One month (January 28 to February 26, 2013) training course on Vegetable Cultivation and Tunnel Farming was held at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR), with an aim to create awareness among the participants regarding the Vegetable Cultivation and Tunnel Farming, Kitchen Gardening, Drip Irrigation and Organic Farming. 

The training course was conducted by the Department of Horticulture PMAS-AAUR in collaboration with National Rural Support Programme (NRSP). One month training course covered all aspects of tunnel farming. Practical and theoretical elements included site selection, infrastructure and equipment, crop choices and cycles, hygiene, water and nutrition, pests and diseases, temperature and humidity control, pollination, trellising and pruning. This course will also be helpful to create self employment and poverty alleviation among the farming community.

Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, PMAS-AAUR, was the Chief Guest at the concluding session of the training course. In his address, Dr. Niaz said that there is dire need to enhance value added production in agriculture sector to attain self sufficiency and wider access to international markets. He further said that proper processing, packing and marketing of agricultural produce could earn huge foreign exchange. He emphasized that uplift of the agro industry would create job opportunities, help reduce poverty, raise living standards in the rural areas and impart diversity to the national economy.

He was of the view that there is a lot of potential in the region of Pothwar and Fruit industry can become a big industry of the area if we work on it. He further said that the progress of the country can be made only by the development in agriculture sector.

He urged the scientists of the University to play their role not only in the laboratories but also in the field, to create awareness and training to the farming community about the latest techniques in the agriculture sector. 

He also insisted that the farmers should adopt the latest techniques of production and value addition in their produce, so that they can earn more and export as well. He expressed the hope that this training course, by sharing the knowledge and experiences, would be a source of improvement in the area of tunnel farming. At the end chief guest distributed certificates among the participants of the course.

Malik Fateh Khan, Programme Coordinator, NRSP while addressing said that after this training participants must utilize their knowledge in their area and hoped that they will also deliver this knowledge to the other farmers’ of their community.

Dr. Jeong from Korea, in his address, appreciated the effort of the University for organizing this course. He suggested that Pakistani farmers should work on organic farming and Korean market is open for Pakistan produce.

Thirty five participants across the country were enrolled in this course. Prof. Dr. Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi, Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad Hafiz, Ms. NajmaYousaf Zahid, Mr. Abdul Ahad Qureshi, Mr. Usman Shokat from the Department of Horticulture, Malik Muhammad Naeem from Extension Department and Dr. Jin Young Jeong from Korea delivered the lectures on their specific topics.

The participants showed keen interest in the training and they have learned a lot about Vegetable Cultivation, Kitchen Gardening, Construction of Tunnel and Organic recipes.  They were aggressive to implement the techniques learnt by them and also committed to disseminate the technology among the other farmers.

Workshop organizer, Prof. Dr. Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi, Chairman Horticulture Department, PMAS-AAUR wrapped up the objectives of the workshop and offered full support from PMAS-AAUR to the farmers for the establishment of tunnel.