The 5th Annual Workshop on Precision Agriculture and Forestry (WPAF) was held at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering on Friday, November 29, 2019. The workshop was organised by the recently-established National Center of Robotics and Automation’s (NCRA) Agricultural Robotics Lab in collaboration with German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), University of Siegen, Germany, University of Lahore (UOL), and Lahore College Women University (LCWU), Lahore. The workshop was also sponsored by NCRA Pakistan and DAAD Germany.
The one-day workshop provided the opportunity to professionals, academic researchers and students to engage with top experts in precision agriculture, remote sensing and robotics. Areas of discussion included the use of remote sensing technologies for reliable crop monitoring, water efficiency and environmental monitoring for precision agriculture and forestry applications. The workshop was critical for building capacity in this sector and will help establish cooperation between the academic community, relevant government agencies, and industry.
82 people participated in the workshop which included students, academic researchers, and representatives from the private and public agriculture sector. Students from different universities especially from University of the Punjab, Lahore, Government College University, Lahore, Government College University, Faisalabad and Lahore College Women University, Lahore showed keen interest in remote sensing and UAVs based applications and enthusiastically participated in the question and answer session.
Guest speakers from renowned public and private organisations were invited for talks on precision agriculture and how their respective organisations are using remote sensing techniques for this purpose. The speakers included Dr. Muhammad Iqbal from SUPARCO, Islamabad, Dr. Bashir Ahmad from Climate Energy & Water Research Institue, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council, Islamabad, Dr. Hammad Gilani from Institute of Space Technology University, Islamabad, Ms. Maria Zubair from Punjab Information Technology Board, Lahore, Dr. Ather Ashraf from PUCIT, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Dr. Waqar Shahid Qureshi from NUST, Islamabad, Dr. Khalid Mehmood from UK-Pakistan Science Innovation Global Network, UK, Mr. Imtiaz Younas from Urban Unit, Lahore, Mr. Salman Saeed from Punjab Forest Department, Lahore and Mr. Muhammad Asad from Buraq Integrated Solutions, Islamabad.
