GEOGRAPHY-AGRICULTURE- P (I)

AGRICULTURE IN PAKISTAN

Agriculture plays an important role directly and indirectly in generating

economic growth. It provides food to consumers and fibers for domestic industry. It is a

source of scarce foreign exchange earning and provides market for industrial goods.

Agriculture has strong backward and forward linkages with industry as it is the largest

purchaser of farm inputs such as chemicals, fertilizers and machinery and supplies raw

material to textile and food processing industry.

Pakistan is blessed with a variety of climatic and geographic regimes which are

suitable to grow almost all kinds of food, fiber and cash crops including fruits and

vegetables. Wheat and rice are the main staple food crops while cotton and sugarcane

are the main cash/industrial crops and the economy of the country is purely dependant

on them.

Government has identified agriculture as one of the priority areas to be focused

to support economy and address unemployment and increasing poverty problems. The

key pillars of Government’s strategy in Agriculture sector are:

• To make the agriculture profitable in term of trade.

• Produce and ensure surplus for local industry and export.

• Bring innovation and knowledge in agriculture practices by better seed and

machinery.

• Improve policy and legal frame work to facilitate new investment and varieties.

• Timely address crises by maintaining surplus and improving logistic.

• Attract foreign investment and technology through bilateral and multi-lateral

interactions.

The major crops include wheat, rice, maize, millets, sorghum, sugarcane, pulses, cotton,

oilseeds. Pakistan is home to the aromatic long grain ‘Basmati rice’ grown in the plans of #orth Punjab. Some of the best varieties of fruits are grown in Pakistan includes

mangos, oranges, apples, peaches plums, apricots, cherries, grapes, pears,

pomegranate, guava, melons and dates. A wide variety of vegetables are also produced

in Pakistan.

The importance of agriculture to the economy is seen in three ways: first, it provides food to consumers and fibres for domestic industry; second, it is a source of scarce foreign exchange earnings; and third, it provides a market for industrial goods.

the agricultural sector plays an important part in Pakistan's economy by:

• contributing 24 percent towards GDP;

• providing food to about 130 million people;

• earning about 60 percent of the country's total export earnings;

• providing employment to 47 percent of the total work force;

• providing the main source of livelihood for the rural population of Pakistan;

• providing raw materials for many industries and a market for many locally produced industrial products.

ISSUES & CHALLENGES

• Poorly functioning factor markets and restricted access to assets limit opportunities for growth of rural areas and reduction in poverty.
• ·Inequality and land concentration.
• Agricultural growth is limited
• Unsuitable water resources management:
• Weak rural service delivery: