Pakistan Agricultural Research Council

Pakistan Agricultural Research Council
ہیئت برائے زرعی تحقیق پاکستان
	NARC (PARC headquarters)
Formation	1948
Type	Government of Pakistan agency
Purpose	To promote agricultural research in Pakistan
Headquarters	Islamabad, Pakistan
Key people	Muhammad Azeem (chairman),; Ghulam Muhammad Ali (Managing Director)
Website	http://www.parc.gov.pk

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

Mission and achievements[]

It works in collaboration with Ministry of National Food Security and Research which is headed by a Federal Minister, Syed Fakhar Imam who is heading the ministry since April 2020. It is an apex agricultural research organization at the national level. Its main objective is to strengthen Pakistan's agricultural research system, comprising the federal and provincial components.^[1]

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

Recent events[]

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

Divisions[]

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

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

References[]

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