LAHORE: The local scientists have developed soil-test based fertilizer prediction models to know the required amount of nitrogen and phosphorus for desired yield of major crops.
This was stated by Punjab Minister for Agriculture Dr Farrukh Javed, while addressing a press briefing. He said that farmers can use these prediction models to determine the actual amount of nitrogen and phosphorus for desired yield of wheat, cotton, sugarcane, rice and maize crops, he added. He said that farmers can invest according to their financial resources and they can earn profit up to Rs0.1 million per acre from arable cropping and Rs0.3 to 0.4 million per acre from high value farming by using the e-solutions from the website. This step will prove milestone in improving the efficiency of fertilizers and ultimately the income of farmers, he added.
Dr Farrukh said that government is determined to take the technology at the doorstep of every farmer of the Province. He said that UAF has taken a revolutionary step to utilize the state of art ICT means to disseminate the information among the farming community.
He further stated that the Uniqueness of the fertilizer models is that it is two-way communication i.e. farmer and expert. For this purpose farmers can visit. These models have been developed as a result of untiring hard work and efforts of University of Agriculture, Faisalabad in collaboration with Agriculture Department, Punjab. Principal Investigator UAF, Dr Muhammad Rashid briefed the gathering regarding fertilizer models and income increasing plans developed by University.