Pakistani female student excels in agro-ecosystems

By Masood Sattar Khan

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The insect-pest has long been a problem for Pakistani farmers, and the aim to ease the burden of farmers and improve yield has sparked Hafiza Javeria Ashraf, a Pakistani student, in learning agri-entomology and pest control in China. 

"I hope I can play a role in integrated pest management (IPM) that emphasizes the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control,” Javeria Ashraf, a female PhD scholar at the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) in China, remarked. 

Javeria had graduated from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural entomology. She proceeded to China for higher studies and received master’s degree at the FAFU in 2018. 

As one of the top 10 students, she was rewarded by the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) and the FAFU where she continued her PhD study in plant protection. The scholarship was established for excellent scientists in the agricultural field based on an agreement signed between FAFU and UAF in 2017.

“Being a girl, I’m the first one among the whole family to come overseas for studies. My parents supported me upon this decision and encouraged me to acquire a doctorate from China,” Javeria said. 

“The facilities provided by the State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, College of Plant Protection, FAFU, and my respectable adviser, Prof. Liande Wang, is the major reasons I was able to pursue my research dreams,” she acknowledged. 

“As I have a keen interest in and a grip on basic knowledge in plant protection, I deliberately chose the research subject of pests control, under which I study the insects that impair the growth of orange orchards,” Javeria stated. 

“Being a patriotic person, I prefer to go back to serve my country and contribute my knowledge and skills to my motherland as it is flourishing and the agriculture sector needs experts like me to realize higher production,” she concluded.