Promotion Of ICT, Precision Agri Imperative For Food Security: US Expert

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Promotion of ICT, precision agri imperative for food security: US Expert

FAISALABAD,(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -27th Sep,2016) : US expert Arman Razaee from the University of California Davis USA on Tuesday stressed the need for promoting Information and Communication Technology (ICT), precision agriculture and improving vocational training to create awareness among the masses about modern practices to ensure food security in Pakistan.

He was addressing a seminar at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad at New Senate Hall on Tuesday. The session was chaired by UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan and organized by US Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security.

He said agriculture was contributing to 21 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), out of which livestock agriculture accounts for 12 percent of the GDP in Pakistan. He said modern technologies were inevitable to compete with the rest of the world, adding awareness among farming community about the modern trends would help address the problems.

He said artificial insemination (AI) was crucial to renewing livestock, but unfortunately the market for AI suffers from the asymmetric information.

He said there was a room to improve agriculture health as well sector, adding that monitoring of health staff in Punjab had doubled thanks to the ICT and smart phones.

UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said the UAF had launched short message service for one million farmers meant for creating awareness regarding balanced usage of fertilizer. The step would reduce cost of production and increase productivity.

He said there were 25000 villages in Punjab and if we connect the farming community with ICT to educate about latest agri practices that would boost yield. "We are sending the message to atleast 25000 farmers in the each district," he added.

He said the Punjab government had launched a scheme of smart phone for the farming community. He lauded the steps being taken on the part of government for the uplift of agriculture sector. These government initiatives enabled the farming community to reduce the cost of production. USPCAS technical expert Dr Nancy Allen also spoke on the occasion.