A digital advisory will be issued on mobile phones, and a commercial bio-control laboratory will be established in Muzaffargarh for the large-scale breeding of friendly insects.
The Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) and the Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) here on Friday to begin joint efforts for establishing E-plant clinics that assist farmers in diagnosing crop diseases and achieving national food security.
The network of plant clinics will be digitised as a result of this agreement to diagnose plant diseases, which will aid in the control of dangerous insects and diseases to increase agricultural output. This programme would digitise plant clinics to deliver timely awareness of crop pest control and efficient remediation strategies.
The Department of Agriculture Punjab has been running plant-wise programs with 700 plant clinics in the province to meet the nutritional needs of the growing population, the dangers of climate change, and to prevent the spread of pests, harmful insects, and diseases.
A digital advisory will be issued on mobile phones, and a commercial bio-control laboratory will be established in Muzaffargarh for the large-scale breeding of friendly insects. This will help in providing friendly insects to farmers for the control of crop insects /pests.
He added that Pakistan was one of the six nations using the Plant Wise Plus programme to diagnose and control crop diseases in order to ensure food security.
Dr. Muhammad Anjum Ali, Director General Agriculture (Extension), Punjab, stated that the current plant clinics programme would be improved to enable prompt diagnosis of crop diseases.
He claimed that this facility had already benefited more than 0.4 million farmers throughout the province. According to this agreement, the Agriculture Department will now provide farmers with timely advice and practical pest and disease control measures via E-plant clinics.
Dr. Babar Ehsan Bajwa, Senior Regional Director for CABI Asia, stated that the Agriculture Department of Punjab and CABI would work together to digitise the entire system, which would lessen the impact of pests and diseases on crops.
He added that 1400 Agriculture (Extension) employees working at plant clinics had received practical training from the Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) up to this point.
Dr. Naeem Aslam, the country coordinator for the Plant Wise Program for Pakistan, claimed that the programme would change the game by lowering crop losses and raising farmers’ incomes, thereby enabling food security and safety in the nation.