HYDERABAD: January 30 : Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr Javed Leghari has stressed the need for paying proper attention to the agriculture sector as it is the backbone of the national economy and can help eliminate poverty and reduce unemployment to a great extent.

Dr Leghari said this at a reception hosted by the Sindh Agriculture University Teachers Association (SAUTA) at the Senate Hall in Tandojam the other day.

He said that the economy was dependent on agriculture and, therefore, it was of paramount importance to increase per acre yield to meet the food requirements of an ever-growing population, which within 40 years would reach 380 million.

He said that agriculture experts should discharge their duties by concentrating fully on increasing the production since doctors, engineers and bureaucrats have no role to play in it. “The Higher Education Commission is playing an important role in the development of universities and promotion of education and expects well-matched results,” Dr Leghari said.

Sindh Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor Dr Abdul Qadir Mughul said that the university preferred giving admissions to children of the poor, besides engaging itself in community services.

He felt sorry for the education budget getting smaller as money this fiscal was lesser than that of the previous year, which is giving rise to financial strains.

The laboratories should be updated for conducting research. Around 25 per cent of the teachers have PhD degrees and some 42 graduates are completing their doctorate in foreign states, he said.

The location of Shaheed ZA Bhutto Agriculture College in Dokri is not suitable and attempts are being made to shift it to Larkana where more students would be attracted to it, he said. Sindh Chamber of Agriculture President Dr Syed Nadeem Qamar said agriculture, including livestock, is contributing a lot to the GDP. Major industry of the country is dependent on the agriculture sector, he added.The news.