urban poor, quantifying its impact on environmentand food quality, and suggest measures on mitigating its negative impact onfood quality.Theme 4 (page 65-66 vs 90): Agricultural Policy Analysis• Demand and supply projections for food grains (i.e. wheat, rice, maize) sugarcane, and cottonat national and regional level• Demand and supply projections for livestock and livestock products (i.e. milk, meat) nationaland regional level• Impact of pricing, credit, subsidies, and agricultural tax policies on sustainability, growth andpoverty alleviation• Water governance, pricing and valuation, agricultural productivity• Political economy of sugar production in PakistanThese activities were claimed to generate the following outputs.‣ Estimates on demand and supply projections for food grains and livestock products.58

‣ Identifying the positive and negative effects of government interventions in the agriculture system,and policy implications for optimal solutions/resource allocation.‣ Quantifying the impact of governance structure of the agriculture in particular, and markets, water,and extension in particular (no activity for extension??).General Comments: 1. IFPRI has already done most of the projection, and PIDE is in a better positionto update this analysis.2. The impact of prices, taxes, and subsidies has already been extensivelyexplored by PIDE, and they are in better position t update this work.3. Reports on the political economy of sugar production are available fromearly 1990s. Unless, the politics of sugar production has changeddramatically (which we doubts it has), this work will not produce any newinsight.5. Many analyses are available on water pricing by national as well as well asinternational researchers. No need to repeat this work.4. The program may focus on the role of markets (both inputs and outputs) andpricing policies on technology generation and diffusions in general.5. The program should look into how land and water property rights affect thetechnology adoption, and what new property right approaches can beadopted to overcome low technology adoption in agriculture.Theme 5 (page 66 vs 90): Globalization, Trade, and Marketing• Impact of globalization and trade liberalization on domestic food production• Market structure and institutional arrangement to analyze market access for export commodities• Impact and Implication of globalization and WTO intervention on agriculture• Impact of trade liberalization on the livelihoods of the poor and gender disparities• Impact of import liberalization on PakistanThese activities were claimed to generate the following outputs.‣ Better understanding about the linkages between trade liberalization and poverty alleviation andfarmers’ livelihood improvement.‣ Action plan for trade development strategies for Pakistan under WTO regimes and regional tradeagreements.General Comments: 1. We, however, feel that the analysis of the impact of globalization on agriculturecompetitiveness by sector should be left on PIDE or Policy Commission,while NARC should study the impact of globalization on agriculturetechnology generation. Moreover, MINFAL is setting up its own unit to studythe issue.2. The socioeconomists should prepare a development projects to show howimplementation of GAP such as organic farming and IPM can improvefarmers’ competitiveness in international markets.3. The program should also develop procedures for certification in collaborationwith IPEP.4. The program should identify niche commodities and technologies in thedomestic and international market to enhance farmers’ income andcompetitiveness.5. The name of the program should be changed to “Enhancing theCompetitiveness of Agriculture Sector”.59

Theme 6 (page 66-67 vs 90): Technology Transfer and Impact Assessment• Analyzing the governance structure of agriculture extension and reforming the system inPakistan• Evaluating the existing extension approaches and methods used by public, private, NGOs andCommunity based organizations• Analyzing the political dimension of agriculture extension reforms in Pakistan• Analyzing and reforming the livestock extension and advisory services in Pakistan• Adoption, impact, and economic analysis of transgenic/Bt Cotton in Pakistan• Property rights of land and water in Pakistan: Issues and Options• Transfer of promising technologies to the selected communities in PakistanThese activities were claimed to generate the following outputs.‣ Suggestions and guidelines for speeding up technology transfer from research stations to farmers’fields.‣ Measures for caring the rights of stakeholders in technology generation and its transfer throughappropriate governance mechanism.General Comments: 1. We think, the SSI should spend major resources on studying various aspects ofimpact of agriculture research in Pakistan, rather than having only one activityfor impact analysis.2. How property right of land and water fits under the theme of “TechnologyTransfer”. It should go under Theme 4.3. Transfer of promising technologies to selected communities is not SSI’s job.The SSI can develop and refine methodologies for such transfer (such asFarmers school, etc.) , but leave the actual technology transfer to theAdaptive Research and Extension Departments of the provinces or to NGO’s.Theme 7 (page 67 vs 90): Knowledge Management• Seminars/Lectures on analytical techniques in agricultural economics• Computerization and Management of Secondary Data and research report – most of thesecondary data is now already available on the websites and we hope that most of the SSIreports are already printed on the computer. Putting these reports on the website is theresponsibility of the Information ??• Computerization and Management of Full Text Research Articles –this should be done bylibrary not by SSI.• Management of ‘Tacit’ Knowledge – We don’t understand this, and if there is any need of this, itshould be done by library not by SSI.• Workshops, seminars and conferences on the issues related to agriculture and its linkages tothe other sectors of the economyThese activities were claimed to generate the following outputs.60

‣ Computerized secondary data on key policy and research indicators, full text research reports andarticles.‣ Workshops, seminars and conferences on the issues related to agriculture and its linkages to theother sectors of the economy – An activity above. The output can be “Increased awareness amongstakeholders about the role of agriculture research in the society and related policy andmanagement issues in the sector”.‣ Policy briefs on various issues based on scholarly lectures. Can go as an activityGeneral Comments: 1. The SSI should carefully use its resources in knowledge management andshould not step on the activities which library or other units can betterhandle.2. Holding workshops and policy briefs are useful activities. Specialworkshops should also be organized on Economic Analysis Methodologies(especially those which have been used by NARC researchers) for theprovincial researchers to enhance their capacity.61

Annexure IV. Suggested Themes, Sub-Themes, and Projects1. Enhancement in Productivity and Sustainability of Farming Systems1. Rice-wheat Systemi. Identifying gene sources and developing transgenic lines and genotypes for:• Resistant to karnal bunt, powdery mildew, and stem rust in wheat• Resistant to diseases? in rice,• Resistant to insects? in rice,• Salt tolerant rice and wheat• Short-duration riceii. Develop model of mechanical harvesting of paddy reduced time conflict between rice-wheat as well asimproved milling recovery.iii. Technologies for carbon sequestration by crop residue management for the conservation of natural enemiesand environmentiv. Management models to minimizing the impact of Resource Conservation Technologies (RTC) on insect-pestinfestation and biocntrol agents.v. Developing crop management methodologies and policies for enhancing water management of the system toreduce cost and spread of water logging and salinity.vi. Develop technology for water saving aerobic rice productionvii. Developing appropriate weed management approachesiix. Developing improved soil management methodologies to decrease micronitrient depletion in the soil andenhance organic matterix. Reducing production cost by developing appropriate and cost-effective machine models such as sowingmachine for wheat establishment under heavy residue and combined harvester for paddy.x. Improving sustainability by introducing legumes in the system, and developing improved soil managementsystem (such as manure and residue incorporation, application of balanced fertilizer, etc.)xi. Improving sustainability and reducing production costs of the system through identifying appropriateintegrated pest management (IPM) approachesxii. Evaluating innovative technologies, such as using acid with organic amendments) for soil amelioration andbrackish water managementxiii. Improve water use efficiency by adapting dry-wet, direct seeding, and furrow-bed which will save 10-15%water in rice and 20-25% in wheat.2. Cotton-wheat Systemi. Identifying gene sources and developing transgenic lines and genotypes for:ii. Resistant to karnal bunt, powdery mildew, and stem rust in wheatiii. Resistant to gimni virus in cottoniv. Resistant to cotton bollwormv. Salt tolerant rice and wheatvi. Short-duration cottonvii. Improving sustainability and reducing production costs of the system through identifying appropriateintegrated pest management (IPM) approachesiix. Reducing production cost by developing appropriate machine models especially for improved crop stand62

ix. Developing appropriate tillage method in cottonx. Reducing the impact of Cotton Leaf Curl Virus and its vector Bemesia (white fly) on vegetables grown in thewheat-cotton systemii.iii.iv.3. Mixed-cropping SystemEnhance productivity of sugarcane by identifying efficient management approachesGenetic improvement of cattle for milk and meat production, buffalo for milk production, and bull for meatand quality semen production through biotechnology.Improving sustainability and reducing production costs of the system through identifying appropriateintegrated pest management (IPM) approachesv. Identifying water saving approaches in sugarcane productionvi.vii.viii.Developing transgenic plants of wheat and sugarcane resistant to salinityComparative study of sugarbeet and sugarcaneImproved materials and genes for higher sugar content in sugarcane4. Low-input Intensity Systemi. Identify and prioritize system constraintsii.iii.iv.Genetic improvement of nucleus herds of sheep and goats for wool and meat production throughdevelopment of genetic modelDevelop high-yielding transgenic for maize, pulses, and millet under marginal conditionSuggest adaptation in internationally available water harvesting techniques to the local conditionsv. Develop models for water saving irrigation techniques (drip, sprinkle, etc.)vi.vii.viii.ix.Develop economically viable and socially acceptable drill for chickpea under moisture deficit soilsDevelop economically viable and socially acceptable chickpea and lentil harvesting technology toovercome harvesting labor shortageAdaptation of flat-bed dryer for maize and groundnut (to solve what problem?)Fodder & forage for high yield/ multi-cut, quality and supply during lean period5. Rainfed Medium Land and Mountainous Systemi. Suggest adaptation in internationally available water harvesting techniques to the local conditionsii.iii.iv.Develop adaptations in the internationally available models for water saving irrigation techniques (drip,sprinkle, etc.)Preservation, evaluation, and improvement (through traditional and biotechnology approaches) ofbubaline bovine, ovine, and caprine semen.Identify gene sources to enhance the growth in sheep and goat and milk productivityv. Identify suitable evergreen forage species and silvo-pastoral systemvi.vii.viii.ix.Development of computerized least-cost ration formulation for various species of livestock andproduction of multi-nutrient urea molasses blocks for animal feeding.Develop Recombinant-DNA vaccines against major livestock diseasesIntroduction of supplemental irrigation technologies for in-time sowing and life-saving watering for wheatand/or fruit plantsEstablishment of certified mother plants of fruits (Olive, Grapes, Stone fruits).63

6. Peri-urban production systemi. Quantify the contribution of peri-urban production system in supplying food to major citiesii.iii.iv.Identify cropping patterns in the peri-urban production system.Creating awareness among consumers about food quality and its impact on health by documenting thepesticide residue levels and heavy metal contamination in major fruits and vegetables grown in the periurbansystemCreating awareness among consumers about food safety its impact on health by documenting the viraland fungal infection on vegetables, meat, fish, and other fresh food.v. Suggest suitable technologies (protected cultivation, green house cultivation, hydroponics, etc.) toimprove competitiveness of the system with imported food in the cities, reduce seasonality in vegetablesupply, and meet the changing food demands for quality.vi.vii.viii.ix.Improving sustainability, reducing production costs, and enhancing the quality of food produced in thesystem through identifying appropriate integrated pest management (IPM) approachesDevelop Recombinant-DNA vaccines against major poultry diseasesDeveloping economically viable and socially acceptable mechanical milking system for water buffaloesand cowsManaging the mycotoxins and dioxin in different foods at farm, market, and consumers’ levels.x. Developing technologies for remediation of soils polluted by municipal and industrial waste aroundFaisalabadxi.xii.Develop technologies for safe use of wastewater and biosolidsOestrous induction in buffaloes kept under small holders system vs commercial per-urban system2. Improving Resource Conservation in Agriculture1. Soil managementi. Recommendation for appropriate cropping pattern to reduce nutrient and organic miningii.iii.iv.Developing integrated nutrient management technologies to decrease micronitrient depletion in the soiland enhance organic matterEvaluating innovative technologies, such as using acid with organic amendments) for soil ameliorationand brackish water management in different systems.Develop integrated nutrient management methodologies to decrease micronitrient depletion in the soiland enhance organic matter contentv. Suggest appropriate tested techniques to reduce soil erosionvi.Desertification2. Environmental Efficiencyi. Fate and pathways of agrochemicals particularly pesticides in soil, water, food chain and environmentii.iii.iv.Impact of pesticides on human and animal health and environmentTechnologies for carbon sequestration by crop residue management for the conservation of naturalenemies and environmentManagement of pollinators particularly honeybees for sustainable agriculture3. Water use Efficiencyi. Developing crop management models and policies for enhancing water use efficiency in different ecosystemsto reduce the impact of irrigation on water logging and salinity.64

ii.iii.iv.Improve water use efficiency by adapting dry-wet, direct seeding, and furrow-bed.Introduction of supplemental irrigation technologies for in-time sowing and life-saving watering for wheatand/or fruit plantsManaging salinity4. Range Managementi. Suggest measures to conserve and sustainable use of biodiversity in the rangelandsii.iii.iv.Vegetation dynamics studies (for what purpose/output)Studies on range biodiversity conservation (for what purpose/output)Developing methodologies for participatory range management for sustainable land use3. Promoting Agriculture Diversification and Commercialization inAgriculture1. Improving Profitability of Horticulture and medicinal plantsi. Improving the propagation of vegetables, fruits, and floriculture through biotechnology for their massmultiplication to improve seedling qualityii.iii.iv.Genetic improvement of mango and citrus for improved productivityIdentify indigenous vegetable germplasm for enhanced productivity, micronutrient content, and greateracceptability.Identifying resistant sources for diseases in citrusv. Identifying and managing the fungi causing sudden death phenomenon in mango, citrus, guava, and apricot.vi.vii.viii.ix.Epidemiology and management of chili venal mottle virus in chili, late blight in potato, phytoplasmal diseasesin citrus, palm, and potato.Developing biofertilizer and biopesticidesDeveloping off-season vegetable production technologies, such as protected cultivation and hydroponicsand introduction of germplasm insensitive to heat and cold.Improving farm-level biodiversity of fruits to spread their harvesting season by identifying germplasminsensitive to different levels of heat and coldx. Identifying appropriate integrated pest management (IPM) approaches to reduce production cost, improveproduce quality, and protect the environment.xi.xii.Develop suitable, economically viable, and socially acceptable model for mechanical planting of vegetables,especially for peas and mechanically harvesting of fruits and vegetables such as tomato, citrus, mango, etc.Identify agricultural inputs (such as mulching, drip irrigation tools, hydroponics, fruit seedling, seed, etc.)important in the growth of the horticulture sector, and suggest measure to improve their supply chain.2. Improvement in Productivity of Pulses and Minor cropsi. Identify high productivity gene and develop transgenic for various pulses and minor crops grown undermarginal conditionsii.iii.iv.Identify the sources of disease and insect resistance in major pulses and minor cropsImprove the responsiveness of pulses to different inputs, especially water and fertilizer so that they can begrown in intensive systems.Identify short-duration pulses strains that can be incorporated in the major cropping systemsv. Suggest policy measures to improve marketing of pulses and minor crops65

vi.Evaluation and incorporation of new gene for barley yellow dwarf virusi. Political economy of sugar production3. Improvement in profitability of commercial cropsii. Improve the competitiveness of sugarbeet in comparison of sugarcane to reduce water per grain of sugar.iii. Develop models for mechanical harvesting of sugarcane and sugarbeetiv. Develop high-yielding transgenic and genes of sunflowerv. Develop rapeseed swather and pickup header (to solve what problem)vi. Peanut genotype with improved nutrient uptake and utilization4. Improving the profitability of livestocki. Developing efficient feeding models in cow, buffalo, goat, and sheepii.iii.iv.Developing efficient feeding formulationIdentifying ever-green grasses, and high-yielding material for grassesDeveloping efficient livestock management models5. Mechanization of agricultural production activities fordiversification and commercializationi. Develop suitable model for mobile seed processing unit for vegetables and fodder (to solve whatproblem)ii.iii.iv.Adaptation of pre-cooling system for fruits and vegetables to reduce its cost for the purpose of reducingpost-harvest lossesDeveloping suitable, economically viable, and socially acceptable model for flat-bed dryer for sunflowerand canolaDevelop suitable, economically viable, and socially acceptable model for rapeseed thresherv. Develop suitable, economically viable, and socially acceptable model for precision dual mode seeder.vi.vii.Develop economically viable and socially acceptable model for dibbler and chaff spreader.Develop economically viable and socially acceptable model for fodder harvester4. Improving Agricultural Competitiveness through Developing Value Chain1. Overcome major hitch at production, market, consumption, or tradelevel in major fruits and vegetablesi. Analysis of value chain of major fruits (citrus, mango, new fruits emerging in the marketii.iii.iv.Analysis of value chain of major vegetables (tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, chili)Analysis of value chain major dairy products (like milk, cheese, beef, mutton, etc.)Analysis of value chain new emerging vegetable, fruits, fishery, and livestock productsv. Analysis of value chain poultry meat2. Reducing post-harvest lossesi. Technologies for storage and transportation of perishables and grains to reduce post-harvestlosses.ii.Technologies for vegetable and fruit drying methods, such as solar-cum gas fire dryer.66

iii.iv.Technologies for home-based processing technologies for fruits, vegetables, and animalproducts.Improving the shelf life of vegetables through developing longer-shelf life transgenic vegetableplantsv. Commercialization of ground Shellervi.vii.Development and evaluation of mobile flat-bed dryer for sunflower and canolaAssessment of post-harvest losses in major fruits and vegetables at various market levels, andidentify the strategies to control these losses at market level(s) where major losses occurs.3. Taping the new emerging marketsi. Improving the physio-chemical quality characteristics of wheat and rice by identifying quality genesthrough biotechnologyii.iii.iv.Investigating the traits demanded in domestic and international markets, and identifying gene sourcesfor these traits.Gathering information on food quality and safety standards, estimating the potential size of the exportmarket, and collecting information on market prices for different fresh food especially of the nichemarket and disseminating these information to producers and tradersAnalysis of value chain of niche products, and gathering and dissemination of technical informationabout production and marketing of these products.v. Develop by-products of bee, mushrooms, etc.vi.vii.viii.ix.Feed product development for livestockGenetic stock improvement of bee, mushroom, silk, etc.Develop new biofertilizer and biopesticideSupplementary feed formulation for commercial aquaculturex. Improvement of major carps for better growth and quality meatxi.xii.xiii.Improve technology for increased fish farm productivityTest different materials/varieties/seed available for the niche product including carps, trout, and catfish.Suggest measures to overcome the major hitch in the niche market whenever they come up4. Linking small farmers with efficient market systemi. Analyzing different market structure and conduct, and suggest how to promote the most efficientexisting or new market structure at the given level of infrastructureii.iii.iv.Assessing the contractual arrangement in different food production and marketing (sugarcane, milk,citrus, certain vegetables, etc.) and suggesting ways to improve these contractual arrangements for thefair share of all parties, and extend these shares in other commoditiesProvide appropriate information and training of farmers to help them comply the market demand for foodquality and safetyHelp traders to setup business that meet the food quality and safety standards by providing theminformation about consumers and markets who demand such markets and appropriate packaging andadvertisement design, and linking them with farmers that produces such products.67

5. Cross Cutting Issues2. Research prioritization with emphasis on bringing emerging issuesi. Needs strengthening of the planning and evaluation unit of PARC by setting up a think tank of multidisciplinaryresearchers have continuous links with stake holders3. Project monitoring, evaluation, and impacti. Ex-ante impact evaluation of different projects in terms of acceptability of the technologies and processwith provincial researchers and research quality which will have impact on poverty alleviation, health,employment, gender, and growth. This evaluation will be part of every program, and cost for thisevaluation will be included in every project. It will be conducted by independent evaluation unit at PARC4. Gender, WTO, and poverty issuesi. Agricultural poverty and productivity nexusii.iii.Impact of WTO on the structure and performance of agriculture production in PakistanImpact of WTO on the income disparities and gender in agriculture5. Development of new research approaches/methodologiesi. Methodologies for high quality composting from organic wasteii.iii.Establishing water performance parameter in different systemsImpact assessment methodologiesiv. New extension methodologiesv. Application of post-thaw semen assays for large ruminantvi. Development of extenders and processing technique for small ruminant semen cropreservationvii. Artificial breeding and seed rearing techniques of fresh water carps, snakehead and catfishviii. Disease diagnosis of major livestock and poultry diseases (Avian Influenza, Foot and Mouth Disease,Warble Fly) using biotechnology approaches.ix.Feeding strategies for various livestock and poultry production systems with emphasis on indigenousfeed resources.6. Maintenance/service Researchi. Collection, documentation, characterization, and utilization of crop genetic resourceii.iii.iv.Genetic characterization of indigenous and imported breeds of livestockImprovement of reproductive efficiency in livestock using biotechnology.Monitoring of resistance to pesticide in selected pest organism in major cropsv. Agricultural mechanization informaticsvi.vii.viii.ix.Epidemiology, disease diagnosis of major livestock and poultry diseases (Avian Influenza, Foot andMouth Disease, Warble Fly)Epidemiology and diagnosis of emerging and re-emerging infections and pests of cropsPublishing the environmental quality data (this needs environmental quality labs).GIS analysis - develop the thematic maps, soil climate, topography (rainfed), socioeconomicparameter important in agriculture production, soil degradation status, zonation of suitable areas ofagriculture, estimation of except area under rice-wheat system, etc. All these should lead to remotesensing capacity.x. Range inventory of current ecology status68

xi.xii.xiii.Insect museumCollection, evaluation, and preservation of plant and animal germplasmDNA finger printing and sequencing for different attributes in different crops and animals.69

Annexure V. Duties and Responsibilities of Major Players in Matrixa) Project ManagerThe Project Manager will emerge from the system in the process of preparing and successfully biddingthe project-proposals in line with the project announcement by the Theme Leader. After winning theproject, s(he) will execute the project activities to achieve the project goals. S(he) will not be given anyseparate office as Project Manager. Following will be his/her major responsibilities:• S(he) will prepare annual work plan in consultation with team members of the project and informTheme Leader and Department Head about this plan.• S(he) will plan and schedule for the procurement of research materials including equipments andinfrastructure with the help of Department Head.• Arrange necessary human resources required to implement the project and tackle any changes inthe availability of the related staff with the help of Department Head.• Facilitate interaction with team members.• Evaluate the conflict in outputs of various projects activities with the project goals and suggeststrategies to overcome these conflicts.• Strengthen the synergies between projects activities to achieve the project goals.• Holding of field days to popularize the output of the project.• Prepare project output(s) including technical and financial reports, broachers, etc. as required.• Keep flow of finance to his (her) team members and provide financial record to ProjectImplementation Unit at NARC.• The Project Manager is supposed to have full financial powers on his (her) budget.b) Theme/Sub-theme LeaderThe Theme Leader will be appointed by the Deputy Director General of Research. S(he) will have adual role of actively participating in some project(s) under his(her) theme or in other themes, as well asan administrator of his theme. S(he) will spend about 15-20 % of his time in theme management. S(he)will not be given any separate office to perform duties, rather use the normal office located in therespective department. Although, s(he) will be a senior professional, but will not be paid any special payfor performing duties. Following will be his (her) special duties:• Organize the Technical Working Groups (TWGs) to help him select appropriate projects andactivities under each project to achieve theme goals more effectively.• Decide the project and project activities to be undertaken every year in consultation with the TWG’s.The TWG’s may advise him to divide a project into several sub-projects each to be started atdifferent point in time depending upon the availability of resources. But each project and sub-projectwill be multi-disciplinary providing system-level outputs, rather than a professionally based activity.• Conceptualize the project to be floated, specify the broader group of activities to be undertakenunder each project, and make a call for project proposals with the consultation of TWG’s.• Highlight the importance of the research being conducted under the theme and promote the themeoutputs to various stakeholders and end-users.• Attract funds so that the theme goals can be achieved effectively.• Keep record of the performance indicator of the Theme.• Keep record of the progress of project implementation in accordance with the set plan for eachproject.70

• Resolve financial and other constraints in the way of implementation of the Theme projects.• Evaluate the conflict in outputs of various projects with the Theme goals and suggest strategies toovercome these conflicts.• Strengthen the synergies between projects to achieve the Theme goals.Most of the above responsibilities will also be applicable to the Sub-theme Leader at the sub-themelevel.c) Department HeadThe Head of Department will be one of the senior persons of each department having goodcommunication and inter-personnel skills and professional links with his colleagues in the national andinternational community. S(he) will spent not more than 15% of time in department administrationissues, and remaining 85% in projects under different themes. Following are his (her) mainresponsibilities:• Administer day-to-day matter of the department in consultation with DDG-Research.• Encourage the professional colleagues to write project proposals, or get involved in other projects ofthe department.• Keep records of the time of all staff members of his department utilized in various projects.• In consultation with the DG, arrange the critical resources (both human and laboratory) demandedby various project managers in his (her) department.• Update and maintain laboratories and other infrastructure in the department using the overheadproject-funds allocated for this purpose.• Keep record of the progress of the projects implemented under his (her) department.• Keep record of all the professional outputs of the department through various projects.• Encourage and help scientists to present their work in international and national forums and publishin impact journals.• Facilitate the interaction of the scientists in the department with peers in other national andinternational institutes, universities, and centers of excellence through invited lectures, seminars,and professional meetings.• Upgrade the professional capacity of the department by arranging training, professional visits,sabbaticals, post-degree studies, participation in professional conferences and meetings, etc.• Evaluate the output of his staff in terms of professional excellence, and write the (AER), not AnnualConfidential Report of the staff using certain announced output criteria in consultation with theconcerned staff.d) Deputy Director General (Research)The Deputy Director General Research will be the full time administrative head of the NARC researchdepartment. Following will be his (her) main responsibilities:• Coordinate the inter-theme activities to maximize the system-level and micro-level outputs.• Disseminate the results of various theme outputs to stake holders.• Conceptualize the themes, project, and activities to be floated to solve the emerging issues in theagriculture sector,• Oversee the project implementation, and resolve issues between Theme Leaders and DepartmentHeads in supplying human and laboratory resources to different projects.71

• Adjust the human and other resources according to the needs of various projects under differentthemes in consultation with department heads.• Forge scientific collaboration with other national and international institutes through collaborativeprojects and scientific interactions.Nominate the outstanding scientists for awards and recognition.72

Annexure VI. Research Activities of SARCGrain Storage Research InstituteObjectives: To study the distribution, biology & ecology of important insects and fungi associated withstored grains To estimate the extent of quantitative and economic losses associated with physical,biological and socio-economic environments at the farm & market locations in differentagro-ecological zones To conduct field experiments to improve the current storage practices and to evolve newtechniques to prevent storage losses at the farm & market level To estimate grain losses in different types of government godowns and to advise thegovernment on future policy and programs for developing suitable storage facilities To disseminate available information on grain storage and to organize regular trainingcourses for extension workers and officials involved in grain storageFuture Vision:Development of IPM procedures and models for the control of insect pests of storedwheat, rice and pulses at farm, market and public sectorStudy on pest risk analysis in stored wheatDevelopment of toxicological research activities to monitor the under and over applicationof pesticides in storage conditionsEpidemiological studies on chilli diseases and their managementAdoption of drying technology for chilliesDetermination of physio-chemical quality characteristics of stored wheat and rice inPakistanStudies on determination and control of mycotoxins in agricultural productsDetermination of extent of heavy metals in fruits, vegetables and stored grainsStudies on determination of dioxins in food products.Pesticide Research InstituteObjectives:Studies on residues of pesticides in fruits, vegetable and other agricultural commoditiesStudies on toxicological investigations to determine effect of pesticides on agro ecosystem,species specificity of pesticides and causes of resistanceFuture Vision:Development of IPM models for cotton-wheat, rice-wheat and other field cropsFate of agrochemicals, pesticides and other pollutants in food chain and environment andimpact of human & animal health and environment.Cereal Diseases Research InstituteObjectives: Monitoring of cereal crop losses, disease status, testing of germplasm/ breeder’smaterials and identification of sources of resistance/tolerance in Sindh and Balochistan Identification and management of diseases of tropical fruits and vegetables particularlybanana, coconut, papaya, melons and chillies To evaluate wheat breeding material for resistance to rust and to develop high yieldingrust-resistant wheat varieties To study pathogenecity of important diseases caused by nematodes, bacteria and fungi invegetables, fruits and cerealsFuture Vision:73

Genetic improvement of crops through the application of biotechnology and moleculargenetics with special reference to gene postulation, virulence analysis and markerassisted selection for resistance to wheat rustsEpidemiology, diagnosis and control of emerging and re-emerging pathological andnematological infections of cropsIPM modeling for the control of plant diseases, their field implementation, scaling out andscaling up strategiesUse of biological agents for the control of pathological and nematological diseases invegetables, fruits and crops.Vertebrate Pest Control LabObjectives: To identify the major vertebrate pest problems in different agro eco-systems To assess crop and food storage losses from vertebrate pests To develop safe, effective and economical methods through testing new products whichare suitable and practical for farmers To test rodenticides and avicides both under lab and field conditions to help concernedagencies in regulating their use To demonstrate vertebrate pest control techniques at farm level through pilot controlprograms To transfer appropriate technology to end usersFuture Vision:Vertebrate pest control models for wheat-sugarcane and paddy cropping systemsRodent pest management approaches in date palm habitat at Nokundi, Balochistan.Coastal Agricultural Research StationObjectives:To promote potential plant species in coastal areasTo develop production technologies for selected plant speciesTo develop control measures for pests and diseasesTo develop economically viable resource managementTo undertake socio-economic studies with specific references to marketingFuture Vision:Revival of diversified horticulture with emphasis on using salt tolerant and droughtresistant plant speciesIntroduction and demonstration of peri-urban farming and farm management systemIntroduction and demonstration of hydroponics with emphasis on vegetable productionBio-pesticide research and development.National Sugar Crops Research InstituteObjectives: To develop sugarcane varieties with high yield, higher sucrose content and diseaseresistance for different agro-ecological zones To develop sugarcane varieties for stress conditions (such as resistance to drought,salinity and water logging, frost and high temperature) To develop varieties resistant to lodging and suitable for mechanical cultivation To determine agronomic requirements of new varieties To produce and propagate seed of new varieties for the farmers To exchange plant material with other national and international institutesFuture Vision:Enhancement of germplasm for biotic and abiotic stressesTo improve production technology74

Livestock and Fisheries Research UnitObjectives: To undertake problem oriented research with reference to peri-urban dairy farming inSindh To conserve and improve Red Sindhi breed of cattle through selective breeding To undertake research on nutritional improvement for enhancing milk and meatproduction To formulate, produce and propagate balanced feed for cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats,camels, etc. on commercial basis To conduct aquaculture research.Future Vision:Genetic improvement program for Red Sindhi cattle and Kundi buffalo including semenproduction and fresh water fishesResearch on alternate feed resources and feeding strategies with emphasis on minerals,calf starter, feedlot).75

Annexure VII. Baluchistan AgricultureAn OverviewBalochistan province has 44 % of the total area of Pakistan. Out of the total area of Balochistan,rangelands cover almost 93 %, out of which only 65 % is considered grazing lands which produces poorto good grazing. Rearing livestock is the major activity and livelihood source of rural population.Balochistan has wider climate variability ranging from semi-arid to arid and temperate to tropical. Thereare opportunities and challenges in Balochistan for scientists (Box-1)Box-1. Opportunities in Balochistan Agriculture• 44 % of the total area of Pakistan• Climate – wide variability• Livestock• Arid horticulture & Medicinal herbs• Biotechnological tools• Challenges for Scientists• Abiotic stresses• Lack of Sustainability• Lack of trained HR• NR degradation• Rural poverty & un-employmentFollowing three major farming systems of agricultural are practiced in Balochistan:1. Range and Livestock Farming System:Livestock rearing, especially sheep and goat, is the major economic activity on overgrazed and depletedrangelands of Balochistan. Rangeland vegetation includes the dwarf shrubs, perennial grasses andtrees. The estimated productivity of rangelands varies from less than 30 kg/ha/year. The potentialproductivity reported varies from 2 – 2.5 tonnes/ha/year. Out of vast range areas, 21 m ha is consideredgrazing land, 9.8 m ha is unproductive and 1.6 m ha is considered inaccessible. These rangelandsprovide the bulk requirement of feed for small ruminants and fuel wood requirements for ruralcommunities.2. Irrigated Farming System:This system includes farming under irrigation from different sources i.e. canal, tubewells, karezes,springs etc. There is a great potential for field crops.3. Drylands Farming System:Nearly 60 % of the total cultivated area of Balochistan is under dryland farming system, which followstwo distinct patternsa) Sailaba: It is Rod-kohi system, where run-off is stored/used for irrigation.b) Khushaba: It is rain-fed crop production76