Farmers urged to cultivate new varsities of Zinc wheat.

MULTAN -- A seminar on 'Addressing the Zinc Deficiency through Biofortification of Zinc Wheat in Pakistan' was organized at a local hotel here Thursday to sensitize the media on Zinc deficiency in Pakistan, the importance of bio-fortified wheat varieties and increase awareness among wheat value chain actors.

The media was engaged for advocating policies leading to popularized bio-fortified Zinc wheat varieties and increasing availability of certified biofortified Zinc Wheat to farmers.

Addressing the seminar, Programme Manager, Mansoor Ahmad said that media had become a significant factor in our daily life and was frolicking a dynamic role in shaping public opinion and strengthening society. The purpose of the seminar is also to show how through media the farmers can be stimulated to cultivate new varieties of zinc wheat Akbar-19 and Nawab-2021 so that the growing zinc deficiency in the country can be overcome, he informed.

Project Manager GAIN Syed Qaiser Saeed shared with participants that the human body does not have the ability to synthesize zinc, so it must be obtained through diet. Zinc is a mineral that performs many important functions in our body including strengthening the immune system, healing wounds, producing cells, forming DNA and proteins, slowing down the effects of aging on the body, he said and added, Zinc is closely related to our taste and sense of smell and fertility.

He said that almost 18 percent of boys and girls were Zinc deficient. He emphasized on the cultivation and use of zinc-rich wheat varieties Akbar-19 and Nawab-2021.

Speaking on the occasion, Director Agriculture Extension Shehzad Sabir remarked that media was playing a very important role in the agriculture...