2. Issues Related to Precision
Agriculture in Pakistan
Farooq Ahmed
2007-ag-2118
M.Sc.(Hons.) Agronomy

3. Precision agriculture
 Precision agriculture is a way of thinking about how
to improve production and get more from existing
resources. It often involves the use of technology.
 Precision agriculture or satellite farming is a farming
management concept based on observing and
responding to intra-field variations.

4. Precision agriculture around the
world
 The concept of precision agriculture first emerged in
the United States in the early 1980s.
 Later nations were Canada and Australia.
 In Europe, the United Kingdom was the first to go
down this path, followed closely by France.

5. Issues related to adaption of
Precision Farming

6. Techno-Economic Problems
Due to increasing population and division of land under
the law of inheritance, landholdings are subdivided over
and over again. The result is that very large number of
farmers has less than 2 hectares of area. Moreover
holdings are scattered. It is difficult to use modern
machinery on small pieces of land.

7.  Limited Cultivable Area
 The total area is about 79.6 million hectares
 Only 23.7 million hectares (28%) area is used for
agricultural purposes.
Water Logging and Salinity
 Twin problems of agricultural sector.
 Both affect about 0.10 million acre of land in every year

8. Conti….
 Slow Growth of Allied Products
 Allied products refer to those productions, which are
not agricultural but indirectly, help the farmer to
improve his living standard i.e. fruits, milk, poultry,
fisheries, livestock and forestry.
 Low Per Hectare Yield
 45.0% of labour force is engaged
 It is less than 5% in developed countries

9. Conti…
 Inadequate Infrastructure
 Rural infrastructure like, roads, storage facilities,
transport, electricity, education, sanitation and health
facilities etc.
 Electricity is available to only 3/4 rural populations.
Old Methods of Production
 The old implements are still being used for
agricultural production.

10. Conti…
Inadequate Supply of Agricultural Inputs
 The supply of modern inputs costly
 Inadequate and irregular
Lack of Irrigation Facilities
 Shortage of irrigation facilities causes a serious
limitation in the expansion of crop area in Pakistan.
 Defective Land Tenure System
 Landlords and feudal-lords live in urban areas
 Tenants and peasants have no or less incentive for
their hard work. So, the productivity in agricultural
sector remains low.

11. Conti…
 Improper Crop Rotation
 The constant cultivation of one crop or two; exhausts
the fertility of the soil.
 Proper rotation of crops is necessary in order to
restore the fertility.
 Lack of success stories
 There have been no success stories of precision
farming

12. Conti…
 Culture and perceptions of the users
 Farmers are resistant to new technologies and do not
accept them.
 They are unaware of agro-environmental problems
such as groundwater pollution caused by ineffective
fertilization methods.

13. Natural Problems
Various Plant Diseases
• Crops often come under attack of pests and insects.
• Pests and plant diseases reduce the annual
productivity of agriculture.
Heterogeneity of cropping systems and market
imperfections
 Farm units are highly heterogeneous.
 Fertility status is not uniform.

14. Conti…
 Natural Calamities
 Labour is in the hand of mankind but its result is in
the hands of ALLAH in agriculture sector.
 20% reduction in productivity due to unnecessary
rain and unfavourable climatic situation.

15. Conti…
Scarcity of HYV Seeds
 lower quality seeds due to non-availability of High
Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds.
 Agricultural production is badly affected because of
inferior quality of seeds.
Under Utilization of Land
 Population is attached with agricultural sector.
 Using traditional means of cultivation.
 Less intereste to use the advanced and modern means
of farming.

16. Socio-Economic Problems
 Consumption Oriented
 Our farmers have no proper records of their incomes
and expenses. Mostly, they spend on several rural
ceremonies and festivals.
 Absence of Land Reforms
 First time during Ayub’s .
 Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto introduced more reforms in
1972.
 Absence of land reforms has always caused a lot of
damage to the agricultural sector of Pakistan.

17. Conti…
Data availability, quality and costs
 Difficulties in obtaining reliable data in a timely and
cost effective
Lack of local technical expertise
 Requires a relatively advanced and computer literate
workforce.
 influenced by variations in personal ability and age of
farmers, motivation, quality and number of years of
education, and exposure to extension services.

18. Conti…
Land ownership, infrastructure and institutional
constraints
 Policy and bureaucratic constraints slow down the
process of timely information transfer. Further, poor
coordination among the private sector, research and
administration agencies makes the adoption of these
technologies slower.

19. Conti…
Farmers Litigation
 They are often seen in courts, police stations,
irrigation offices, revenue boards and other official
problems.
Joint Family System
 He has to support his big family.
 It creates deficiency in saving and investment. A huge
part of farmer’s productivity is consumed at his own
house.
Illiteracy and Ill-health
 Literacy rate is only 57.7 %.

20. Conti… Political Instability
 Affected development in all economic and social sectors.
 Creates unrest among the farmers to sell the productions to
various industries as a raw material.
 People hesitate to invest in agricultural sector due to political
unrest.
• International compulsions & inconsistent
government policies
• Pakistan fell back in to the clutches of IMF after the change of
regime back in 2008.
• IMF has told Pakistan to reduce agricultural subsidies and
impose agriculture tax.
• Pakistan is a WTO signatory as well.

21. Conti…
Lack of Credit
 Agricultural credit facilities are not common.
 Non-institutional sources are available but these are not
reliable due to high rate of interest.
 About 50.8% poor borrow from landlords in Pakistan.
Instability in Market Prices
 Cobweb theorem is very popular in case of market prices;
it means that a price of one commodity is much high in
this year and much low in the next year and vice versa.
The farmers, do not get due reward from the sale of their
productions. So, they remain unsatisfied

22. MEASURES TO REMOVE THESE
PROBLEMS
Following measures are suggested to improve the
agriculture:
 Supply of Agriculture Credit
 Water Logging and Salinity Control
 Construction of Dames
 Provision of HYV Seed
 Mechanization
 Agricultural Research

23. Conti…
Agro-based Industries
Tax Concessions
Training of Farmers
Prices of Agricultural Productivities
Conclusion:
 Being an agricultural country, agricultural sector of
Pakistan’s economy is still backward. Use of modern
techniques, provision of credit facilities, basic
infrastructure and agriculture research facilities are needed
to remove all the problems of agriculture sector.

24. Thanks