RAWALPINDI:A two-day “Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Hands-on Training Workshop for Surveying and Mapping” concluded here on Monday at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR).
The workshop was organized by PMAS-AAUR Data Driven Smart Decision Platform (DDSDP) in collaboration with Industry Partners, SETC, with the objectives to train the participants on the application of GPS and Geographic Information System (GIS) in agriculture.
PMAS-AAUR Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman was the chief guest while the participants from different universities & research organizations, including Agricultural University Peshawar, UET Peshawar, Sindh Agriculture University, MNSUA Multan, ABAD Rawalpindi, BARI Chakwal, and NARC Islamabad attended the workshop.
Dr Qamar Zaman addressing the participants highlighted the need for advancement and precise application of agrochemicals in the agriculture industry and how GPS and GIS can play pivotal roles.
The Vice Chancellor said that due to the new technologies like GPS and GNSS, the farmers can develop the most effective soil & plant treatment strategies that not only minimize the cost of the yield by maximizing the yield per acre but also improves the quality of the product.
While highlighting the importance of academia-industry strong linkages he said that PMAS-AAUR is working in collaboration with the government and industry to develop and implement new agricultural technologies which would not only help improve the input methods but also enhance crop productivity and profitability.
He thanked the participants and hoped that such training on precision agriculture would continue in future as well.
The following components were covered in the two-day training workshop: Introduction to GPS & GNSS, Advancement of GPS/DGPS technologies, Survey Procedures – DGPS-RTK, Hands-on Training using Geometica and ArcGIS Software, Field Survey Data Processing, Applications of GPS and GIS in Agriculture. Over the two days, the participants learnt to collect field data from the different types of GPS and they were also able to plot the collected data in GIS to create maps.
The participants appreciated the initiative taken by the DDSDP team under the visionary leadership of the Vice Chancellor and encouraged the DDSDP team to visit national universities and train their faculty and graduate students on the use of GPS and GIS.
At the end of the workshop, Dr. Allah Baksh, Director, Institute of Geo-Information and Earth Observation (IGE&EO) and Prof. Dr. Khalid Saifullah, Director, Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), PMAS-AAUR distributed the certificates to all participants. They also thanked the participants and appreciated the training workshop organizing team.