Pakistan an Agricultural Country and its Economy

Today we complete Discuss Pakistan an Agricultural Country with Facts and Figures and how Pakistan takes Advantage of this. An Agricultural based country cannot be poor if its management in this respect is highly well planned.

Well said by George Washington,

“Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man”.

Agriculture–Mainstay of Pakistan’s Economy

Agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan’s economy. It accounts for 19% of the GDP and together with agro-based products fetches 80% of the country’s total export earnings. More than 42.3% of the labor force

. Luckily Pakistan is one of such countries that are blessed with treasure produced by agriculture.

Natural resources for agriculture

Agriculture is considered the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, which relies heavily on its major crops. Pakistan’s principal natural resources are Arable land and water

Particularly in the province of Punjab Agriculture is the biggest profession adopted by the people of Punjab where they grow mostly wheat and cotton..

Pakistan an Agricultural Country with Facts and Figures

Some worthy and notable Point Pakistan an Agricultural Country with Facts and Figures is given below.

• Its significance can be recognized by knowing that Pakistan’s 70% of its population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture.

• Punjab Province

  The most populated province of Punjab provides the largest share in national agriculture production. Pakistan’s export has three fourth share of agriculture and 60% of this share comes from Punjab.

  Punjab becomes the second largest province making 25.9% of country’s total land, with its area of 20.63 million hectares

  Census of agriculture 2016-17 shows that there were 5,249,800 agriculture farms in Punjab. Punjab’s total cropped area was 16.68 million hectares were sown more than once a year.

  Crops Grown in Punjab

  In 2018-19, wheat was cropped in 40% of the land similarly cotton occupies 11.5%, and rice 12.8% of Punjab’s total cropped area.

  To fulfill the needs of the livestock population of the province, fodder was cropped in 11% of the following maize and Sugarcane occupying 4.2% and 4.8% of the area respectively. Oilseeds, pulses, and vegetables were cropped only in 12% area.

• Cropping seasons in Pakistan

  Pakistan has two cropping seasons,

  • Kharif: This is the first sowing season, which starts from April to June and is harvested from October to December. This season’s crop cycle mainly consists of rice, sugarcane, cotton, maize, moong, mash, bajra, and jowar.
  • Rabi:   This is the second season, sowing begins from October to December and is harvested from April to May. It comprises mainly wheat, gram, lentil, tobacco, rapeseed, barley, and mustard.

Wheat—Largest Food Crop

It is the largest food crop in Pakistan.  In 2012 in the agricultural field, Pakistan harvested more than 25 to 23 million tons of wheat.

• 21,591,400 metric tons of wheat were produced by Pakistan in 2015 which was more than all of Africa (20,304,585 metric tons) and nearly as much as all of South America (24,557,784 metric tons).

Agricultural Exports of Pakistan

The main Agricultural exports of Pakistan are rice, cotton, fruits (especially Oranges and Mangoes), and vegetables.

Cotton—Backbone of Pakistan Economy

Pakistan ranked 4th among cotton-producing countries worldwide after China, USA, and India. Cotton cultivation along the Indus river irrigation system is across nearly three million/ha and is recognized as the backbone of the economy of Pakistan. Despite the fact that Pakistan is overwhelming an agricultural-based economy.

Pakistan is also a producer of polyester. The textile and clothing industry plays a very important role in the economy of Pakistan accounting,

• 38% of industrial employment
• 18% of manufacturing added value 
• 68% of exports.

Mango Orchards 

Mango Orchards are mostly found in the Sindh and Punjab provinces which make Pakistan the world’s 4th largest producer of mangoes

Agricultural Imports

The imports include vegetable oil, wheat, pulses, and consumer foods but when faced with the drought it had to import even wheat many times.

• Pakistan is lucky enough that it is Asia’s largest camel market, second-largest apricot, and ghee market, and third-largest cotton, onion, and milk market.
• Before 1990 the agricultural condition in Pakistan was not so well developed. But after taking some fruitful steps by the government of Pakistan, real growth in the agricultural sector averaged 5.7% from 1993 to 1997 was seen but has since declined to about 4%.
• According to the fact and figures provided by the Agriculture Department of Hangu, 20% of fields in Pakistan is watered by irrigation channels or tube wells and about 80% of plains depend on rainwater.
• Out of nineteen union councils, 40% fields of two union councils Naryab and Tora Wari are irrigated by water conserves.
• With India and Afghanistan, Pakistan has a valuable import and export relationship. Particularly onion and potatoes are highly used for the purpose.

• Gross Domestic Product(GDP)

  “Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific period of time.”

  As a broad measure of overall domestic production, it functions as a comprehensive scorecard of a given country’s economic health.

  Pakistan’s GDP

  The Gross Domestic Product in Pakistan was worth 263.69 billion dollars in 2020, according to official data from the World Bank. The GDP value of Pakistan represents 0.23 % of the world economy.

  Actual	Previous	Highest	Lowest	Dates	Unit	Frequency
  	263.69	278.22	314.57	3.75	1960 – 2020	USD Billion	Yearly	Current USD

  Related	Last	Previous	Unit	Reference

  GDP From Agriculture

  2502181.00

  2362209.00

  PKR Million

  Dec 2020

  Relationship between agriculture GDP and three output of major crops

  To emphasize the major shortfalls and actual performance of major field crops, this study investigated the relationship between agriculture GDP and the output of major crops including Wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize and cotton, in Pakistan over a period of 65 years. Time-series data were collected from the Economic Survey of Pakistan.

  Crop data were analyzed using the ordinary least square method and the Augmented Dickery Fuller(ADF) tests, and the results were interpreted using Johansen’s co-integration test.

  Our study finds that the output of wheat, rice, and cotton has a positive and significant relationship with the agriculture GDP of Pakistan, while the output of Sugarcane has a negative and non-significant relationship with the agriculture GDP of Pakistan.

  Therefore, this study recommends that the government of Pakistan should launch new funding programs for the development of the agricultural sector.

Agriculture performance 2021-22

The agriculture sector’s performance during 2021-22 broadly stands encouraging as it grows by 2.77% against the target of 2.8%.  The growth of important crops(wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize, and cotton) during the year is 4.65%

Importance of Agriculture in our Country

In our country, agriculture plays a very important role as:

• Agriculture contributes to the largest sector of our economy.
• The majority of the population, directly or indirectly, is dependent on this sector.
• It contributes about 24% of Gross Domestic Product(GDP)
• It accounts for half of the employed labor force.
• It is the largest source of foreign exchange earnings.
• It feeds the whole rural and urban population
• It contributes to the provision of raw materials to major industries; textile, leather, rice processing, edible oil, sugar, and various food processing industries.

Role of Planners and Policymakers

Realizing its importance, planners and policymakers are always keen to have reliable area and production statistics for important crops such as wheat, cotton, rice, maize, sugarcane, etc.

However, in recent years, due to persistent hikes in the prices of essential commodities like pulses, onions, potatoes, chilies, and tomatoes, these crops have also gained economic importance.

Reasons for less Output

There are vast gaps between the acquired and actual output of produce, which suffers due to

• lack of appropriate technology
• use of inputs at improper times
• unavailability of water
• land use
• Inadequate education about insect pest control
• Population Pressure
• Uneconomic Holdings
• Subsistence nature of farming
• Poor organization of resources and Lack of Entrepreneurship

These all not only negatively affect the produce but also significantly reduces the amount of produce.

Farmers mainly use synthetic chemicals for the control of insect pests, but these are used unwisely.

Way Forward

Agriculture has a strong linkage with food security and the growth of other sectors of the economy. The present government has assigned high priority to the growth of the agriculture sector on a sustainable basis and is implementing the most appropriate policies to achieve the desired outcomes. The government’s Rabi/Kahrif packages for the growth of agriculture will further improve its output and trickle down to farmers.

Conclusion

The mission is to sustain food security and support the national economy, making agriculture cost-effective and knowledge-based, with emphasis on the use of better quality seeds, modern technologies, farmers’ welfare, and maintenance of yield potential.