A new machine wheat sowing has been introduced by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) to help farmers cultivate wheat in rice field easily.
The machine was named Pak seeder, to help the farmers in wheat sowing without having the need to remove rice residue and prepare land for plantation.
The major challenge for the formers of Pakistan is handling rice residue and wheat cropping system. The residue is either removed or spread over the field manually.
The easy and cost effective way of disposal of rice residue is the burning and majority of the farmers burns the residue. However, this process not only causes loss of precious crop nutrients, but also poses a threat to the environment, human health and economy. The burning of residue in winter causes smog which has become a major public health and environmental issue, especially in Punjab, in recent years.
According to PARC, the new technology will address these crucial issues.
According to PARC officials it took almost a few years to design the new machine and make experiments adding the machine was launched and exhibited for the farmers near Muridke.
Different experiments were conducted and different approaches were made over the few years that led to the development of Pak Seeder. “It is a unique technology that helps sow wheat without disturbing the soil condition or removing the rice residue,” told by PARC officials.
By adopting this technology “Rice and wheat growers can conserve their resources, time and money. It not only improves soil’s biological and physical health, but also increases wheat and rice yields.”
Dr Yousaf Zafar chairperson PARC appreciated the efforts put up by the PARC engineers and scientists for developing the state-of-the-art machine Pak Seeder for wheat sowing in the presence of heavy rice residue for the first time in Pakistan.
“It will help farmers to increasing earnings of rice and wheat growing areas. Burning of rice residue has been a big problem for Pakistan as well as South Asian countries and Pak Seeder is a breakthrough, which will not only save time and resources, but will also boost crop production,” said Zafar while speaking at the launch ceremony.
Highlighting the role of manufacturers, Scientist, service providers and farmers in introducing the technology, he highlighted that PARC engineers were playing a vital role in developing resource conservation technologies like Pak Seeder.
Dr Abdul Majid country head International Centre for Agriculture Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) summarizes his organization’s role and activities in Pakistan, saying research was not a one-day process, and rather it took years to resolve a problem. He underlined the importance of farmers’ role and cooperation with machinery manufacturers and researchers in further developing Pak Seeder.
After successful launch of Pak Seeder PARC sings a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the manufacturers for promoting the technology on commercial lines.