By:

Enaya Majid

IMPACT OF MECHANIZED
FARMING
ON PAKISTAN’S ECONOMY
 What is Mechanized Farming ?

Mechanized agriculture is the process of using agricultural machinery to mechanize the work of agriculture,
greatly increasing farm worker productivity. In modern times, powered machinery has replaced many farm jobs
formerly carried out by manual labor or by working animals such as oxen, horses and mules. The entire History
of agriculture contains many examples of the use of tools, such as the hoe and the plough. The ongoing
integration of machines since the Industrial Revolution however has allowed farming to become much less labor-
intensive. Current mechanized agriculture includes the use of tractors, trucks, combine harvesters, countless types
of farm implements, aero planes and helicopters (for aerial application), and other vehicles. Precision agriculture
even uses computers in conjunction with satellite imagery and satellite navigation (GPS guidance) to increase
yields.

IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S

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ECONOMY
 Advantages & Disadvantages of
Mechanized Farming
Mechanization was one of the large factors responsible for urbanization and industrial
economies. Besides improving production efficiency, mechanization encourages large
scale production and sometimes can improve the quality of farm produce. On the other
hand, it can displace unskilled farm labor and can cause environmental degradation (such
as pollution, deforestation, and soil erosion), especially if it is applied shortsightedly
rather than holistically. One of the effects of mechanization was to reduce the number of
farm jobs available. When this coincided with an economic downturn, such as when
haymaking machinery was introduced during the economic depression of the 1880s, the
impact on workers was particularly severe.

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ECONOMY
 How does it Impact the Environment &
Agriculture ?

Heavy agricultural machinery results in more permanent damage to the soil than
previously believed by researchers. This may lead to poorer crop yields and increased
pollution from agricultural land. Some negative side effects of mechanized farming
include a smaller workforce and more pollution.

IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S

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ECONOMY
 Factors Affecting Mechanized Farming ?

The mechanization of farm is determined by a set of inter-related

factors such as size of farm, irrigation, access to institutional credit,
government extension support services, experience of the farmers.

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ECONOMY
 How does Mechanized Farming Affect the
Economy ?

The level of mechanization has a significant positive impact on the cost,

output value, income and return rate of all types of crops. For every 1%
increase in the level of mechanization, the yields of all crops, grain crops
and cash crops increase by 1.2151, 1.5941 and 0.4351%, respectively.

IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S

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ECONOMY
 How does Mechanized Farming Affect the
Pakistan’s Economy ?
Agricultural mechanization plays a strategic role in improving agricultural production and productivity in developing
countries. The average farm size in Pakistan is small (2.5 acres) and small and marginal land holdings (less than 2.0 ha)
account for 85% of land holdings. Mechanizing small and non-contiguous group of small farms is against ‘economies of
scale’ for individual ownership of farm machinery. It was observed that there was a direct correlation between farm power
availability and productivity during the past six decades. Being an agrarian country, mechanization can be called as back bone
of Pakistan’s economy as it optimizes the use of biological, chemical and hydrological inputs. So far, Pakistan has only
experienced selective farm mechanization as this concept has remained limited to use of tractors only and at the country level,
the temporal analysis shows that an increase in tractor population from 1975 -1984 was about 341% while it was 61% from
1984-1994. At present there are about 0.94 million tractors in Pakistan, which alone provides 0.84 hp/acre. The market of
planting and spraying machinery has grown from 70 and 21 thousands in 2004 to 295 and 1438 thousands in 2014
respectively due to the inclination of the farming community towards mechanized sowing and spraying. The thrasher’s
market in Pakistan is estimated at 20,000-30,000 units annually by sales resulting in nearly 100% mechanized threshing
operation for cereal crops. By increasing the available horse power per hectare and by the proper management of agricultural
machinery the average crop yield can be enhanced. However, Pakistan has the world's largest contiguous irrigation system
with almost 80 percent of the cultivated area irrigated. Pakistan is also amongst the world's top ten producers of wheat, cotton,
sugarcane, mango, dates and kinow oranges, and is ranked 10th in rice production.

IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S

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ECONOMY
 What is an Agrarian Country ?
An agrarian society, or agricultural society, is any community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and
farmland. Another way to define an agrarian society is by seeing how much of a nation's total production is in agriculture. In an
agrarian society, cultivating the land is the primary source of wealth. Such a society may acknowledge other means of
livelihood and work habits but stresses the importance of agriculture and farming. Agrarian societies have existed in various
parts of the world as far back as 10,000 years ago and continue to exist today. They have been the most common form of socio-
economic organization for most of recorded human history. Within agrarian societies, the primary source of energy is plant
biomass. This means that like hunter-gatherer societies, agrarian societies are dependent on natural solar energy flows. Thus
agrarian societies are characterized by their dependence on outside energy flows, low energy density, and the limited
possibilities of converting one energy form into another. Energy radiating from the sun is primarily caught and chemically fixed
by plant photosynthesis. Then it is secondarily converted by animals and, finally, processed for human use. Unlike hunter-
gatherers, agrarianism's basic strategy is to control these flows. For this purpose, agrarian systems mainly use living organisms
which serve as food, tools, building material. Mechanical devices making use of wind or running water also can be used to
convert natural energy flows. The amount of energy an agrarian society can use is restricted due to the low energy density of
solar radiation and the low efficiency of technology. To increase production, an agrarian society must either increase the
intensity of production or obtain more land for expansion. Expansion may take place either by claiming territories occupied by
other communities, but expansion also may take place by claiming new ecological niches from other living species. Societies
are limited by a diminishing margin of utility in that the best lands for farming are usually already under Agriculture, forcing
people to move into less and less arable lands.
IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S
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ECONOMY
 Major Agrarian Countries
And their comparisons with Pakistan

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ECONOMY
 Major Agrarian Countries
China:

• China’s land is highly employed for agriculture.

• Vegetables are planted in China, on the roads, and on many building

walls.

• In 1949, China lost ⅕ of its arable land, and now only 10% to 15% of
China’s land is adequate for agriculture.

• 545,960 square kilometers of land is irrigated in China.

• China is the largest rice-producing country in the world. With this,

they produced soybeans, kaoliang (sorghum), wheat, millet, and corn.

IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S Link: https://www.tractorjunction.com/blog/top-

10 10-agricultural-producing-countries-in-the-world/
ECONOMY
 Major Agrarian Countries
United States:
• Agriculture in the United States expanded by 5% every year after 1990. In addition
to this, the production of every farming worker increased by 0.84% every year.

• The United States produces the highest amount of timber. Approx 70% of the
country’s forests officially owned with bounded logging permitted.

• The United States is a net exporter of agricultural commodities. In 2007, the

agriculture census recorded 2.2 million farms covering an area for agriculture.

• In the United States, corn was the largest crop that produced an amount of
247,882,000 metric tons. And the 2nd one is soybeans with 74,598,000 metric tons.
And the 3rd one is wheat that grew an amount of 69,327,000 metric tons.

• The major crops in the United States are sugar cane, potatoes, coffee, sugar beets,
and bananas.

IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S

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11 10-agricultural-producing-countries-in-the-world/
ECONOMY
 Major Agrarian Countries
Brazil:

• In the production of sugarcane, Brazil is the world leader, and it

produces 600 million-plus tons every year.

• Brazil is the 2nd largest producer of soybeans in the world and

worldwide these beans used in a vast quantity.

• Brazil is the globe’s largest exporter of coffee, beef, ethanol, and

soybean.

• Around 7% of Brazil’s land area is utilized for crop production that

includes soybeans.

• ⅓ of the planet’s oranges are produced in Brazil.

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12 10-agricultural-producing-countries-in-the-world/
ECONOMY
 Major Agrarian Countries
India:

• India ranked first in the production of milk, second in dry fruits, third in fish
production, fourth in egg, and fifth in poultry production worldwide.

• From 87 USD bn to 397 USD Indian agriculture production increased in the

past 14 years, which is an 11% annual growth rate.

• Total 96mn hectare irrigated area in India, it is the largest in all over the world.

• Indian agriculture has many sides, and it contributes 60% to overall India’s
agriculture GDP only by animal farming and horticulture.

• India is the world’s largest wheat-producing country.

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13 10-agricultural-producing-countries-in-the-world/
ECONOMY
 Major Agrarian Countries
Russia:

• Over 23 million hectares of land is cultivated in Russia.

• About half of the cultivated land area is covered with grain

cultivation. It produces 70% of the total grain of the country.

• Wheat is the most dominant food crop all around Russia.

• With this, beet production has grown superbly in recent years.

IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S

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14 10-agricultural-producing-countries-in-the-world/
ECONOMY
 Major Agrarian Countries
France:

• All over the EU, France is the top producer of oilseeds, cereals, sugar
beets, milk, wine, and beef. Sugar beets produced over 29 million
metric tons in France.

• France is the largest exporter of alcoholic drinks and beverages, and

this noted a 6 % increase in recent years.

• 12 % increase in flour and cereals and a 7 % decrease in meat and

other animal products recorded in the past few years.

• The actual income from agriculture enhanced by 4% in the past

period.

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15 10-agricultural-producing-countries-in-the-world/
ECONOMY
 Major Agrarian Countries
Japan:

• In Japan, there are two significant types of agriculture fields which

are siden and Tambo.

• From 6.09 million hectares in 1961 to 4.65 million hectares in 2006,

the area under cultivation dropped in Japan.

• In Japan, approx 2 lakh hectares of land is idle, and rice production

decreased by 20% in the past years.

• Japan’s self-sufficiency food ratio fell from 78% in 1961 to 39% in

2006. Now Japan’s government wants to increase it to 50%.

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16 10-agricultural-producing-countries-in-the-world/
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 India VS Pakistan

Link: https://www.nationmaster.com/country-
IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S
17 info/compare/Japan/Pakistan/Agriculture
ECONOMY
 Japan VS Pakistan

Link: https://www.nationmaster.com/country-
IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S
18 info/compare/Japan/Pakistan/Agriculture
ECONOMY
 China VS Pakistan

Link: https://www.nationmaster.com/country-
IMPACT OF MECHANIZED FARMING ON PAKISTAN’S
19 info/compare/Japan/Pakistan/Agriculture
ECONOMY
THANK YOU!
HAVE A NICE DAY !