Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) has started research on indigenous and non-native species of vegetables and prioritized the research on new varieties and expansion of certified seeds of vegetables to replace the hybrids with high-yielding local crops.
The research work has been started through the “Characterization and identification of early maturing and high yielding chickpea genotypes” and “Genetic characterization, evaluation and selection of onion germplasm entries for resistance to onion thrips” projects, under the supervision of experts of the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Faculty of Crop Production, Sindh Agriculture University, with the support of Sindh Higher Education Commission (SHEC) Karachi and National Research Program for Universities (NRPU) Higher Education Commission (HEC) Islamabad.
The research is being done on short-duration and high-yielding winter vegetables including gram, onion, peas, carrot, turnip, radish, garlic, spinach, fenugreek, and coriander.
In this regard a study event was held at the experimental field which was attended by Dean of Crop Production Faculty Dr Inayatullah Rajpar, Dean of Crop Protection Faculty Dr Manzoor Ali Abro, Dean of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Dr Ghiyasuddin Shah Rashidi, Director of Institute of Food Sciences and Technologies Dr Aijaz Ali Soomro, Chairman of the department Agronomy Dr Aijaz Soomro and a large number of Teachers and Students.
While giving a briefing, Dr Shahnawaz Marri, Dr Wajid Ali Jatoi, and Dr Tanveer Fatah Abro said that with the support of Sindh HEC, they have started research on different vegetables including 35 varieties of gram from Sindh, Punjab, and Egypt, and university experts along with students are researching on high yielding short term vegetable varieties, which is expected to yield positive results.
They told that under the “Genetic characterization, evaluation and selection of onion germplasm entries for resistance to onion thrips” project with the support of the National Research Program for Universities (NRPU) Higher Education Commission, Islamabad, SAU is researching on 12 different onion varieties of Sindh, Punjab, KPK and Balochistan, as well as different vegetable varieties as per Sindh climate, while research work is also being done on new sunflower and wheat commodities in the field.
On this occasion, Deans expressed their satisfaction with the research work and said that the research work on local crops instead of hybrid seeds will fulfill the demand of the farmers for certified vegetable seeds, and the local crops will be promoted, while also increasing the production.
During the ceremony, Dr Zahoor Soomro, Dr Shabana Memon, Dr Nasreen Fatima, Dr Muniza Baloch, Tanveer Ahmed Soomro, Irfan Ali Baloch, teachers, and a large number of students were present.
