RAWALPINDI: Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Muhammad Ashiq Hussain Kirmani has inaugurated a solarisation project at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, marking a new step in the university’s efforts to reduce energy costs and expand the use of renewable power.
The project is expected to improve energy efficiency across the campus while supporting the university’s broader sustainability and research agenda. Official university tender records show that PMAS-AAUR had initiated work on a 1.87-megawatt solarisation and retrofitting project incorporating net metering, a supervisory control and data acquisition system, and a five-year operations and maintenance arrangement.
Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo accompanied the minister at the inauguration.
Following the ceremony, Kirmani chaired a meeting to review the university’s development projects, academic initiatives and future plans.
He praised the university’s adoption of renewable-energy technology and said similar projects could serve as a model for other higher-education institutions seeking to improve efficiency and reduce their environmental impact.
The minister also acknowledged the role of Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman and the university’s academic and administrative teams in implementing research, training and development programmes.
Government pledges stronger research cooperation
Kirmani said the Punjab government and the provincial Agriculture Department would continue supporting agricultural universities through research partnerships, technology transfer and innovation-led development.
He said closer cooperation between universities and government institutions was necessary to develop practical solutions for farmers and strengthen the province’s agricultural economy.
The university is a public institution specialising in agricultural education and research while also offering programmes in natural sciences, management, computer sciences and other disciplines.
University outlines future projects
During the meeting, Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman briefed the minister on the university’s academic, research and community-development programmes.
The presentation covered a faculty development initiative, a climate-resilient peanut value-chain project, the Farmers’ Call Centre and Agricultural Advisory Service, and plans to expand the university’s Business Incubation Centre into an agri-entrepreneurship hub.
The university’s research and commercialisation activities are coordinated through its Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, which oversees externally funded research and related programmes.
The proposed agri-entrepreneurship hub is intended to support students, researchers and emerging businesses seeking to commercialise agricultural technologies and develop market-based solutions for the farming sector.
Sahoo said the Agriculture Department was strengthening collaboration with agricultural universities and that several joint initiatives were already being implemented.
The solar project forms part of PMAS-AAUR’s wider effort to link campus development with agricultural research, entrepreneurship and sustainable technology.
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