Dr. Muhammad Akram Qazi, Chief Executive PARB
A distinguished figure serving as Chief Scientist at the Soil Fertility Research Institute, Punjab, Thokar Niaz Baig, Lahore, and currently holding the position of Chief Executive Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB), Lahore. Dr. Qazi brings a wealth of expertise and experience in the fields of soil and water testing, alongside a commitment to advancing scientific excellence and agricultural productivity. His journey includes completing his PhD studies in the United States, further enriching his knowledge and perspective. At the helm of various initiatives, Dr. Qazi has played a pivotal role in formulating 08 SFRI guides, providing indispensable guidance to scientists, laboratories, and field workers. His leadership was instrumental in conducting comprehensive inspections of all 36 Soil & Water Testing Labs in Punjab, generating invaluable insights through gap analysis reports and performance evaluations. Moreover, Dr. Qazi's dedication to practical application is evident in his meticulous analysis and provision of soil fertility recommendations to progressive farmers, fostering tangible benefits for agricultural sustainability. His engagements extend beyond the laboratory, encompassing field trials across Punjab and fostering collaborations with key stakeholders, including the private sector. These endeavors have facilitated fruitful exchanges and advancements in agricultural research and practice. Today, we eagerly anticipate Dr. Qazi's insights as he shares his experiences and endeavors in advancing soil and water testing practices for the betterment of agriculture in Punjab and beyond.
He has worked for the Punjab Government's Agriculture Department as an Agricultural Chemist (AC) in various capacities (AC-Sodic, reclamation, and senior instructor), supervising the Research Laboratory of Soil and Water Testing, which was heavily involved in soil, water, plant, and fertilizer analyses. A comprehensive annual research program that included a variety of field and laboratory-oriented experiments was completed by him while serving as Chairman Technical Committee. He has been working as an Agricultural Chemist/Deputy Director for the Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB), where his main responsibilities include coordinating with scientists from various disciplines and institutes in Punjab to review research and development proposals addressing problems in the agriculture sector. The work he has done as a member of Pakistan's Soil Science Society has been enormously beneficial to Pakistan.
He worked as a Research Associate (Soil, Water, and Environmental Studies (SWES) at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, for a short time in 2007. He worked with world-renowned scientists and benefit from their extensive international experience. He presented his research at two international symposia (balanced fertilization and the role of potassium in improving Nutrient Management) held in India and developed networking with internationally renowned scientists for potential future collaboration. His work was well received.
He supervised MSc students' research projects at the Environmental Science Department of the University of the Punjab Lahore. With 50 publications to his credit, both nationally and internationally, he is an accomplished writer. Soil fertility management and fertilization in organic farming are two of the most important areas of study for him because they are critical for long-term soil fertility maintenance and are something he is currently looking for a challenge in.
The work he has done so far includes using a variety of modern equipment (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, High Pressure Liquid Chromatography, Inductively Coupled Plasma, Flame Emissions Spectroscopy etc.) to process and analyze soil, plant, water and fertilizer samples and writing analyses reports and interpreting the results for agricultural management. He has received multi-discipline trainings (communication skills, proposal writing, Information Science and Agricultural Journalism, nuclear and other advanced techniques in agriculture, laboratory management system- (ISO/IEC 17025)" and on common procurement mistakes). He has many great achievements in the department, including Development of Khad Hisab mobile app.
Tahir Latif, Deputy Director (Admn)
He has served for 34 years as Plant Breeder in the Agriculture Department. He is one of the member of the scientific team/ breeding team who developed several rice strains from which 17 rice varieties. He has vast international exposure and has got 4 foreign trainings on hybrid rice development and hybrid rice seed production technology. He has executed 13 development projects. One of his achievement is to develop Rice Research Station at Bahawalnagar district of Punjab. As his experience is concerned, he has vast experience in the field of Hybrid Rice Seed Production. He joined the service as Scientific Officer Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku in 1989. He has been the Incharge of Rice hybridization program for the development of Basmati and Coarse grain rice varieties / hybrids. He has also served in PARB from 1994 to 1998 as Research Officer. He has now joined PARB from 2022 and performing the Monitoring and Evaluation of ongoing research projects alongwith handling of administrative and financial matters of PARB.
Dr. Tahir Hussain Awan Research Officer (P&P)
Dr. Tahir Hussain Awan, currently working as Research Officer (P&P) in PARB. His Ph.D research is from International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines. He has served a number of organizations spread over public & private sector, provincial, national and international. He has been worked on many key posts related to Agri research like National Country Project Director Rice, PARC, Islamabad, Senior Scientist, Rice Research Institute, KSK, Consultant, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines. He has been a Scholar at Weed Science, Crop and Environmental Science Division(CESD), (IRRI), Philippines. In PARB, he is playing a pivitol role of Planning & Programming of research project, conducting M&E of all the research projects, covering the whole ambit of agriculture including crops, livestock, forest & fisheries, being funded by PARB.
Dr. Syed Nadeem Afzal Jaffery Research Officer (M&E)
Dr. Nadeem Jaffery has joined PARB in December 2023 as Research Officer (M&E). He has served the Punjab Agriculture Department for about 29 years. He encompasses vast experience in planning, monitoring & evaluation of provincial and foreign development projects funded by the World Bank, OECF-Japan, and ADB. He has expertise in up-gradation of training institute in terms of infrastructure development, formulation of training modules and identification of Resource Persons to impart training to the government officers & officials. Eleven publications in internationally recognized journals are in his credit. He has international exposure and has got foreign trainings on Water Resources Management from Australia & Nepal and Participatory Irrigation Management from Japan.
Muhammad Asim Hussain
Research Publication Officer
Mr. Syed Asim Hussain is working as Research Publication Officer. He has vast experience of research, accounts and administrative matters. He is dealing with financing of research projects, conferences/ seminars/workshops etc. and internal audit of the projects and office accounts matters. He is also the Focal Person of maintaining the PARB Website.