Pakistan's major economic crop is cotton and 1.3 million farmers grow it on 6 million acres. The textile sector employs 40% of the country's manufacturing sector jobs and accounts for 70% of its foreign exchange earnings.
However, climate change has had a severe effect on Pakistan's cotton production in recent years, with around two-thirds of its crop production being lost. This in turn has placed millions of jobs, especially for women, under threat.
The major issues are poor yield due to pests and disease attacks, water availability, and increasing costs. On top of that, the country has lost almost 50% of its cotton crop due to a combination of heat, drought and floods in 2022.
A major cost to farmers is buying chemicals to control pests and diseases.
To try to address that, the University of Plymouth's Research and Development Solutions Fund is enabling a move towards sustainable cotton production using artificial intelligence applications.
The University of Plymouth and SAWIE are leading this collaborative project along with cooperation from SAWIE Pakistan and MNS University of Agriculture Multan.
The project aims to develop machine learning and AI for early disease detection of major cotton disease, especially cotton leaf curl disease.
Cotton production is dominated by smallholders who own less than one acre and rely on the female workforce to sow and pick the cotton.
SAWIE agronomist Mr Usama Rasheed inspecting cotton field in Vehari district in Pakistan
Research and Innovation
In order to support and deliver the University's mission, it is Research and Innovation's strategic intention to drive the exploitation of research and knowledge transfer opportunities to bring significant added value to the University, the wider economy and community.
/University Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.
