ICARDA Pakistan Country Office established in 2004
Current projects: 1
Country manager: Abdul Majid
Overview
Agriculture is the most important sector of Pakistan’s economy, contributing almost 32% of GDP and employing 65% of the labor force (either full or part-time). However, Pakistan is predominantly a dry-land country where 80% of its land area is arid or semi-arid, about 12% is dry sub-humid and the remaining 8% is humid. Two-thirds of Pakistan’s rapidly increasing population depends on dryland agriculture to support their livelihood, mainly through agro-pastoral activities. However, drylands in Pakistan are severely affected by land degradation and desertification due to unsustainable land management practices and increasing demands on natural resources. The situation is further aggravated by water scarcity, frequent droughts, and mismanagement of land resources, contributing to reduced productivity and increasing rural poverty.
ICARDA collaborates with Pakistan on improving crop production and livestock feeding and management, soil and water conservation, rangeland rehabilitation and reclamation, and biodiversity conservation. The International Livestock Research Institute commissioned ICARDA to co-implement livestock-based programs within the Pakistan Agricultural Innovation Program framework.
Activities
- Identification and promotion of improved forage varieties with high yield potential with appropriate agronomic practices through fodder production for spring and fall.
- In collaboration with NARC, ICARDA develops improved varieties of barley and oats compared to wheat production with selected farmers to initiate village-based seed enterprises (VBSE) at Beghal and Dhulli in the Chakwal district.
- Initiated rotational grazing in Ahmadun Ziarta (Balochistan), Bahawalpur (Punjab Province), Chakwal, and Umerkot (Sindh).
- Rehabilitation of degraded rangelands in Balochistan through the introduction and development of sustainable management practices for improving rangelands -namely water harvesting combined with shrub planting.
- Prevention and control of internal parasites in small ruminants through synthetic and herbal anthelmintics.
- Supplemental feeding of pregnant ewes/does enhance reproduction.
