About Me

Hi readers,

Do you remember, in probably second blog, I promised to blog on “Myself”? So, here is me

 

Dr. Shafqat Farooq joined Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB) in December 1978 as Assistant Scientific Officer (ASO) to work on “Induced mutations in Basmati rice using sodium azide as mutagen” produced several early maturing and short stature mutants, 4 research papers, 3 presentations and 2 abstracts. 

 

Joined PAEC as regular employee in May 1982, promoted to Scientific Officer (SO) in 1983 and worked till 1984 on “Cytogenetic” of Triticale.

 

From January 1985 to October1985, got diploma in wide cross breeding and applied cytogenetic from CIMMYT, Mexico,  published 2 papers, one each in Theoretical and Applied Genetics (TAG) and Genome., and an abstracts in “Agronomy Abstracts” USA.  

 

From 1986 to 1996 worked as Scientific Officer (SO), Senior Scientific Officer (SSO), and group leader and established wide-cross breeding program at NIAB to incorporate salt tolerance in wheat and rice using state-of-the-art techniques and wild Aegilops species never used before in the country or elsewhere. Resultantly, 3 presentations at Int. symposia and several original publications were made in International Journals.

 

Based on this recognition:

Four International (The Rockefeller Foundation, US-NAS and 2 from the IAEA: total US$ 193,000) and  two National (ADB/MINFAL, PKR., 19.6 million) competitive research grants were awarded. 

 

Under the Rockefeller Foundation’s grant,  

• Twice visited IRRI, and reported for the first time:
• salt tolerance in two wild rice species: Oryza punctata and latifolia, 
• use of molecular markers in rice breeding program,
• hybrid between rice and Porteresia coarctata for transferring salt tolerance into Basmati rice,
• 3 Int. publications (1994, 1995, and 1996), and
• Two papers and three international presentations were also made on this aspect,
• IRRI offered two Ph. D fellowships from their core budget, two ICGEB trainings, one UNESCO training, one IAEA training and one IDB funding (for Ph. D) to members of the team,
• Established state of the art facilities for Saline Agriculture, Biotechnology and Marker Assisted Breeding in wheat and rice,
• Introduced DNA finger printing of crop varieties, and
• Developed team of seven other professional scientists and many technicians.

 

Using these facilities and trained manpower, developed internationally recognized programs for improvement of salt tolerance in wheat and rice, and leaf curl virus resistance in cotton.

• 20 international publications,
• 18 presentations and
• 13 specialized lectures delivered at prestigious Universities in the country and abroad.
• 03 papers on Molecular Markers in 1994 (first time in the country) and series of 12 other International papers (original contributions to existing literature) and 

my Ph. D in 1991 (Salt tolerance potential of wild plant resources for crop improvement that resulted in >10 original papers) was the bonus to this program.  

These achievements earned me  

“Award for Excellence in Research to increase agricultural productivity in Pakistan” jointly from US-National Academy of Sciences and PARC, in 1994. 

 

One of the three Int. papers published on enzymology of cotton leaf curl virus (an idea that I conceived and presented to MINFAL/ADB and got funded) was selected as a paper of the choice for biotechnology website, UK.  Three high-tech trainings and a visit through this program further helped developing manpower and International contacts. 

 On December 1^st, 1996, I was promoted to Principal Scientific Officer (PSO) and successfully conceived, written, defended, and got funding, three more projects titled: 

• Enhancement and evolution of germplasm for stressed environment through the use of agrobiodiversity, funded by Agricultural Linkage Program (ALP) of USDA and Pakistan Agriculture Research Center (PARC), worth 4.68 million for 3 years (2004-2007)
• Studying the role of antioxidant enzymes in controlling programmed cell death (PCD) triggered in plants in response of exogenous stress, funded by Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), worth PKR 1000,000 for 3 years (2005-2008).
• Marker mediated identification of water deficiency and high temperature tolerance characters in wild rice species, upland rice germplasm and radiation induced mutants of rice and it’s pyramiding in lowland rice cultivars, funded by International Atomic Energy Agency: IAEA (Vienna), worth US$ 50,000 for 5 years (2005-2009).

This project was a part of coordinated research program (CRP) in which several countries participated. The concept of the CRP was formulated in a high-power consultancy meeting in which I was one of the consultants invited by the IAEA 

• 42 papers were published,
• 9 lectures were delivered, and
• 6 presentations were made that were based on production of:

High quality wheat requiring 2-3 irrigations and ½ the recommended dose of fertilizer: ideal for resource deficient farmers,

Short stature and early maturing wheat genotype: suitable for planting after cotton harvesting at the end of January,

New allopolyploid wheat that combines drought and salinity tolerance and is suitable for stressed/barren land,

[on the production of this genotypes, I was decorated with one of most prestigious civil awards “President award for Pride of Performance]

Rice genotypes consuming 50% less water than usual Basmati rice varieties without losing yield.

  

While I kept looking after my own PMB program, scientific manpower trained on the program under my supervision kept running:  

Rice program at National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) and  

Vegetable breeding, Markers assisted wide cross breeding program of chickpea and mung bean at NIAB, that was a valid contribution to the capacity building.  

 

Our programs on:  

• Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCuV),
• Drought tolerance in wheat,
• Drought/water stress tolerance in rice, and
• Utilization of stress proteins as markers

are being persuaded elsewhere in the country through the manpower trained in PMB group. This too, was a proof of scientific strength of the program envisioned and develop at NIAB under my supervision.

 

This vision and successes got me recognized as: 

Visiting professor at University of Agriculture (UAF) Faisalabad,  

Member Senate and Syndicate (UAF) as Governor’s nominee,  

Expert on rooster of CBD and  

Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) approved Ph. D supervisor.  

 

In December 2006, I was promoted to Deputy Chief Scientist (DCS). This promotion was made on the following achievements:

Production of germplasm comprising three innovations/discoveries

 

Produced a new natural allopolyploid wheat

That combines genomes form two Triticum and two Aegilops species and is being documented about 6000 years after first natural allopolyploid wheat (Triticum aestivum): the modern bread wheat was originated. This new allopolyploid which is informally named “DURUGEN” is excellent for cultivating stressed/barren land because it combines salinity and water deficiency tolerance; Paper has been published in “Field Crop Research 100: 369-373, 2007,

 

Production of a short stature (< 18 inches) wheat genotype

This genotype matures in 3 instead of 5-6 months. Suitable for wheat/cotton rotation and it can be cultivated after cotton picking at the end of January and yet it can produce 13 % higher grain yield compared to crop sown in November. It requires only 2 irrigations and ½ the recommended dose of fertilizer.

 

Produced for the first-time high yielding drought tolerant wheat genotype through wide hybridization that can be grown with just pre-sowing irrigation and is excellent for rain-fed areas. It possesses unmatched protein and excellent Chapatti making qualities.

 

Development of scientific programs

For the first time:

• Established salt tolerance in Aegilops species,
• Transferred to the wheat, salt tolerance and low input genetic material from biodiversity residing in Aegilops species via Marker Assisted wide hybridization,
• Conserved stress tolerance of Aegilops species in commercial wheat varieties,
• Produced low input and stress tolerant wheat germplasm,
• Introduced and established in the country, Marker Assisted Breeding Program and DNA fingerprinting of agricultural crops,
• Introducing to scientific communities, through lectures delivered at various Universities and academic institutions: the significance of Marker Assisted Breeding program.

 

Development of scientific manpower/human resource

Established/Trained:

• a group of 11 professional scientists (1987-1997),
• a group of another 3 professional scientists (1999-2002),
• a group of another 4 professional scientists (2002- 2006),
• several scientists from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, and Ayub Agriculture Research Institute (AARI),
• Provided Internship to 5 students,
• Arranged International Trainings for 5 scientists of PMB group, and fellowship/admission/ for 2 scientists and members of PMB group.

 

Acquiring competitive funding of PKR 57.76 million through various National and International grants

• US National Academy of Sciences, (1991-94).
• The Rockefeller Foundation, USA, (1991-94).
• The International Atomic Energy Agency, (1991-96).
• The Asian Development Bank 1996-98.
• Agricultural Linkage Program of USDA and Pakistan Agriculture Research Center (2004-2007).
• Pakistan Science Foundation (2005-2008).
• International Atomic Energy Agency (2005-2009).

 

Dissemination of knowledge through: 

• 055  Lectures delivered at Nat. and Intern. Universities
• 035 Participations and presentations made at National and International meetings, and
• 112 Scientific papers published in National and International referred journals and
• 016 General awareness papers

 

In May 2007, I was made Director (Technical) in Chairman’s Secretariat at PAEC Head Office, Islamabad. This was a management position where I was mandated for

• Policy advice regarding Biosciences,
• Formulation of Country Program Framework and
• Monitoring and evaluation.

 

On successful completion of these assignments, I was made Director (Academic Planning) at Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Science (PIEAS): a position mandated for:

Establishment of faculty of Biosciences at PIEAS which is an Engineering University lacking Bioscience’s discipline and looking after the affairs of Agriculture and Biotechnology Institutions affiliated with PIEAS.

The efforts were underway when I reached superannuation on September 24^th, 2012, after completing nearly 34 years of meritorious service. 

 

From October 2012, I started establishing a single member consultancy company:  AgriCon (SMC-Private) Limited (www.amagricon.com).

Through this platform, I provided consultancy services to:

FAO, Islamabad (January-April 2013) on Preparation of a comprehensive document with special focus on mapping the National Institutions involve in research on Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry & Wildlife, Livestock & Veterinary, and Poultry in AJ&K, Baluchistan, Federal Capital, Gilgit Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administrated Tribal Area (FATA), Punjab and Sindh.

AMKA products, South Africa (July-August 2013) for expert advice to test organic fertilizer “InoGrow” on wheat, Rice. and Cotton in the fields at various places in the country.

M/S Integrated Health Services, Islamabad, (November 2013-May-2014), for expert advice to manage their 10 hectares of agriculture farm for testing different rain-fed wheat varieties and seed multiplication.

M/S Madadgaar, Private Limited, (April 2014) for expert advice to manage Okara and seeds of various vegetables.

 

Currently I have been providing free of cost advisory services to resources poor farmers and students of Pakistan and any other country facing situation like of Pakistan.

 

Experts in the country says: Dr. Shafqat Farooq is a prolific writer (published 118 scientific peer reviewed papers and 16 awareness papers), an excellent speaker (has delivered nearly 55 specialized invited lecture and made 35 presentation at prestigious national and international fora/universities), an innovator and proven human resource developer who is very well respected for her humbleness, articulation, clarity of thoughts, dedication, commitment towards science and for her honesty in and out of the countries such as Austria, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Malaysia Mexico, Oman, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, UAE and United.

 

She is a real role model for young women scientists in the country 

That all about myself. See you next week with a new series. Till then, take care and good bye