Latest tech is the future of agriculture in Pakistan

Sunday, 7 July 2013

Experts at an international seminar on Tuesday called for promotion of environment-friendly agricultural practices like precision cultivation to increase productivity and to reduce the input cost.

The seminar titled Technology, Energy and Natural Resources was arranged by the Department of Environmental Sciences of GC University, Faisalabad (GCUF) and was presided over by Acting Vice Chancellor and Faculty of Science and Technology Dean Dr Naureen Aziz Qureshi.

Image Source: http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/571664-hitechagriculture-1372811370-670-640x480.jpg

Experts who spoke on the occasion included Dr Qamaruz Zaman and Dr Tri Ngyuen Quang from Canada’s Dalhousie University and Department of Environmental Sciences GCUF Chairman Dr Farhat Abbas. Dr Schumann from University of Florida also addressed the seminar via video conferencing.

Prof Dr Naureen Aziz said that it was important to make efficient use of natural resources and at the same time maintaining international standards.

She said that glaciers were melting drastically due to climate changes and after 50 years, the country would be left with few glaciers if the trends remained unchanged. She stressed the need to shift from flood irrigation to drip irrigation to conserve water.

She said water efficiency in Pakistan was only 40 percent and added that per capita water availability was down to 1,000 cubic metres.

Prof Dr Qamarur Zaman said that the world population would touch 9 billion a few decades.

In order to meet agricultural needs with limited resources, Pakistan would have to shift focus to precision agriculture.

Dr Tri was of the view that the advanced technology would be very useful to countries with a warm climate like Pakistan.

Dr Farhad Abbas said, “We are wasting our resources in agriculture because of our reluctance to switch from traditional methods.” He also talked about using environment-friendly practices at par with modern trends.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2013.