By Muhammad Soban ISLAMABAD, May 12 (INP-WealthPK): Amid depleting water resources, sharply rising population and the 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 labour 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 Due to fast-paced industrialization, water shortage, climate change, and outdated farming practices, this sector is under serious threat.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 the 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 labour 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 crop yield by the precise use of inputs. Currently, using precision farming techniques, farmers are using laser levelling, zone management, satellite imagery, soil nutrients analysis, and water level monitoring. According to Humaira, there are many hurdles in the adoption of precision farming in Pakistan that need to be overcome.  The first is that farmers are unaware of these modern technologies. Farmers are using conventional outdated methods of farming which increase the cost of production and have less productivity. There is a need to start awareness campaigns to inform farmers about how precision farming works. Secondly, farmers in Pakistan are digitally illiterate. They are reluctant to adopt these digital technologies in their fields. Moreover, farmers have fears about the adoption of technologies. There is a need to educate farmers regarding using new technologies so they can benefit from these technologies. The third hurdle is that the cost of adopting precision farming is very high. Big farmers can afford these technologies, but small farmers cannot afford these expensive components of precision farming. The Government of Pakistan should provide subsidies to small farmers for adopting these latest technologies. The fourth hurdle in the adoption of precision farming is the language barrier. To adopt precision farming, farmers have to use mobile applications and other technologies which are in English. The farmer in Pakistan is not comfortable with the language. There is a need to provide these applications in local languages so farmers can easily use them. Crop2X has already started providing its services in local languages. Lastly, to promote this technique of farming, there is a need to develop model farms where precision farming should be practised. So, farmers can learn about the working of precision farming and make mind to adopt these latest farming techniques.