Pakistan Agricultural Research Council

Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) is the apex national organization working in close collaboration with other federal and provincial institutions in the country to provide science based solutions to agriculture of Pakistan through its statutory functions

• a) undertake, aid, promote and coordinate agricultural research,
• b) arrange expeditious utilization of research results
• c) establish research establishments mainly to fill in the gaps in existing programs of agricultural research,
• d) arrange the training of high level scientific manpower in agricultural sciences,
• e) generate, acquire and disseminate information relating to agriculture,
• f) establish and maintain a reference and research library,
• g) perform any other functions related to the matters aforesaid.

PARC conducts research, especially of a basic and long term nature in areas of national importance, which are either neglected or inadequately covered, or are beyond the resources of the provincial institutions requiring sophisticated and costly equipment and facilities as well as highly qualified but scarce manpower and frequent interaction with international agricultural research institutions PARC has seven major research establishments in Pakistan conducting research according to the agro-ecological needs of various regions.
These are:

•     * 1) National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad
•     * 2) Southern Zone Agricultural Research Centre (SARC), Karachi
•     * 3) Arid Zone Research Centre (AZRC), Quetta
•     * 4) National Tea Research Institute (NTRI), Mansehra
•     * 5) Sugar Crops Research Institute (SCRI), Thatta
•     * 6) Summer Agricultural Research Station (SARS), Kaghan
•     * 7) Karakoram Agricultural Research Institute for Northern Areas, (KARINA), Gilgit Besides, PARC has Coastal Area Research Station, Karachi; PARC-IPM Lab, Multan.

Transfer Technology Units (TTUs) are functioning in all the provinces and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. PARC also has its Liaison Offices in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta and its research units in Rice Research Institute, Kala Shah Kaku, Lahore and Dokri, Sindh. In addition, PARC takes new initiatives to boost agriculture sector. These are a) hybrid seed development of major crops b) promotion of organic farming c) increased use of bio-pesticide and bio-herbicide d) bioremediation e) mass scale cultivation of bio-fuel plants like Jatropha curcas, Salicornia spp. etc. in the coastal areas of Sindh province, f) introduction of aerobic production technology and alternate wetting & drying technique for rice crop in Punjab and Sindh provinces, g) introduction and promotion of Bt hybrid and colored cotton, and h) bio-saline agriculture in marginal areas.