Amid depleting water resources, sharply rising population and impact of climate change, Pakistan needs to adopt precision agriculture to increase the crop yield and tackle the problem of food security by monitoring, accessing, and analyzing agricultural land more efficiently. Pakistan’s agriculture sector is the backbone of the economy, which contributes 19% to the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs 36% of the labor force.
Due to fast-paced industrialization, water shortage, climate change, and outdated farming practices, this sector is under serious threat. Agriculture production has been on decline over the years. Along with this, the rapid growth of the Pakistani population has resulted in a dramatic rise in food consumption. In order to keep up with the ever-growing demand for agricultural products, precision farming has been introduced in Pakistan to boost production and efficiency through advanced technologies.
Precision agriculture is a farming management approach that uses information and technology to simplify, optimize, and boost productivity on farms. Precision agriculture reduces the consumption of agricultural inputs, such as water, fertilizers, and pesticides, thereby reducing the environmental footprint and costs associated with agricultural production. As a result, technology reduces the amount of physical labor needed and enhances productivity, resulting in increased profitability for farming.
Moreover, adopting precision farming helps to use a precise number of inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers, and other chemicals that result in less pollution in the environment and groundwater. Precision farming has four major components including the Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographical Information System (GIS), Sensors, and Remote Sensing. GPS enables farmers to identify field information, such as soil type, pest occurrence, weed invasion, etc., based on a precise location. GIS surveys are used to determine field variability, ensure optimal use of inputs and maximize the output from a farm.
While talking to WealthPK, Humaira Rana, Assistant General Manager of Crop2X, a Karachi-based company that provides services in precision farming, said, “Adoption of precision farming is very important for Pakistan’s agriculture sector as per acre yield and its contribution to GDP has declined.”
She added that Crop2X was providing services across Pakistan to help the farmers use modern precision farming techniques to boost the crops yield by precise use of inputs. Currently, using the precision farming techniques, farmers are using laser leveling, zone management.
