ISLAMABAD: In a significant recognition of his contributions to the fields of Agricultural science, Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), has been awarded the Presidential Award by the South Korean government. The prestigious ceremony took place in Seoul, where Korean Prime Minister, H.E Han Duck-soo presented the award to Dr. Ali, underscoring the importance of his work in advancing scientific knowledge and technological innovation in agriculture. Dr. Ali stands out as the only scientist among the recipient to receive this distinguished recognition, making him the sole recipient in the field of science and technology. Dr. Ali’s achievement is particularly noteworthy, as he stands out as the only Pakistani scientist to receive this accolade in a highly competitive international context.
A reception was also held by PARC to commemorate the prestigious award. Agricultural scientists from across the country participated in the ceremony. The speakers from scientific community congratulated and commended Dr. Ali for achieving this honor on behalf of the institution and the nation as a whole. In his address, Chairman PARC expressed gratitude to the government of the Republic of Korea for this recognition as well as for its continuous support of Pakistan’s agriculture sector. He also acknowledged the contributions of the scientists and researchers of PARC in achieving this honor. Dr. Ali also emphasized at elevating research standards to bring the council at par with the international research institutions.
Throughout his career, Dr. Ali has achieved significant milestones in agricultural science. In his recent work, Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali established state-of-the art National Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology (NIGAB), a high-tech center at NARC. As a leading scientist he continued his research work and developed four (04) high yielding and longer shelf-life banana varieties, four genome-based rice varieties and numerous crop varieties. Dr. Ali, as Chairman, PARC has done tremendous efforts in high-tech scientific infrastructure development like establishment of Pakistan’s 1st speed breeding facility at NARC, country’s first aeroponic facility for disease free indigenous potato seed production, hi-tech farm machinery institute, and so many other diverse research initiatives including CRISPR-Cas, innovative animal breeding techniques, DNA recombinant vaccine development and identification of novel genes for economically important traits. Remarkably, Dr Ali has also been recently awarded with Sitara-e-Imtiaz (S.I) by the government of Pakistan in recognition of his countless contributions in the field of agricultural science.
