KU Int'l Moot Urges To Address Root Causes Of Food Insecurity

Dr Mohammad Ajmal Khan Institute of Sustainable Halophyte Utilization of the University of Karachi in collaboration with Salim Habib University and the Nuclear Institute of Agriculture, Tandojam organized a three-day international conference on saline resource management in the context of global climate changes here on Friday

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Feb, 2023 ) :Dr Mohammad Ajmal Khan Institute of Sustainable Halophyte Utilization of the University of Karachi in collaboration with Salim Habib University and the Nuclear Institute of Agriculture, Tandojam organized a three-day international conference on saline resource management in the context of global climate changes here on Friday.

The event is being funded by the Sindh Higher education Commission, and aim of the conference is to gather people working in plant sciences, environmentalists, crop breeders, microbiologists, biochemists, and biotechnologists to discuss the issues and their possible outcomes.

During the inaugural session, the KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, and the Vice Chancellor, Salim Habib University Professor Dr Shakeel Ahmad Khan, spoke about the importance of saline resource management with particular reference to global climate change, said a spokesperson of the University.

The experts mentioned that global climate changes are a nuisance to agricultural productivity, threatening food security and damaging life and property. Destructive impacts of climate change include increasing drought in some areas, water logging, and salinity. Multiple stress factors are continuously depleting our natural resources which require building capacity for crop production and livestock, overcoming pests and diseases, and fighting against natural calamities that are a challenge to food security.

He observed that developing countries like Pakistan are a testament to the destructive impacts of climate on low-income populations that have further aggravated the situation. The conventional methods to deal with such problems have proven to be short-lived and expensive, there was a long-felt need to find sustainable alternatives and out-of-the-box solutions.

Therefore, this international conference was organized to find sustainable solutions.

Experts from around the world gave their presentations in technical sessions. Professor John Chessman, from Illinois, USA during his keynote address, outlined the element of food security and stressed that food is the sovereign right of people.

"Due to climate change food security is compromised. For growing high-yielding varieties, we have to look for wild crops, landraces, and alternative plant species to provide food which could be edible, for example, the use of halophytes." Regarding the process, he stated that fit the cultivar in an environment rather than the environment of the cultivar.

Professor Dr John Chessman emphasized following participatory plant breeding where the farmer has the feeling of ownership throughout the process and thereby its adaptability and acceptability. The use of local germplasm will lead to food security in the place of climate change.

Dr Hasan-Uz-Zaman from Dhaka University, Bangladesh, talked about the role of different kinds of biostimulants in enhancing salt tolerance in plants with a considerable promise to increase the yield of crops.

Professor Dr Wang Sen from China emphasized about plantation of non-woody species to fight against climate change and the role of the belt and road project in Gwadar, Balochistan. He discussed the potential of grafting Chinese Jujubi with Pakistani Jujubi plants for high yield and fruit quality.

Dr Nuria Koteyeva from Russia presented the results of salinity experiments on the anatomical changes in plants particularly the salt glands that excrete excess salt from the leaf surface.

Dr Irfan Ahmad from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, discourse the effect of salinity on the bamboo species, which are found in Pakistan. He suggested the commercial and usage of bamboo in the country.

Dr Habib-ur-Rehman Athar from BZU, Multan, described the physiological and molecular mechanisms of salt tolerance in Canola varieties. He concluded that some varieties of canola are highly salt tolerant and can be cultivated in salt-affected lands of Pakistan.

Dr Muhammad Farrakh Nawaz from the University of Karachi informed the audience about the forest regeneration and carbon sequestration of forest trees.

He said the natural regeneration of forest trees, particularly Albizia lebbeck, locally known as siris, is very slow.

He suggested specific treatment of seeds to break their dormancy. The growing use of halophytes in saline agriculture as food and drink, domestic products, crops listed by FAO, fiber, timber, forage, medicine, and source of chemicals. All these species tolerate 200 mM NaCl or more.

Professor Dr Jin-Lin Zang presented a talk on the lignin biosynthesis gene introduced into arabidopsis thaliana the model plant and its role in increasing the salt tolerance of the plants under salt stress conditions. Lignin accumulation appears to improve ion balance by blocking sodium uptake and selectively absorbing potassium by over-expression of the laccase gene in arabidopsis.

Emeritus Professor Dr Tim Flowers from Sussex University, UK, gave a presentation on the online database for salt tolerant plants or Halophytes, about the origins of e-Haloph along with James Aronson and about the economic uses of halophytes.

He mentioned that most people have set a limit of 80 to 200 mM NaCl salinity. Using natural habitats it is difficult to decide the time of year, where to sample the soil, the water content of the soil, and the electrical conductivity of the soil.

The best way to measure salt tolerance is to grow plants in a well-rained system, with various definitions starting from Chapman (1942) 0.5 percent NaCl to flowers and Colmer (2008) of 200 mM NaCl.

According to him, for the first time in 2006 electronic format was made for the halophyte database. Version 3 was published in 2016 while Ver 4 was published as an entire platform on Dec 2022 and included species with published evidence of salt tolerance. "Two new fields added about optimal salinity and maximum salinity tolerance limit. This software is a very useful resource for anyone interested in valid published information about the species." Dr Aldre Aamir from Malaysia discussed the implications of mangrove loss on communities and their connectivity with adjacent habitats such as mudflats sea grass coral reefs. He stressed making recommendations for solid governance of mangrove resources including habitat management and conservation for carbon sequestration.

The Director KU MAK-ISHU Dr Salman Gulzar shared that the experts from different parts of the world emphasized the serious efforts to address the root causes of food insecurity in the context of climate change and to develop food and agricultural systems during the first two days of the event.