Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has kicked off the Land Information and Management System (LIMS) – Center of Excellence, an initiative to boost food security, increase agricultural exports, and transform vast areas of uncultivated and low-yield land across Pakistan.
The establishment of the LIMS aims to strengthen food security and agricultural exports, thus alleviating the strain on the national exchequer by cutting imports, per the government’s statement.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir also attended the event. Other attendees included ministers of finance, defence, planning development & special initiative, national food security & research, information, chief secretaries of provincial governments, and agricultural experts and senior army officials.
The State-of-the-Art System
The innovative system is expected to boost agricultural output by implementing sustainable precision agricultural practices based on the agroecological potential of the land. Simultaneously, it aims to ensure rural communities’ welfare and the environment’s preservation.
The GIS-based LIMS will drastically enhance the national agricultural yield by digitalizing agriculture. This includes providing real-time information to local farmers on soil, crops, weather, water resources, and pest monitoring using remote sensing and geospatial technologies. It also promises to diminish the role of intermediaries via an efficient marketing system.
As per the World Food Programme, food insecurity affects 36.9% of Pakistan’s population, with 18.3% facing severe food crises. LIMS aims to tackle these pressing issues.
Agricultural Innovation
Numerous projects have been undertaken in partnership with Saudi Arabia, China, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Bahrain, which are expected to augment Pakistan’s agricultural exports. New irrigation infrastructure, such as canals to store flood water, and the introduction of advanced irrigation techniques like modular drip irrigation, sprinkler, and pivot irrigation are also on the horizon.
, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at boosting food security, increasing agricultural exports, and transforming low-yield lands across the country.){kind=link}