ECO Science Foundation and CAB International to promote scientific research in agriculture and biodiversity in the ECO region- says Prof. Soomro

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ISLAMABAD (March 18, 2014): ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF) and the CAB International will work together to undertake research in the fields of agriculture, biodiversity and ecosystems in the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region comprising of ten countries of Central and West Asia, says a press release issued here by ECOSF.

The heads of two international organizations viz., President of ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro and the Chief Executive Officer of CABI Dr. Trevor Nicolls met in the of CABI head office at Wallingford- United Kingdom and agreed in principle to work together for research on agriculture and biodiversity as well as ecosystem services. The two sides agreed to implement the CABI's Global Plantwise programme particularly in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the six Central Asian member countries of the ECO. It was also agreed that the two organizations would try to designate joint Liaison Offices in different countries of ECO region for economically coordinating the activities. The meeting had taken place upon the invitation of CABI to ECOSF President.

Prof. Manzoor Soomro was warmly received by the CEO CABI at his office in Wallingford- UK. He was given an overview of CABI programmes worldwide by Dr. Nicholls and an elaborated presentation by Dr. Shaun Hobbs, Global Director (Knowledge Bank) on their Global Plant-wise Programme, development of Knowledge Banks and the research on Invasive Alien Species. After the meeting, CEO CABI presented the book, "CABI- a century of scientific endeavour" to Prof. Soomro.

It is pertinent to mention that these specializations have become exclusive scientific strengths of CABI worldwide and have a greater importance in the context of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services. The CABI also promotes the concept of "Plant Clinics" and "Plant Doctors" and the programme is being implemented in Pakistan and some other countries. It emphasizes on capacity building of agriculture extension staff as well as the poor farmers, so that they farmers become experts and managers of their own farms.

On his part Dr. Soomro briefed the hosts about the aims and objectives of ECO Science Foundation with 10 countries viz., Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan as its members. He also shared the planned activities of the Foundation, especially the promotion of high quality applied research leading to economic development in the member states. He also shared with CABI CEO the ECOSF plan for implementation of "Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE)- La main a la pate" in the ECO countries with collaboration of different world players including Science Education Programme (SEP) of the Inter-Academy Panel (IAP) and the La main a la pate Foundation of France.

After a detail discussion on various aspects of collaboration, the two parties agreed to sign MOU to pursue the following broad points:

• conducting scientific research in the fields of agriculture and biodiversity in the ECO member countries with the aim to improve plant health systems and commodity chains
• developing knowledge banks for various crops and commodity chains in ECO member countries, through an ECOSF-CABI knowledge bank
• facilitating high quality research by providing scientific information and developing a pool of experts within the ECO Region
• having joint ECOSF/CABI liaison offices in each ECO member country to serve as contact points for better coordination and implementation of the programmes.

Further actions in this regard will be coordinated by the CABI’s Central and Western Asia Centre at Rawalpindi- Pakistan. In this regard, the CABI Centre Director Dr. Babar Bajwa would have a sitting with Prof. Soomro and will put together a draft MOU which can be signed to formalize the cooperation.