The Islamia University of Bahawalpur and the Pakistan SAWIE Solutions signed an MoU to strengthen collaborations. Engr. Prof. Dr. Athar Mahboob, Vice Chancellor, IUB, signed MoU intended to encourage discussions and cooperation to deliver the impact of science and technology to promote food security and climate change.

The Islamia University of Bahawalpur-Pakistan

In his address, he said, with the help of this MOU the Islamia University of Bahawalpur will reach out to millions of farmers to help to improve their livelihood. The university doors are open for farmers for training and capacity building. We would like to see IUB playing a pivotal role in developing the regional economy of South West of Punjab. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Bandesha, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture & Environment, IUB, said, there is an immediate need of solutions to conserve soil and water moisture using the soil and crop residue management solutions. He further added, that the cooperation will lead to develop research and development opportunities to address environment, water and natural resources management. This platform will provide a unique set of digital tools to enable knowledge exchange and strengthening the research, extension, and outreach activities to farmers, especially. Engr.

Mushtaq Ahmed Gill, CEO of SAWIE said, SAWIE (Sustainable Agriculture Water & Intelligent Ecosystem) is a digital platform offering smart unbiased farm advisory services using the knowledge transfer approaches and real time data collected through satellites. This covers the weather forecast and agronomy advice to all stages of the crop. SAWIE is offering a unique solution to farmers as an unbiased advisory service through knowledge translation of proven beneficial management practices and state of the art digital tool using the satellite applications. SAWIE has launched first of its kind, Pakistan Agriculture Network of Yield Enhancement (PANYE). This will encourage farmers to adopt innovations to improve water productivity and increase income. Ms. Rabeea Aftab, Director SAWIE operations said, we will be very keen to engage with the university faculty and students to reach out to millions of farmers to improve their knowledge and understanding of the challenges posed by climate change. Dr. Wajid Nasim Jatoi, Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy and focal person of this collaboration said, they are excited to open new doors of collaboration with a farmer outreach organisation with a believe in data and facts to deliver impact in our farming practices to increase income. The MoU will open avenues for collaboration in addressing challenges of Agri Tech, Food Security, Climate Change, Agribusiness, Sustainable Tourism, Farm to Fork Market integration, Women & Youth development, Rural transformation through Digital Connectivity.

This will help to support the South of Punjab in the transformation of its rural areas from subsistence to a vibrant Rural Enterprising Hub. We would be translating our research to a meaningful bitesize key message for the rural communities. This would involve developing case studies, user cases, short videos, documentaries, crop specific aspects from sowing to harvesting, processing, and marketing. He said, we also aiming at development of networks of service providers, Farmer Field Schools (FSS), and Women Open Schools (WOS) offering training in agriculture, livestock management, cottage industry, local food processing, and entrepreneurship. The guests includes Prof. Dr. Muhammad Amjad, (Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology) ; Prof. Dr. Shazia Anjum, (Dean, Faculty of Science); Prof. Dr. M. Hussain Tahir (Dean, Faculty of Computing); Prof. Dr. M. Khalid Mansoor (Dean, Faculty of Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences) Dr. M. Aown Sammar Raza (Chairman, Department of Agronomy); Dr. Abid Shahzad (Director, International Linkages); Dr. Asif Naveed Ranjha (Director, Fund Raising & University Advancement), Dr. Azhar Hussain (Director, Alumni Affairs); Mr. Rizwan Majeed (Director Information Technology); Mr. Salman Mahmood Qureshi (Director, IUB Directorate of Sustainable Tourism).