PMAS-AAUR Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Qamar uz Zaman emphasized the need to manage agriculture fields using precision technologies. Pakistan has a huge potential for precision agriculture which will help to minimize the yield gaps and ensure food security, he said. He was addressing a three-day International Precision Agriculture Pakistan Conference (PAPC) 2022 that commenced at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR). He said that Pakistani agriculture was facing environmental pollution, adverse effects of climate change, and water shortages and stressed industry-academia linkage to address the challenges being faced by the farmers.

The conference was organized by PMAS-AAUR Center for Precision Agriculture (CPA) to provide researchers, scientists, and industrial personnel with a platform to join hands in achieving goals of increasing farm profitability and reducing environmental impacts. International participants from different countries of the world including the USA, Canada, China, Turkiye and Australia, attended the conference both physically and online. Over 200 people participated in the workshop, including students, academic researchers, and representatives from the private and public agriculture sectors.

Keynote speaker Dr Aitizaz Farooque from the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada gave a presentation on the use of machine vision, thermal imagery using drone technology, artificial intelligence, digital photography technique and sensor integration into agricultural equipment for real-time soil plant and yield mapping to assess the irrigation water needs of agriculture crop production. He said that precision agriculture technologies were meant to increase production efficiency, profitability and environmental efficiency.

The conference would also help to establish cooperation between professionals, academic researchers, students, relevant government agencies and industry. Different topics including Crop Protection & Precision Agriculture, Variable Rate Technologies, Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing, UAVs & Agricultural Robotics, Climate & Water and Environmental Monitoring for Precision Agriculture were discussed at the conference.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk