AS an agrarian country has become net importer of even its staple food, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has done well to convene a high-level meeting to mull over proposals for development and modernization of the agriculture sector for incorporation in the coming federal budget. On the occasion, he observed that the agriculture sector was the backbone of the national economy and the country’s progress was not possible without innovations in this sector, adding that the government would improve the rural economy through the value addition of agri-production.
There can be no two opinions that Pakistan’s economic woes can be addressed to a great extent if prudent policies are adopted and pursued in a persistent manner to exploit the country’s true agriculture potential. This is also confirmed, once again, by the fact that the Kissan package announced by the incumbent government made a difference and the country produced a bumper wheat crop. This is despite the fact that the package was not comprehensive or long term and focused mainly on availability of loans for the farming community on affordable terms and timely provision of fertilizer and quality seeds. However, the situation is not satisfactory neither for the farmer nor the common man as, on the one hand, farmers are not getting the due price of their product while, on the other hand, the prices of wheat and wheat flour have reached at a level where these are not sustainable for the poor living in an agricultural country. The country, no doubt, had a bumper crop due to efforts of the government but it is unfortunate that suggestions are being made even during the procurement phase for fresh imports of wheat to avoid its shortage and to stabilize its prices in the domestic market, which are much higher than the international market. This raises serious questions on the ability of the federal and provincial governments to effectively manage procurement, tackle the rampant black-marketing and smuggling of wheat and dangerous fluctuations in the prices of the commodity. The plan of the government for value addition of agriculture production, particularly in rural areas, has the potential to benefit both the farmers and the country if implemented on a fast-track basis. The proposal to establish fruit processing and pulping units in villages would ensure productive utilization of the perishable fruit leading to increase in the income of the farmers, provision of job opportunities in rural areas and establishment of linkages with local and international food chains with prospects of an increase in exports. Things would change a lot if we, on a medium and long term basis, concentrate on quality, grading and marketing issues in line with requirements of different markets. Similarly, value addition industries must also be considered for vegetables that we produce in abundance in different seasons but are unable to export them timely. The deliberations of the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister are encouraging as Mian Shehbaz Sharif has given highly relevant suggestions and the participants firmed up proposals for promotion of the agriculture sector in the next budget. The most important was the briefing on the National Oil Seed Policy with the objective of reducing dependence over import of edible oil by provision of quality seed. Automatic Seed Certification and Track and Trace System were being introduced for the provision of quality seed. The budget must provide attractive incentives to spur growth of the oil seed sector as the country is currently spending huge foreign exchange on import of edible oil and price manipulation has broken the backbone of the consumers. There is also an urgent need to take steps to bring the cost down for the farmer and with this in view the direction of the Prime Minister to provide subsidy on fertilizer is quite relevant but not sufficient if seen in the backdrop of unbearable prices of agricultural inputs including machinery, implements, electricity, seeds and pesticides. The plan for complete solarization of agricultural tube-wells during the next financial year would hopefully be an effective step towards this direction. Incentives should also be given for promotion of fisheries and livestock sectors as so far we have not been able to exploit their optimum potential. It is really a matter of shame that Pakistan is the fourth largest milk producer in the world (producing 65 million litres of buffalo and cow milk) but still it imports huge quantities of dry milk powder due to lack of value addition.
