Food demand in 2050 will rise as the world population reaches above 9 billion and the greater wealth drives per capita consumption. Due to this population explosion, Pakistan may also need some supplementary crops, fruit, and vegetables, besides the wheat and rice crops, in order to feed its population. Therefore, innovative agricultural techniques will have to be adopted for enhancing the production of vegetables and other crops.
Following aspects of Smart Agriculture need to be introduced widely in Pakistan to achieve maximum and cost-effective benefits in agriculture:
• Improved agricultural production systems that are less laborious for agricultural workers
• Encourage Tractor / Combine Harvesters Contractors and Farm Equipment Dealers
• Improved and efficient user-friendly farm equipment
• Encourage Laser-land Leveling Contractors
• Introduce Full Packages of “Transfer of Technology (ToT)” by companies, e.g., Rice Transplantation technology – Nursery, Transplanting, Weeding, Harvesting
• Encourage the establishment of Farm Equipment Operational Training Institutes
• Application of Internet of Things (IoT) in agriculture for weather and market forecasting
The above recommendations, if considered by all stakeholders including farmers, agricultural marketing and financial institutions, agricultural machinery rental contractors, and the agricultural policymakers, can surely be able to maintain a good food security system in place despite the indicative impacts of population growth and climate change.
SAWiE is aiming to address these issues from grass root levels currently in the selected areas of Pakistan. Once introduced in the pilot project areas, the same modus operandi shall be replicated in other regions of Pakistan as well.