Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, has inaugurated the Land Information and Management System (LIMS) – Centre of Excellence, which aims to improve food security, and agri exports, and transform millions of acres of uncultivated and poor-yield land across Pakistan.
“The goal of establishing the Land Information and Management System (LIMS) is to increase food security and agricultural exports while reducing the burden on the national exchequer by reducing imports,” the administration stated in a statement.
General Asim Munir, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), was also present. Ministers of finance, defence, planning, development, and special initiatives, national food security and research, information, chief secretaries of provincial governments, agricultural experts, and top army personnel also attended the occasion.
This cutting-edge System will aid in the optimisation of agricultural production through novel technology and sustainable precision agricultural practises based on land’s agroecological potential, while also safeguarding the well-being of rural communities and the preservation of the environment.
The GIS-based LIMS will significantly increase national agricultural yield by systemizing agricultural digitisation, providing real-time information to local farmers about soil, crops, weather, water resources, and pest monitoring via remote sensing and geospatial technologies, and reducing the role of middlemen via an efficient marketing system.
According to the World Food Programme, 36.9% of Pakistanis are food insecure, with 18.3% facing severe hunger crises.
Several projects are being developed in collaboration with Saudi Arabia, China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Bahrain, which would undoubtedly improve Pakistan’s agricultural exports.
Similarly, additional canals will be constructed to hold flood water, and cutting-edge irrigation techniques such as modular drip irrigation, spray irrigation, and pivot irrigation will be employed.