Chief Minister Punjab, Maryam Nawaz has officially approved the ‘Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card’ through which over 500,000 farmers will be provided loans of Rs150 billion in a year on easy terms and installments.
According to the details, the Chief Minister presided over a special meeting that reviewed the proposal to introduce a law to prevent the use of agricultural land for residential purposes and also deliberated on restructuring the Punjab Seed Corporation and Punjab Agricultural Research Board to enhance their performances and make them productive for domestic farming.
The Punjab government will provide various types of subsidies and agricultural loans through the Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card to purchase the best seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. In addition, model agriculture centers would be established at Districts and Division level to impart knowledge, expert advice, and farmers’ training on Modern agricultural equipment and machinery. As said, a Public-private partnership would be forged to establish model plots and enhance Research and Development (R&D) in the agriculture field through teamwork and cooperation.
Pakistan’s agriculture sector faces several critical challenges that impact its growth and sustainability, while the situation worsens every passing day. A sharp decrease in cultivating land, high cost of crop yield, a lack of water resources, and high prices of electricity, fertilizers, and seeds rendered farming unmanageable for the common farmers. Climate change has made farming more challenging because of massive monsoon flooding followed by severe droughts, salinization, and soil erosion.
Unexpected rains and flash floods have led to substantial losses in crops, including a 45% loss in cotton, 85% loss in dates, 31% loss in rice, 7% in sugarcane, etc.
Unfortunately, extreme weather events both drought and flooding have hit crops hard. Punjab and Sindh are the major agricultural hubs that not only fulfill the domestic food requirements but earn valuable foreign reserves through exports of agri-products including wheat, rice, sugar, mangos, dates, etc. contributing to the overall improvement in the national economy. Punjab is the fertile heartland and a major wheat-producing region in Pakistan.
The province contributes significantly to the national wheat supply, which is crucial for food security. The provincial agriculture sector faces a complex web of challenges, and concerted efforts are needed to safeguard food production and livelihoods. A study from 1979 to 2020 investigated the impact of climate change on food security in Punjab. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and wind speed fluctuations affect crop yields. Unfortunately, only about 28% of the cultivable land in Pakistan is irrigated as compared to 80% in neighbouring India.
This deficiency arises from an inefficient water management system and inadequate infrastructure. Pakistan’s average crop yield per hectare is significantly lower as compared to the other countries which is the result of outdated farming methods, poor seed quality, and use of obsolete technology.
The Punjab government has launched a magnificent initiative to help support farmers through loans, subsidies, and training, revive agri-sector, and enhance food security in the province. It is only one aspect of the gigantic problem wherein massive reforms and bulk investment are needed to increase cultivation area and expand irrigation facilities through the construction of dams, canals, and efficient water management systems along with the adaptation to climate change, and expansion in forests and vegetation to reduce the worst impact of global warming.
Historically, financial burden, low-quality seeds, and a heavy yield cost have not only destroyed the agri-sector but significantly contributed toward headline inflation and food insecurity in the country. The government must work to reduce production costs through the availability of cheaper electricity for tube wells, cost-effective fertilizers, and pesticides which will not only revive farming but reduce the cost of crop yield and unrestricted price hikes. Although Pakistan’s agriculture sector faces a complex web of challenges, concerted efforts are needed to safeguard food production and livelihoods. Pakistan is an agricultural economy, hence we must overcome our negligence and deficiencies to excel in this field in the world.
