7th International Conference of Pakistan Phytopathological Society (PPS) held at University of Agriculture Faisalabad – President ECOSF participated as Guest of Honour
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7th International Conference of Pakistan Phytopathological Society (PPS) was jointly organized by the PPS, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agriculture and Ayub Agricultural Research Institute Faisalabad on 21-23 November 2021.
The objective of the conference was to generate meaningful discussion forum for national and international Plant Pathologists. The event provided the opportunity to bring faculty, researchers, students, scientists, farmers, and industrialists together in open dialogue under one roof. Over 200 eminent scientists, researchers, agro-chemical industries, and farmers attended the event. Prof. Iqrar Ahmad Khan, Vice Chancellor of the University welcomed all the distinguished guests, speakers, experts and the participants and hoped that the conference would generate a fruitful discussion and results in the phytopathology field.
President ECOSF Prof. Manzoor Soomro- basically a Plant Pathologist/ Nematologist participated as a Guest of Honour in the opening session. In his speech, Prof. Soomro briefly highlighted the importance of phytopathology and the scientific research. He stressed upon the researchers not to necessarily pursue research simply in their specific area that they may have done Ph.D., but to address the issues at hand in agriculture and food production. Dr. Soomro encouraged researchers especially the young scientists to cooperate and collaborate with each other within country and beyond to learn from others’ experiences. He gave the example of how he had addressed the banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) epidemic in Pakistan in early 1990s even without any funding but using the cultural and cooperation strengths.
Finally, the Federal Minister for Food Security and Research, Government of Pakistan H.E. Mr. Fakhar Imam addressed the conference virtually. He while appreciating the holding of conference on plant pathology, emphasized on the need for continuous and consistent research on plant pathogens and diseases to ensure food security and sustainable supply of agricultural raw materials for industry. The Minister particularly highlighted the new pests and diseases due to climate change and also stressed on tree plantation. He assured the researchers of Government’s continued support and research funding.
Other renowned experts also shared their knowledge and wisdom in the fields of Climate Change and Plant Diseases, Host-Pathogen Interactions, Molecular Plant Pathology, Biosecurity and Plant Quarantine, Plant Disease Management, Disease Resistance, Seed and Post-Harvest Pathology, Disease Modeling and Epidemiology, Taxonomy and Systematics of Plant Pathogens, Bioinformatics, Ecology of plant pathogens, Mycotoxins, Natural and chemical Pesticides, Insects in relation to Plant Diseases and Beneficial Microorganisms with the audience in different sessions.
Plant diseases are caused by living organisms known as pathogens, such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, phytoplasmas, protozoa, and parasitic plants; and by nonliving agents such as air pollutants, nutrient imbalances and various environmental factors. New diseases and changes in existing pathogens remain a constant threat to our forests, food and fiber crops, and landscape plants. Thus, phytopathology helps to devise strategy to cope with such kinds of situations.
A 2-days pre-conference session for mentoring of young Plant Pathologists was also held on 20-21 November. Senior Plant Pathologists, viz., Prof. Manzoor Soomro, Prof. M. Ashraf Randhawa, Dr. Ahmad Saleem Akhtar, Prof. Saleem Shahzad and Dr. Munawar R. Kazmi spoke with the young scientists and shared their diverse experiences. The mentoring sessions were much applauded by the young scientists and hence the PPS decided to continue such sessions in future as well.