Agriculture in Pakistan and its Problems

Pakistan is a huge population that is suffering already from energy and water
shortage. Moreover, food inflation has been touching double figures since last
half a decade and has gone up to 26% in 2010. Realizing these ground realities,
Pakistan needs to look seriously into its agricultural problems.

The magnanimity of the agricultural problems in Pakistan has undoubtedly

crippled the economy. In 1947, agriculture’s contribution of GDP was 53% that
has shrunken down to 21% last year. Pakistan has great agricultural potential
because of its alluvial soils. However, it is producing almost 50% below its
potential. Neighboring India and Bangladesh have shown significant improvement
in their agriculture sector unlike Pakistan. Where China is growing padi crops in
Gobi desert, Pakistan is still relying on perennial canal system of irrigation. Let us
make an attempt to study the agricultural profile of Pakistan followed by a brief
discussion on problems in this sector.

Pakistan lies in a semi arid subtropical region. It is in the north-east of the world;
that is just above tropic of cancer i.e. 23.5oN. Its dimensions are 240 30′ N ‘370 N
and 610 E ‘750 E approximately. Pakistan has 1046km coastline in the south that
impacts its climate and agriculture.

Almost 90% to 97% of showers in Pakistan are received during summer monsoon
season. Very few showers are received during winters. Droughts and floods
formulate a permanent feature of the area. Pakistan receives seasonal showers
due to which most of the agricultural land must be irrigated and agricultural
output is largely affected by the climatic variations and global warming.
Pakistan is deprived of the modern ways of irrigation like drip and sprinkle
irrigation. A huge amount of water is lost due to seepage and evaporation.
Moreover, mismanagement of water leads to water logging and salinity.

Total land area of Pakistan is 96.9% and 3.1% is constituted of water bodies. Total
cropped area of Pakistan is 23.04 million hectors. 90% of the land is irrigated and
only remaining 10% is rain-fed. In Pakistan, Intensive Subsistence Farming is
largely practiced. Use of fertilizers and pesticides, and techniques of crop rotation
are practiced widely in order to have larger yield. Among major crops of the
country there is wet padi and wheat. Cash crops include cotton, sugarcane, maize,
jute, tobacco, citrus fruits, mangoes etc. Almost 44% of the labour is involved in it
and almost 64.5% of the population is still rural in nature. Due to 2010 floods,
agriculture sector showed overall growth of 1.2% whereas major crops showed
negative growth of 4% during year 2010 ‘2011.

Problems of Agriculture in Pakistan

Irrigation issues

Quite unfortunately, network of water channels existing in Pakistan has become

redundant. Perennial canal system of irrigation, when formed, was a very efficient
in 1960’s. But today, Pakistan is deprived of the modern ways of irrigation that is
drip and sprinkle irrigation. A huge amount of water is lost due to seepage and
evaporation. Moreover, due to problem of distribution of water in fields, farmers
do not practice the standard water required in fields. Thus, this leads to
mismanagement of water.

Water issues
In Pakistan, construction of water reservoirs has become a matter of political
tussle. Due to which construction of dams has been in halt since last major project
of Terbela. Indus Basin Treaty 1960 has failed to stop India from constructing
water reservoirs on the channels flowing to Pakistan. However, Pakistan
consistently failed to establish its view point on international forums. The present
canal water is not effectively used in our irrigation system. 25% – 35% losses of
water are recorded out of total applied to fields. Out of 142 MAF, total quantum
of water available to crops is only 42 MAF. Due to shortage of canal water,
farmers have to use tube well water. This water is brackish and having higher
concentration of different salts and enhances the problem of soil salinity.

Deforestation
Less than 4% of land in Pakistan is forested and rate of deforestation is around
3%. From northern highlands to the coastline of Karachi, Pakistan has diverse
range of forests from coniferous to mangroves respectively. However,
deforestation is the result of increased and unplanned urbanization. Therefore,
expanding urban units grow at the cost of trees. This is not only causing
environmental hazards, but also accentuating the impacts of global warming.

According to some old figures out of 142 MAF, total water available in rivers and
33 MAF annual discharges from tube well the total quantum of water available to
crops is only 42 MAF.

Absence of Land Reforms

During Ayub’s era, first time land reforms was practiced. Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
introduced more reforms in 1972. The Law Reforms Act 1977 was also enforced
by Bhutto’s regime. The most important change was that individual holdings,
including shares in shamilat, if any, in excess of 100 acres of irrigated land or 200
acres of un-irrigated land. Furthermore, notwithstanding the above, no land
holding could be greater than an area equivalent to 8,000 PIU. However, these
laws were declared in contradiction to Islam and have ceased to be in effect since
1990. Thus, absence of land reforms has always caused a lot of damage to the
agricultural sector of Pakistan.

Salinity and water logging

Due to excessive use of canal water, most of cultivated lands have become victims
of these two dangerous diseases. Every year, salinity alone is turning about
100,000 acres of arable land into marches and salt lands. Water-logging is no less
injurious. About 25% of the irrigated area of Pakistan is affected by water logging
and salinity problems.

Lack of R&D and neglect in education & training of farmers

There are only five universities in Pakistan and around 15 research centers related
to agriculture. Research conducted, techniques taught and skills imparted in these
institutions rarely reach at the level of small farmers. Farmers need to know how
to make optimum use of land. How to use fertilizers and pesticides and what
amount of water is exactly useful and necessary for any crop. Techniques to fight
water logging, old irrigation system and low yield must also be learnt. For
instance, if take example of using fertilizers in Pakistan, per hector usage of NPK is
170 kg, but the recommended is 300 kg per hector. Hence, in fertilizer application
problem is poor nutrition application and incorrect fertilizer case. Lack of
management on the part of farmer is a huge problem.

International compulsions & inconsistent government policies

Pakistan fell back in to the clutches of IMF after the change of regime back in
2008. Since then IMF has told Pakistan to reduce agricultural subsidies and
impose agriculture tax. Therefore, Pakistan fails to practice a long-term policy
whether of flexi loans, subsidies or of agriculture tax. Moreover, Pakistan is a
WTO signatory as well; therefore, she has to follow those compulsions as well. In
the wake of these challenges of international nature, farmer of Pakistan that is
illiterate, less equipped, under trained and technologically poor can only rely on
policies of government to protect and grow them. Therefore, weak and
inconsistent policies of consecutive governments in Pakistan have caused serious
problems to Pakistan’s agriculture sector.

Lack of accountability

The marketing facilities for agricultural products in Pakistan are still far from
satisfactory level. Our cultivators cannot get just prices for their produce due to
defective marketing organization. Moreover, the chain of middle men between
the producers and ultimate consumers take a heavy share of their produce .Thus
the cultivators do not take much real interest in increasing their product too.
Hoarding and smuggling has become a culture. Creating farce crisis and causing
price hike has become a routine matter. That benefits only middle men; both
producer and consumer suffer badly due to this. Lack of proper check and balance
and accountability is a fundamental feature of lack of good governance in
Pakistan. This is also effecting agriculture sector as well.

Every year, salinity alone is turning about 100,000 acres of arable land into
marshes and salt lands. Water-logging is no less injurious. About 25% of the
irrigated area of Pakistan is affected by water logging and salinity problems.

Infrastructural problems

The agricultural activities are to be performed in rural areas, but most of villages
in Pakistan have no road or railway links with markets. So, farmers have to face
innumerable hardships to sell their products. Pakistan is also facing grain storage
problems at large-scale throughout the country. The people often store their
grains in godowns, which cause time to time damage to the seed. Thus, hundreds
of thousand of tones of crops have to be stored in temporary facilities that
afforded inadequate protection and pilferage. The hazards may occur because of
improper ventilation, lack of control over temperature and humidity, high
moisture content in seeds, lack of control over rain due to broken walls, floors
and ceilings, spoil and un-cleaned godowns, lack of spray and fumigation etc. That
results in increase number of dormant seeds, sprouting and rotting, increase of
insect damage and bird contamination.

Analysis

Pakistan is a cluster of more than 170 million people. Though Pakistan is the most
urbanized country in South Asia i.e. 34.5% and more than 50% of the GDP is
contributed by services sector, yet Pakistan is an agrarian economy. Fluctuating
policies, influx of MNCs and private sector have forced the rural labor to find
better economic opportunities in urban centers. But unfortunately, they have
only succeeded in becoming the part of informal economic sector of urban
centers and have added to the poverty. Therefore, agriculture sector of Pakistan
is being neglected constantly and its problems are multiplying every day. It is a
matter of grave concern that Pakistan is a huge population that is suffering
already from energy and water shortage. Moreover, food inflation has been
touching double figures since last half a decade and has gone up to 26% in 2010.
Realizing these ground realities Pakistan needs to look seriously in to its
agricultural problems. 2010 floods played havoc with the agricultural lands in
Pakistan. Changing climatic conditions; rise in temperature and changing patterns
of rainfall are also adding to the problems of agro based population. No matter
how long lived and deep rooted are the problems of agriculture in Pakistan, they
can be solved with due deliberation in to them.
Bustard business - https://www.dawn.com/news/1525407?ref=whatsapp

ACCORDING to findings by the Houbara Bustard Commission, the internationally

protected migratory bird’s population has dropped noticeably in the past three
years in Punjab. Each winter, flocks of houbara bustards descend from Central
Asia on the deserts and plains of Pakistan, but their population has been
diminishing due to excessive hunting carried out largely by dignitaries from the
Middle East. In a single 10-day hunting trip, up to 100 birds are allowed to be
killed, but this figure is reportedly exceeded frequently. Consequently, the
houbara bustard is placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s
Red List. In March, the Lahore High Court had directed the commission to
investigate whether the continued hunting of the endangered species was being
carried out in a sustainable manner, or if new and stricter conservation policies
needed to be initiated to protect their population. For instance, in order to
conserve the mountain-dwelling national animal of Pakistan, the markhor, the
government issues limited trophy hunting permits each year. Since an outright
blanket ban would not prove sustainable, four hunting permits are annually
auctioned, and the large sum of money collected is then distributed amongst the
local population, with a smaller portion going to the wildlife department. This has
helped reduce the illegal hunting of the majestic animal, hunted for its body parts,
while simultaneously benefiting the local population. When it comes to the
houbara bustard, except for a small increase noted in the Rajanpur-Rojhan area,
the findings of the recent report point to how the excessive hunting of the
endangered species has negatively impacted its status. While there have been
reports of some conservation efforts being carried out, with captured birds being
released into the wild by officials from the UAE, clearly these have not been
enough to reverse the damage caused over the years.

The issue is also fairly politicised, and often becomes a matter of national
sovereignty versus foreign policy compulsions. When the current prime minister
was in the opposition, he requested his government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to
not lift the ban on the hunting of houbara bustards. In 2015, the Supreme Court
had placed a ban on the hunting of the houbara bustard, but this was lifted the
following year. Yet just last week, special permits were handed to the royal family
of Bahrain to hunt the bird in the next hunting season.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2019

"Locust attack" by Editorial

- https://www.dawn.com/news/1531766?ref=whatsapp

PAKISTAN is facing its worst locust infestation in more than 25 years. The crop-
eating grasshopper — which entered Pakistan in June last year, attacked Iran and
then spread to some Indian districts along Cholistan — has already struck a large
area of the country, especially its south-western districts, in recent months,
ravaging cotton and food crops. Locust swarms can potentially threaten our food
security and economy if left uncontrolled. Farmers from Sindh and parts of KP
have already reported significant crop losses caused by the outbreak. The national
food security minister acknowledged the severity of the situation for the first time
on Thursday. He dubbed the eruption as “unprecedented and alarming” and also
hinted at declaring a national emergency to control the threat. His admission that
the country is just one step away from entering the most serious category of the
pest attack has raised many an eyebrow over the authorities’ inaction ever since
the swarm entered the country. Addressing members of the National Assembly
after the issue was raised by some opposition legislators, the minister sought to
allay the fears of farmers, saying the government had prepared a national action
plan to stop the further spread of locusts and allocated half a billion rupees to
control the outbreak. But he didn’t elaborate on the measures so far taken to
protect the farmers and their crops.

The outbreak is blamed in part on climate change. If lower temperatures continue

and the weather remains wet for a longer time, it will spread even further as a
swarm leaves its breeding ground on the Pakistan-India border along Cholistan.
Unless the government addresses the situation on an emergency basis, matters
are unlikely to come under control until drier weather sets in — and that would
be quite late. The outbreak has also exposed how ill-prepared and ill-equipped
the authorities are to handle such emergencies. Aerial pesticide spraying is said to
be the only effective control. But the government does not have any aircraft for
spraying pesticides in areas that are swarming with desert locust, which
descended on Karachi in November for the first time in nearly 48 years. According
to the United Nations, the timing of pesticide spraying is important to stop the
locust from damaging crops, plants and vegetation. The farmers from the affected
areas have decried the inaction of the federal and provincial governments. The
rulers must realise that further delay in spraying pesticide could multiply crop
losses, especially of the smallholders.
DAWN.COM

TODAY'S PAPER | FEBRUARY 07, 2020

Wheat crisis
EditorialUpdated February 07, 2020

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IT appears that the country’s wheat troubles are far from over.

The government’s — delayed — intervention through resumption of supplies of

the subsidised grain to mills from its stocks may have eased the shortages in parts
of the country and helped contain the increase in flour rates, but many
consumers still continue to pay exorbitant sums for wheat.
Read: Rate of wheat climbs down but no cut in flour price

The demand for wheat flour as a major staple is inelastic. This means that a hike,
no matter how large it may be, does not reduce its consumption, or at least does
not effect too much of a change in eating routines. In fact, people will cut
expenditure on other items to pay for flour. Little wonder then that it is easier for
wheat stockists and flour millers to raise their prices without loss in sales in times
of both real and artificial scarcity — even at the risk of causing unrest among the
people, especially the poor who spend more than half their monthly income on
food.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD

A debate continues as to what caused the grain’s prices to shoot up in the first
place.

The usual suspects include corporate greed and/or blunders by the government
that allowed the export of wheat and wheat flour between August and October
despite a ban imposed on July 30. It is hard to blame a for-profit business for
exploiting an opportunity. But governments are expected to regulate the markets
in a way that minimises the chances of anyone fleecing the people.

Unfortunately, the ruling PTI has repeatedly proved itself inept on this score.

It all started with a sharp surge in the price of tomatoes because of supply
disruptions a few months back, pushing food inflation for the poorest segments of
the population to above 20pc.
Just when tomato rates started tumbling, we had reports of wheat shortages
pouring in from across the country with forecasts of a significant rise in flour
prices.

Even in Punjab, where there was no scarcity of wheat, the price of wholegrain
flour shot up to Rs70 a kilo on the back of rising wheat prices.

Following the wheat crisis was a very sharp jump in sugar rates, which have
skyrocketed to Rs85 a kilo in the retail market from less than Rs70 a kilo a few
weeks ago. Each time the people saw an administration standing on the sidelines,
helplessly watching the market batter consumers.

The elevated food rates seem to have entrenched themselves and there is little
likelihood of prices dropping back to previous levels. It means the poorer
segments of the population will be forced to cut their health, education and other
essential spending to meet food expenses.

In a country where more than a third of the population lives under the poverty
line, it is painful to imagine how the vast majority is coping with rising food prices
rooted in rampant market greed and poor governance.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2020