President Dr. Arif Alvi has emphasized the need for adoption of advanced agriculture technologies and best practices that are crucial to enhancing agriculture production and developing Pakistan’s farming industry, besides improving agribusiness in the country. He said it was imperative to devise E-strategy on agriculture and introduce technological solutions for maximization of better crop. He expressed these views while chairing a meeting on Technology in Food Security and Agriculture, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, today. The meeting was attended by Minister for IT & Telecom, Syed Amin ul Haq, Minister for National Food Security & Research, Syed Fakhar Imam, Minister for Science & Technology (MoST), Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Secretary IT & Telecom, Mr. Shoaib Siddiqui and Secretary Science & Technology, Capt ® Nasim Nawaz.
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Syed Fakhar Imam, briefed the meeting about the advantages of best agriculture practices and the steps taken by his Ministry for development of agriculture. Minister for MoST, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, informed the meeting that his Ministry would help to change the traditional agriculture practices. Minister for IT & Telecom told the participants that Ministry of IT would develop Apps to help the farmer by providing them agricultural information and solutions to their problems.
In order to develop cooperative strategy among ministries of IT & Telecom, MoST and National Food Security & Research, the meeting underlined the need for collaborative approach among these ministries to address the challenges being faced by the agriculture sector. It was agreed to give a lead role to Ministry of Food to prepare a roadmap for modernization of agriculture. The meeting also emphasized the need for preparing database of farmers and training of human resource, which are key factors to create a digital ecosystem and encourage the use of technology in food security and agriculture through digitalization.
The President also chaired a meeting on Technology in Education and Vocational Training. Highlighting the significance of technology, the President said that digital literacy was essential for promoting education and vocational training. He underscored the need for providing online skill education and training of human resource with the right skills through distant learning. Federal Minister for Education & Professional Training, Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, briefed the meeting about the steps taken by his Ministry in providing online education during Covid-19 Pandemic. The President appreciated the measures taken by Ministry of Education for promoting distant learning in the country. Apart from Ministers of MoST and IT, the meeting was also attended by Rector National University of Technology, Lt Gen ® Khalid Asghar and Chairman NAVTTC, Syed Javed Hassan.
