Capacity building of National Partners in data analysis and use of statistical tools for agriculture research.

USDA, ICARDA, and Pakistan Agricultural Research Centre (PARC) organized a three-day training course under the Fertilize Right Pakistan project to strengthen the capacity of national partners in agricultural data analysis and the use of statistical tools. The training took place from 21–23 May 2025 at NARC, Islamabad, and was hosted by the Chairman of PARC.

This training aimed to equip scientists from ICARDA’s 12 partner institutes with practical skills in managing, analyzing, and interpreting field data from farmer trials.

Over three days 30 participants gained hands-on experience and practical knowledge on essential topics such as data collection and preprocessing, correlation and regression analysis, hypothesis testing, experimental design in agriculture, and data visualization. The training also included practical lessons on using statistical software and running key tests like t-tests and ANOVA.

During the practical sessions, participants worked in groups, each analyzing the data generated from their farmers’ field demonstration trials. At the end of the course, participants presented their findings comparing the project recommendations to traditional farming practices and techniques. During the exercise of statistical analysis of field data, the recommendations of fertilizer deep placement, split application of urea fertilizer, coated urea fertilizers and use of Biozote (biofertilizer) were found significantly better than the traditional farmers’ practices of fertilizer broadcast.

Dr. Muhammad Imtiaz, ICARDA’s Country Coordinator, Pakistan, highlighted the significance of this training in building data analysis skills to assess agricultural innovations in Pakistan.

Chris Rittgers, USDA Agriculture Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, expressed his appreciation for the efforts behind the training and was pleased that USDA played a key role in supporting both its technical and financial aspects and awarded certificates to all participants.

This training marks a key step toward building local capacities in Pakistan and underscores ICARDA’s commitment to fostering innovation and sustainability in dryland agriculture.