Unmanned Air Vehicle drone technology in agriculture sector is being used for the application of pesticides on crops, monitoring weeds, pests, and nutritional deficiencies after getting permission from Punjab government. The drone can now be used across the Pakistan that can really minimize the massive financial losses faced by the Pakistani agriculture.
The drones you are familiar with are eliminating terrorist in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, but these drones are killing crop pests, weeds in Punjab.
The requirements to use this drone are defined by agriculture department officially. According to officials, the farmer must purchase their own drones. Then they have to submit an application with respective district Deputy Director Agriculture Extension that will be forwarded to District Implementation Committee comprising of Deputy Commissioner and District Police Officer of concerned district. No objection certificate will be issued from DIC who is responsible for security and safety of sensitive places located across the agriculture field.
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture vice-chancellor Prof Dr. Asif Ali has appreciated the Punjab government for introducing the drone technology. Drones are equipped with hyperspectral, multispectral, or thermal sensors can identify any part of field. This is the breakthrough in agriculture sector of Pakistan in areas of crop and weed mapping, monitoring soil and field survey, predictive modeling, pest scouting, pesticide application, and irrigation management etc.
Additional features of drones are helpful in managing natural disasters like storms, floods and earth quacks revolutionize the contemporary agriculture in Pakistan.
Farmers are of the view that this recent technology is helpful to them. They said that drones are also helpful in capturing the differentiation in fruiting, color, growth of the plant that informs the farmer that there is something wrong with their plants. After detecting the problem, the farmers can also get advice from scientists using this innovation of agriculture, the next generation assessment of crops.
Mango Growers Association President Syed Zahid Hussein Gardezi said that drones can be configured to navigate in a 30/30-meter plot to assess the damages. Furthermore, drones provide up to date information about crops health and land fertility status planting patterns, irrigation scheduling and nutrients management and crop spraying. These drones are kind of crop saver after technical monitoring of crops at larger scale said the agriculture officials.
Assistant Director Multan Agriculture Information, Naveed Asmat Kahloon, said that UAV (Unmanned Air Vehicle) drone consist of a small-unmanned aircraft and after the success of this technology, it is ready to amaze the agricultural sector.
As the agriculture sector is facing severe challenges from uncontrolled weeds growth and pest attacks leading to reduces crop yield. Farmers said that this revolution in agriculture can improve the per acre crop yield.
Malik Iqbal, President Multan district Kissan Committee said that drone technology would reduce environmental hazards and management constraints, reckon the weeds, and yield potential across the province and in future in Pakistan.
Prof Dr. Amar Matloob, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture said that monetary loss of worth 3 billion US$ annually is being faced by Pakistan due 267 weed species. Among 267 around 50 weeds, species are causing serious economic losses.
According to the available statistics that this year pests’ whitefly, jassid, mealybug, big bollworm, armyworm, and Heliothis badly destroyed cotton crop badly. Agriculture in Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Multan, Sahiwal, and Pakpatan districts were affected by severe pest attack.