Along with the Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the NIAB reports directly to the Islamabad-based PAEC Biological Science Directorate.
[1] The operations and research began in 1970, and it was officially inaugurated by Munir Ahmad Khan, then Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, on 6 April 1972.
[2] The nuclear medical research was also put under Khan, and NIAB had developed 23 different crop varieties, which are high yielding; they are disease resistant and are being cultivated throughout the country.
The institute currently operates 60Co irradiation sources, gas chromatographs, a photo-documentation system, and atomic absorption.
[4] NIAB's research focuses on the development of high-yielding and disease-resistant crop varieties, soil fertility improvement, water management, and food preservation through irradiation.