Chinese experience in precision agriculture will greatly heto improve Pakistan’s agricultural outputs, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Sunday quoting Experts.
“The climatic condition of many parts of China are quite similar to that of Pakistan. Thus it is a great opportunity to learn from the Chinese experience in precision agriculture to improve Pakistan’s agricultural outputs,” said Dr. Muhammad Naveed Tahir, Associate Professor from Department of Agronomy, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR).
As Dr. Tahir puts it, precision agriculture (PA) is of great importance for Pakistan for three reasons. First of all, much of the most productive agricultural land in the country is turned into housing land, significantly reducing agricultural land.
Secondly, the cost of agricultural input is increasing these years, making it more necessary for farmers to consider and apply the input in a precise way. Lastly, environmental issues have been getting serious due to the overuse of fertilizers pesticides, weedicides, fungicides, etc.
“That’s why PA is important for Pakistan to increase agricultural productivity per unit area to feed such a large population of over 212 million,” he explained.
However, “Actual application of PA technologies needs trained personnel, but they are not available in most of the developing countries including Pakistan,” Dr. Tahir told CEN.