Pakistan business Forum (PBF) has suggested that Federal government should take over the agriculture sector again for its revival in a better way through recently launched Green Pakistan Initiative.
Talking to media here Sunday, the PBF Central Vice President Jahan Ara Wattoo said that agriculture sector development had been slowed since its devolution to provinces under 18th Amendment as the provinces were still looking for federal government’s assistance on this count. “At province level, agriculture is still functioning as extension departments with regard to monitoring, supply, procurement, distribution and prices, and even today, agricultural policy making is the domain of regulatory bodies at the centre,” she argued.
Jahan Ara Watoo explained that about 48 million hectares (60 percent) land was often classified as unusable for forestry or agriculture, while rest consisted of mostly deserts, mountains and urban settlements. Some official figures included rangelands as agricultural land on the basis that it supported some livestock activity, she said, adding that around 70 percent of the cropped area was in Punjab followed by about 20 percent in Sindh, less than 10 percent in the KPK and only one per cent in Balochistan. Though cultivation area had earlier been increased due to effective irrigation system in the country, now a vast area of agricultural land was decreasing because of fast urbanization and water-logging issues.
PBF Central Vice President said that agricultural yield in Pakistan had since long been stagnated due to the absence of comprehensive policy measures to reform this vital sector contributing around 20 percent to the country’s GDP and absorbing almost 40 percent of the labour force.
It was a good omen, she mentioned, the incumbent coalition government had directed all the authorities concerned to prepare a comprehensive agricultural reform plan on an emergency basis with focus on increasing the agri yield, reducing food imports and improving earnings of farming community. Keeping in view the grave issue of global warming, the government was also striving hard to shift from conventional agricultural patterns to a sustainable and climate-friendly approach.—APP
