ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) will launch two programs this month, subject to the approval of the PM Imran Khan, informed Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a series of tweets on Friday.
The first program is related to medical engineering. “We want the entire district of Sialkot to be given the status similar to Gwadar so that the exports of $400 million can be increased to $2 billion in two years,” he said.
وزارت سائنس اور ٹیکنالوجی کے اگلے دو پروگرام وزیر اعظم کی منظوری سے اس مہینے لانچ کریں گے، پہلا پروگرام میڈیکل انجینرنگ سے متعلق ہے ہم چاہتے ہیں کہ پورے ضلع سیالکوٹ کو گوادر جیسا اسٹیٹس دیا جائے تا کہ400ملین ڈالر کی ایکسپورٹ کو دو سالوں میں 2 بلین ڈالر پر لے جا سکیں
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 7, 2020
The second program is to build HiTech agricultural farms from two acres to twelve acres. “Using the latest technology, these agricultural farms will change the way small farmers cultivate and will also change the whole environment of our agriculture,” the minister said.
دوسرا پروگرام دو ایکڑ سے بارہ ایکڑ تک کے HiTech زرعی فارمز بنانا ہے، جدید ترین ٹیکنالوجی سے استفادہ کرتے یہ زرعی فارمز انشاللہ چھوٹے کاشتکار کا طریقہ کاشت تو بدلیں گے اس کے ساتھ ہماری زراعت کا سارا ماحول بھی تبدیل کر دیں گے۔
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 7, 2020
MoST has been proactive in promoting different technologies in the country. Last month, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the ministry and ABN SATUMA (Private) Ltd for the development of UAVs/drones for agriculture application. The drones will specifically be used for countering locust attacks, which has caused havoc across the country. “Both of these agricultural drones are Made in Pakistan, and are capable of spraying 16 liters (pesticide) for 18 minutes, first the whole field is sprayed after the sensors identify which part of the crop is diseased and only this part is sprayed, complete monitoring of the field,” Fawad Chaudhry said in a tweet.