Islamabad
Provincial Minister of Punjab for Agriculture Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi Saturday said that in order to increase agricultural production with the help of precision farming technologies, the Punjab government turns to drones and artificial intelligent.
Talking to PTV news channel, he said Punjab Agriculture Ministry was specially focusing on precision farming with the introduction of drone technology to enhance agricultural productivity, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with Air Force for development of agriculture sector and use of drones.
He said drone technology was a revolutionary step leading to enhancement of per acre production and yield size in agriculture districts facing serious challenges from uncontrolled weeds growth and pest attacks.
He said working on biotechnology and precision agriculture would be helpful to introduce smart technology in agriculture, especially in the field of agricultural engineering.
He explained that drones could help farmers calculate exact land sizes, classify types of crops, perform soil mapping along with pest management and also plan their harvesting.
Minister said government was taking proactive measures for farmers’ welfare, adding that the launching of Kisan Card will assist and facilitate farmers in buying agricultural inputs, pesticides and machinery.
The money will be transferred directly to the account of farmer and there will be no middleman involved, he added.
He said from various districts around one lakh farmers were registered to collect their data, adding, majority of farmers were registered and the process of other will be replicated in other districts as well.
This policy will especially benefit the small farmers who otherwise have no access to financial resources, he added..—APP