Saad-ur-Rehman Malik
Since Pakistan’s independence, plenty of mistakes have been made in agriculture sector. The core problem is the agriculture share of GDP which is only one third of the size of population dependent on it and next the shrinking size of farms. According to statistics 85% of agriculture farms are either small or marginal with having minimal capacity to invest in improving productivity. Now there are solutions to this like investing in agro industries. Government must break the nexus of big landowners by enabling small and marginal farmers to make their living outside farming.
Secondly, there is an obsession with subsidies and not enough investment in irrigation, cold chains and warehousing. It would in fact make sense to abolish half the subsidies and give each operation holding a direct annual subsidy of 8000 per hectare. The remaining subsidies could be used to urban food prices reasonable and for buffer stocking operation which will not only help farmers but also create a vibrant market for farm produce.
Furthermore, there is simply too much interventions in the workings of the agriculture market place. We have farmers to sell their produce in mandis where traders then can exploit them. We have export and import duties being imposed arbitrarily whenever domestic prices are too high or too low. We need to create one market for Pakistan and small amount of money for price stabilization schemes at regional level.
So that neither the farmer nor the consumer is too badly hit by swinging prices. Agriculture would benefit from vibrant markets including forward markets. The farmers can sell their produce in advance without fear of prices crashing just after harvest time.
Another problem is the wrong crops are being encouraged. Pakistan ranks third amongst countries facing water shortage. In contrary, our agriculture policies wrongly support water intensive cultivation weather it may be sugarcane or high yielding verities. The pursuit of yield and profit has ensured that farmers are now focusing on exotic hybrids which also use more water. In fact, according to one estimate Pakistan agriculture uses 90 percent of total water drawn but produces only 18% of GDP. The future of Pakistan agriculture is about shifting away from water intensive crop like sugarcane to other. And there are plenty more problematic as well as possibilities to resolve them.
—The writer is serving as Agriculture Officer in Punjab Agriculture Department, District Bahawalpur.
