August 11, 2021 – Islamabad: Dr. Sania Nishtar was a chief guest at the international consultation workshop on, “Crop mapping and zoning for strengthening sustainable agricultural practices, policy support and livelihood improvement through Earth observation applications in Pakistan”. The workshop was organized by Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) in collaboration with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Islamabad. Addressing the opening session, Dr. Sania stated, “Agricultural is and will remain the absolute priority of our government. That is why, agriculture is a whole of the government multisectoral agenda, as embedded in the Ehsaas framework.” She further added, “Being an agrarian economy, we strongly need to invest in research, modernization of hardware and software in agriculture, and focus on sustainability of the agri- sector.” Participants from national, provincial and non-governmental organizations working in the areas of agriculture, climate change, food security, water and irrigation participated in the workshop. Other eminent speakers who joined the opening session were Pema Gyamtsho, Director General, ICIMOD, Nepal; Bashir Ahmed, Director, Climate, Energy and Water Research Institute (CEWRI), PARC; Faisal Qamar, Group Lead Food Security, ICIMOD; and Muhammad Ismail, Country Representative, Pakistan Office, ICIMOD.
