Training Session for Data Digitizers at Agriculture Department

LMKT conducted a capacity building training session for the officials of Agriculture Department, Government of Punjab on August 15 and 16, 2017. The sessions were held at Soil Fertility Research Institute (SFRI) in Lahore. This training is the first in a series of sessions to improve farmers welfare through the use of technology and mobile apps. The participants included GIS specialists, research analysts and digitizers. LMKT is working with the Agriculture Department in registering and mapping over 4 million farmers across 36 districts of Punjab.

One of the areas covered in the training session included the management of farm-mapping requests in Punjab. This is based on LMKT’s semi-automated process using ArcGIS for Desktop along with customized add-in extensions. The software enables GIS staff to develop and maintain Land Revenue Maps as base maps, and their subsequent conversion/mapping to the respective farms. Typically, farmers can send in requests to field officers in Punjab for digitizing their farms. These requests are usually accompanied with a rough sketch of the territory of the respective farm. Field officers manually create the farm and in case the area has already been mapped, the override feature allows data digitizers to edit, delete and amend the mapped area. Once approved, the farm is displayed on the digitized map on the Agri Assistant mobile app allowing field officers to locate and collect the relevant soil samples for testing. Farmers have the freedom to log in to the Smart Kisan Web Portal to view their farms and relevant soil sample analyses.

LMKT plans to conduct similar capacity building exercises for all project stakeholders before March 2018 to ensure project sustainability. LMKT is committed to the empowerment of farmers in Pakistan using revolutionary technology and smart apps.