Lahore: Punjab Minister for Agriculture Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani said on Monday that digitalization of agriculture sector was a key component of the ongoing agricultural transformation agenda. He said this while chairing a meeting here at the Civil Secretariat, to review proposals for using modern digital technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced digital models to support farmers and strengthen agricultural services.
Punjab Agriculture Secretary Shakeel Ahmad Mian also attended the meeting. During the meeting, the minister was briefed on an advanced mobile application for crops developed by Syngenta Pakistan. The meeting was informed that digitalization of the agriculture sector was a need of the modern era and that advanced technologies could enable timely and effective agricultural advisory services for farmers. The minister emphasized the need for making farmer advisory services more effective and results-oriented by leveraging modern digital technologies. He said the mobile application would also help collect data on crop growth and other important agricultural indicators.
Punjab Agriculture Secretary Shakeel Ahmad Mian said modern digital technologies would further improve the diagnosis of crop diseases. He added that the effective use of digital technology would facilitate the timely detection of crop diseases and enable farmers to receive appropriate guidance. He further said that promoting modern digital agricultural technologies through public-private partnerships could make farmer advisory services more effective.
He said the government would make full use of modern applications and AI-based technologies for this purpose. The meeting also reviewed various proposals for leveraging advanced AI models in the agriculture sector and providing farmers with modern agricultural information in line with contemporary requirements.
