NWFP Agricultural University Pesawar

Faculty of Crop Production Sciences

Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics

The Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics was established in 1963. Since then, the Department has been offering courses and research methodologies related to crop improvement, cytology, cytogenetics, biometry, quantitative genetics, molecular genetics and tissue culture, leading to B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. (Hons) degrees. The Department is also offering advanced courses and research guidance to Ph.D. scholars. During the past 40-years, the Department has produced more than 500 well trained graduates, who have been serving various organizations at provincial, national and international level. Since its inception, the Department has produced the maximum number of gold medallists and other academic distinction holders. The Department has highly qualified and experienced faculty, well equipped laboratories and experimental farm for undertaking research projects.

Goals

	Impart academic and research training at under-graduate, graduate and post-graduate levels in the field of Plant Breeding and Genetics.
	Plan and undertake basic and applied research on cereals and other major crops of NWFP.
	Produce quality seed of wheat and maize crops for distribution to the farmers of the province.
	Establish linkages with provincial, national and international research and educational organizations to undertake collaborative assignments.

Research Thrust
In addition to academic teaching, objectives oriented breeding programs are also underway in wheat, maize, pulse, sugar and oilseed crops at the department, which are funded by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Higher Education Commission and Ministry of Science and Technology. Involvement of M.Sc. (Hons) and Ph.D. students in research projects of the department is an integral part of the academic training. Each M.Sc. (Hons) student is required to undertake a field and/or laboratory based research project, supervised by a research advisory committee, for writing up research thesis. Research projects for Ph.D. are more focused on critical problems related to crop breeding and improvement, and usually need two to three years of experimentation to draw some logical conclusions. In spite of the fact that 60% of the cultivable area in NWFP is rainfed, but there is no organized crop breeding program in the province for the target rainfed environment. Therefore, efforts are underway at the department to tailor the current crop cultivars for the rainfed regions of the province by using the indigenous and exotic germplasm in the breeding programs. Similarly, research is in progress to evolve crop cultivars for cultivation in marginal land of the province. The first wheat cultivar "Ghaznavi-98" was released in 1998 by the wheat breeding program of the department for cultivation in irrigated and rainfed regions of the province. About 50 metric tons of certified seed of wheat and maize is produced annually at the research farm of the Department for distribution to the farmers and Agric. Extension Wing.

Future Prospects
Crop breeding programs in the NWFP rely mostly on germplasm selection procured from various international research centers. The Plant Breeding and Genetics Department has started its own hybridization programs in cereals, pulses and oilseed crops in order to develop locally adapted crop cultivars. The Department is also utilizing the expertise and resources of the allied disciplines of the university to develop cultivars that are more tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses with enhanced yield potential under the rainfed and irrigated conditions of the province.

Faculty Members
1.	Prof. Dr. Farhatullah Chairman ( Ph.D. - University of Wyoming , USA) (Personal Website)
2.	Prof. Dr. Hidayat-ur-Rahman,(Ph.D. - South Dakota State University , USA )
3.	Prof. Dr. Fida Mohammad (Ph.D. - University of Idaho , USA)
4.	Prof. Dr. Razi-ud-Din (Ph.D. - NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar , Pakistan)
5.	Dr. Iftikhar Hussain Khalil, Associate Professor (Ph.D. - Oklahoma State University , USA)
6.	Dr. Naqib Ullah Khan, Associate Professor (Ph.D. Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam, Pakistan)
7.	Dr. Ghulam Hassan, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. - NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar , Pakistan)
8.	Syed Mehar Ali Shah, Junior Research Specialist/Lecturer ( M.Sc. (Hons), Peshawar , Pakistan)
9.	Muhammad Sayyar Khan, Lecturer (M.Sc. (Hons), Peshawar, Pakistan)
10.	Mrs. Rozina Gul, Junior Research Specialist/Lecturer ( M.Sc. (Hons), Peshawar , Pakistan)

Courses Offered
The Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics offers the following courses at B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc. (Hons) and Ph.D. level.

B.Sc. (Hons):

	Course No	Course Title	Credit Hrs
	PBG-301	Botany	3 (2-2)
	PBG-311	Introductory Genetics	4 (3-2)
	PBG-411	Introductory Plant Breeding	4 (3-2)
	PBG-501	Reproductive Systems of Crop Plants	4 (3-2)
	PBG-502	Genetics of Crop Plants	4 (3-2)
	PBG-503	Breeding Fiber Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-504	Breeding Field Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-505	Molecular Genetics	4 (3-2)
	PBG-511	Breeding Maize and Millets	4 (3-2)
	PBG-512	Cytogenetics	4 (3-2)
	PBG-513	Breeding Oil Seed Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-514	Breeding Tobacco and Sugar Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-601	Methods in Genetics and Biometry	4 (3-2)
	PBG-602	Non Conventional Methods in Plant Breeding	4 (3-2)
	PBG-603	Breeding Forage and Fodder Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-604	Principles of Evolution	4 (3-2)
	PBG-611	Breeding of Cereal Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-612	Breeding of Pulse Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-613	PBG Seminar	1
	PBG-614	Review of Current Literature	2
	PBG-615	Special Problem	2
	PBG-616	Internship/Project Study	10

M.Sc. (Hons) and Ph.D:

	Course No	Course Title	Credit Hrs
	PBG-701	Principles of Plant Breeding	4 (3-2)
	PBG-702	Hybrid Seed Production of Field Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-703	Advanced Methods in Plant Breeding	4 (3-2)
	PBG-704	Evolution of Field Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-605	Biotechnology in Crop Improvement	4 (3-2)
	PBG-706	Cytogenetics of Crop Plants	4 (3-2)
	PBG-707	Population Genetics	4 (3-2)
	PBG-708	Genetics of Plant Disease and Insect Resistance	4 (3-2)
	PBG-709	Advanced Cytogenetics	4 (3-2)
	PBG-710	Quality Evaluation in Field Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-711	Advanced Genetics	4 (3-2)
	PBG-712	Biometrical Techniques in Plant Breeding	4 (3-2)
	PBG-713	Genesis of Genetic Concepts	4 (3-2)
	PBG-714	Mutation Breeding	4 (3-2)
	PBG-715	Genetics of Cereals	4 (3-2)
	PBG-716	Breeding of Crop Plants for Stress Environments	4 (3-2)
	PBG-717	Genetics of Fiber Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-718	Genetics of Oilseed Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-719	Genetic Engineering in Plants	4 (3-2)
	PBG-720	Genetics of Sugar and Vegetable Crops	4 (3-2)
	PBG-721	Advances in Molecular/Microbial Genetics	4 (3-2)
	PBG-722	Molecular Evolution	4 (3-2)
	PBG-793	Special Problem (M.Sc.)	2
	PBG-794	Seminar (M.Sc.)	1
	PBG-795	Thesis (M.Sc.)	10
	PBG-796	Special Problem (Ph.D.)	2
	PBG-797	Seminar (Ph.D.) Synopsis	1
	PBG-798	Defence Seminar	1
	PBG-799	Dissertation (Ph.D.)	20