March 18, 2006	Saturday	Safar 17, 1427

ISLAMABAD, March 17: The government has started major crops estimation through Remote Sensing Systems via satellite technology aimed at working out their actual production and condition, a senior official told Dawn on Friday.

The project will cost Rs100 million, which would help the policy-makers in identifying the actual area under cultivation besides estimating the position of the standing crops in the field.

As a pilot project, the system had already been introduced in two districts of Punjab — Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan — and district Ghotki in Sindh, the official said, added now the same system had been put to operation in the entire country.

The present crop estimation system involving the federal as well as provincial ministries of food and agriculture and their allied departments is based on speculative statistics.

Had there been an efficient estimation system in place, Minfal would have much earlier informed the high-ups about the shortfall in cane production enabling import of sugar as the commodity was available at cheaper price in the international market last year.

Talking to Dawn Minfal Secretary Ismail Qureshi said that the system had been in place for making actual crop estimation reporting to avoid any crop shortage in future.

The system, the secretary said would give three immediate possible results —remote sensing regarding the total areas of utilisation, crop conditions and production estimates.

He said the system would mostly cover all major crops — cotton, wheat, sugar cane and rice. It will also cover maize crop in the NWFP.

The satellite system would also help policy-makers and farmers particularly in case of any pest attack on crops for taking timely action, he added.

In addition to this, the secretary said that another project worth Rs450 million had also been approved, which would help the relevant departments of the four provinces, Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas in improving their efficiency regarding crop estimation in their respective area.

“This project will certainly help in building their capacity to report on cropping system. The system in Punjab is reliable but need more attention in other areas of country,” the secretary claimed.