Major Issues & problems of Agriculture sector

1. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
1
Outlines
• Introduction and Importance of Agriculture Sector
• Performance of Agriculture Sector
• Major Issues & problems of Agriculture sector
• Suggestions/Solutions of Agriculture Problems

2. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Introduction
About 25% of Pakistan's total land area is under
cultivation
It is watered by one of the largest irrigation systems in
the world.
2

3. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Importance of Agriculture
 GDP contribution
 Agriculture accounts for about 21% of GDP
 Employment Contribution
 Employs about 43% of the labor force
• Product contribution
• Provision of cheaper intermediate inputs to other sectors
of economy
• Factor contribution
• Releases labor for other sectors of economy
 Foreign exchange Contribution
 Agriculture products and agro-based manufacturing are the
key exports of Pakistan---------- Accumulate foreign
exchange reserve
3

4. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Growth of Agriculture Sector
4
Year Agriculture growth
1956-58 2.1
1958-69 4.1
1969-71 3.6
1971-73 2.6
1973-78 2.4
1978-88 4.1
1988-93 3.8
1993-97 5.9
1998-01 4.2
2001-08 3.0
2008-13 2.3

5. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Agriculture Share in GDP of Pakistan
5
Year Agriculture percentage share in
GDP
1949-50 53.2
1959-60 45.8
1969-70 38.9
1979-80 30.6
1989-90 25.8
2000-01 24.0
2006-07 21.9
2013-14 21.0

6. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Major Crops
 Wheat: It is a leading food crop in Pakistan
It accounts for 10.3 percent of the agriculture value addition and 2.2
percent to GDP
 Sugarcane: Provides input to sugar industries
0.7 percent contribution in GDP and 3.4 percent in agriculture value
addition.
 Cotton: Provides input to textile industries
1.4 percent contribution in GDP & 6.7 percent stake in agriculture value
addition
Pakistan ranked at 4th position in the production and 3rd in the consumption
of cotton in the world.
6

7. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
 Rice: Rice is another Important food after Wheat and is a big source
of foreign exchange earning
It contributes .7 percent contribution in GDP and 3.1 percent in agriculture value
 Maize: It accounts for .4 percent of GDP and 2.4 percent of value
addition in agriculture products
 Other Crops:
Other crops include Oil seeds, Bajra, Pulses etc which are also
having important position in Pakistan Economy.
7

8. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Livestock & Poultry
• It contributes 11.9 per cent of Pakistan's GDP, which is more than the crop sector.
• It contributes more than half of the value added (55.9%) in the agriculture sector.
• Major source of income in the rural areas.
• Milk and Meat are the major products of livestock
• The livestock sector grew by 2.7 percent in 2013-14.
• Poultry & products value added grew by 7.4 percent. Poultry also contributes 1.3
percent to GDP and 6.1% is the total value addition to agriculture. Poultry industry is
more than RS.200 Billion.
• Milk production grew by 3.3 percent.
• Pakistan the 5th largest producer of milk in the world.
These animals produce 29.472 million tons of milk
3531 thousand tons of meat,
44.1 thousand tons of wool.
25.1 thousand tons of hair. 8

9. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Fishery
 Pakistan have a coastline of about 814 km and fishery is a big
source of livelihood
 It is also a major source of export earning
 Accounting for approximately 0.4 percent of GDP.
 Growth rate is 1 percent percent in 2013-14.
9

10. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Forestry
About 4% of land in Pakistan is covered with forest
 The forest of Pakistan are a source of food, lumber,
paper, fuel wood, medicine as well as used for purposes
of wildlife conservation
Forestry accounts for 0.2 percent of GDP
10

11. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Major Issues of Agriculture
 Uneconomic Landholdings
 Low Per Acre Yield
 Inadequate Agriculture Research and lack of Coordination
 Poor Rural Infrastructure
 Lack of water supply
 Insufficient use of inputs
 Lack of irrigation facilities
 Problems of Land Reforms
 Scarcity of High Yielding Varieties
 Subsistence Farming
 Improper Crop Rotation
11

12. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Major Issues of Agriculture
 Low cropping intensity
 Defective land tenure system
 Limited Cultivable Area
 Water logging and Salinity
 Lack of Credit Facilities
 Consumption Oriented Problems
 Farmer Litigation
 Joint family System
 Political Instability
 Lack of Modern Technology
 Under Utilization of Land
 Lack of Education
 Natural Problems
12

13. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Soil erosion
 Removal of top soil faster than the soil
forming processes can replace it, due to
natural, animal, and human activity (over
grazing, over cultivation, forest clearing,
mechanized farming, etc.).
 Soil erosion results in land infertility It is
estimated that 20 percent of the world's top
soil was lost during 1950-1990, and its loss is
continuing at a fast.
 Average yield in Pakistan is lower than other
countries where layer of fertile soil is only 4
inches.

14. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Water wastage is very high
•The ancient method of flood
irrigation is still in practice in whole
of the country which wastes almost
50 to 60 percent of water.
•The irrigation system of Pakistan
needs improvement as about 67% of
the land is irrigated with canals.

15. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Old methods of cultivation and harvesting
• Pakistan has low yield per acre that means the average crop in Pakistan
is just 1/4th of that of advance states.
• Where as Nepal, India and Bangladesh are using modern scientific
methods to increase their yield per acre. For this purpose, these states are
using modern machines to improve their yield.

16. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Water logging and salinity
 As the storage capacity of the
dams is decreasing so the water
availability per acre is also
decreasing. Therefore, the
farmers are installing more and
more tube wells to irrigate their
crops. This is why salinity is
becoming the major issue in most
parts of Punjab and Sindh.

17. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Communication gap
• The only mean of communication in rural areas is T.V or radio so it is
urgently needed on the part of these mass communication resources to air
the programs related to the new agricultural techniques and allied
sciences. But these programs should be telecast in regional or local
languages. Because lack of guidance is the main reason of farmers
backwardness.
• The communication gap between well qualified experts and simple.
• Availability of these experts is not ensured in rural areas as they are
reluctant to go there
17

18. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Problems of farmers
While formulating the 5 or 10 years plan, no emphasize has been laid on the
importance of solving the problems of farmers. Most of the farmers are illiterate,
poor and ignorant. In this wake the loans issued by ADBP or other banks are
used by them in other fields like repayment of debts, marriage of daughters etc.,
in spite of its befitting use in agricultural sector.

19. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
Underutilization of cultivable land
• Pakistan is rich in fertile land yet the land is being wasted in different
ways.
• 79.6% million hectors of land is cultivable where as only 20.43% million
hectors is cultivated.
• A major area is owned by feudal. It is difficult to manage such a huge
area so only that part is cultivated which is easy to manage, the rest is left
ignored.
• The rise of industrialization has given threat to this sector. People are
migrating to cities and cities are expanding, thus new towns and colonies
are constructed on fertile lands.
19

20. Agriculture Sector
Back Bone of the Economy
False policies of government
• 18 billion in budget was allocated for agricultural sector of
Pakistan
• withdrawal of subsidy on pesticides and electricity on the
conditions of IMF has done serious damage to this sector.
• Whereas America and European union are giving a huge
amount of subsidy to their farmers
• Support price policy is very weak. In Punjab sugar cane is
sold 200 Rs. Per 40 kilograms. It was purchased and later
on stocked by industrialist .
20

22. Feudalism should be abolished
• Lands should be allotted to poor farmers. This will enhance the
productivity and per acre yield of all the crops in Pakistan.
• Taxes should be levied on agricultural income but not without devising
limit of land holding. Other wise it would directly effect poor farmers.

23. Federal Seed Certification and Federal Seed Registration
• Should take responsible steps in approving seeds as it has already
approved 36 new kinds of seeds.
• Specially, those seeds should be banned which can create pest problem
in near future. These seeds are of cotton mainly.
• International seed makers are providing those seeds which are not
successful in our country as these seeds are not tested on our soil.

24. A new agricultural policy
•A new agricultural policy must be framed in which
following steps should be focused on.
• Small farmer must be focused
•Consumer friendly policy must be projected.
•Productivity enhancement program must be
constituted to adjust and support prices.

25. Different agricultural zones should be
introduced
• As Multan in famous for its mangoes and citrus fruits so it must be made
mango, citrus zone by which perishable products should be exported.
• This would enhance agro based industry and increase foreign reserves.
• Pakistan agricultural storage & services corporation needs to take steps in
this regard.

26. Latest machinery should be provided
to the farmers
•To increase the per acre yield , the availability of
equipment should be on easy installments so that the
farmers can avoid the burden of loans.
•If possible subsidy should be given by the government of
modern machinery.-
• Modern techniques of irrigation can solve the
problems of irrigation in Pakistan. This includes drip
irrigation and sprinkle irrigation methods. By using this
technique the farmers can save a huge some of money
which he pays for irrigation through tube wells and
tractors.

27. Dams should be constructed
• More dams should be constructed on Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers. This
will enhance the storage capacity of water and reduce the per acre cost of all
the crops.
• This step will also reduce the salinity chances of the lands as less tube well
water will be flooded to the lands which cause salinity.

28. Some other Suggestions/ Solutions
Provision of Credit Facilities
Tax Concessions
Training of farmers
Agriculture Research
Water Logging and Salinity Control
Provision of HYV
28