One month training course on Kitchen Gardening and Tunnel farming ended at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) on April 16, 2013. The training course was organized by the Department of Horticulture, PMAS-AAUR in collaboration with National Rural Support Program (NRSP), with an aim to build capicity of growers in Pothwar & AJK Region area for adapting the modern technology and improving their skills of producing off-season vegetables.

Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, PMAS-AAUR was the chief guest on the ocassion. In his address, he said that by adopting tunnel farming techniques, the farmers can not only double their harvests but can grow off-season vegetables in abundance by using less water. He said that the PMAS-AAUR will continue to arrange such programmes for creating awareness among the people who are suffering due to shortage of water and pests attacks. He further said that the very objective is to help the farming community in getting maximum return of their investments. He was of the opinion that the tunnel farming is a unique methodology that allows the farmers to have an expanded growing season besides minimizing the risks involved in crop production. He said that one of the biggest advantages is that the farmers get return on their investment in less than one growing season. He urged the scientists of the University to play their role to create awareness and training to the farming community about the latest techniques in the agriculture sector.  At the end chief guest distributed certificates among the participants of the course.

Malik Fateh Khan, Programme Coordinator, NRSP while addressing, 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. He further 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.

Earlier, Prof. Dr. Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi, Chairman Horticulture Department,  informed the gathering about the objectives of the workshop and offered full support from PMAS-AAUR to the farmers for the establishment of tunnel.