LAHORE: Pakistan can avoid a future wheat crisis by electronic documentation of crop production, Salim Ghauri, Chairman & CEO NetSol Technologies Ltd said.Pakistan is expected to have bumper wheat crop this year. Besides lacking the storage capacity for bumper crop, Pakistan also lacks the ability to assess the exact quantity of wheat to the last grain on ground due to the absence of technologies in rural sector.

Pakistan has already witnessed complexities arising out of such a situation back in 2007 when the government exported wheat on low price after wrong estimates by the authorities concerned and later imported on higher price. “Pakistan paid the price of its non-technological approach and this situation will continue unless we document our crop production electronically.”

He was talking to a group of young IT professionals from leading universities of the country. “The upcoming budget must reflect this critical situation of the country in order to ensure an early entry to the electronic age,” he asserted. The IT tycoon of Pakistan further said most of the problems Pakistan faces today were due to the lack of technology in the public sector. The budget for the fiscal year 2009-10 must emphasise public and private sector need for use of technology.

According to him, the decision makers should realise the fact that in last few years even budgeted funds were not utilised to their maximum. In most cases, these allocations lapsed with zero impact on economy in the absence of efficient automated structure in public offices.

Ghauri also stressed that the percentage of allocation on education should register substantial increase in the upcoming budget, especially skilled technology education. “We seriously lack skilled resources able to take Pakistan to the comity of developed nations,” he said. staff report

[source: pakissan.com]