The Department of Botany, GC Women University Faisalabad in collaboration with Institute of Agriculture Extension and Rural Development, UAF organized one day seminar entitled Parthenium Awareness and Management on Friday, October 16, 2020. The session formally started with recitation of Holy Quran and Naat-e-Rasool-e-Maqbool (PBUH). The welcome address was delivered by Incharge, Department of Botany, Dr. Abida Kausar, who also gave an overview of the seminar. She acknowledged the support of Worthy Vice Chancellor in organizing this event. The technical session started with the lecture of two distinguished speakers Dr. Ijaz Ashraf, Associate Professor, and Dr. Naima Nawaz from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. The introductory talk was given by Dr. Naima Nawaz, she extended her gratitude and appreciated the efforts of the Department of Botany, GCWUF for organizing this event. She also told that their team are very much devoted to spreading awareness about Parthenium, in this regard they had already organized 80 plus lectures in various venues. Dr. Ijaz Ashraf delivered a detail thoughtful and knowledgeable lecture on various ecological, allelopathic, and health effects of Parthenium. He explained that Parthenium also called Gajer booti is considered ornamental due to its delicate appearance and white flowers but, people fail to understand that it is a weed with obnoxious effects. This weed pose threat to the agricultural sector in Pakistan. It spread rapidly with one plant producing 10-15,000 seeds that are rapidly disseminated via wind. The weed also pose threat to health specifically to asthma patients as pollens can aggravate respiratory hazards. In the end of technical session, Dr. Ijaz put forward some strategies that can be adopted to eradicate Parthenium from Pakistan. Some of the strategies include spreading awareness, biological control using environmental friendly insects, mechanical control, proper legislation and its compliance. Certificates and shields were presented to the honorable guest speakers to acknowledge their efforts. The seminar concluded with the vote of thanks from Coordinator, Science and Technology, Mrs. Ghazala Suhail.
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