Abdus Saboor
Few weeks ago, the federal minister for science and technology has pointed out that Pakistan cannot develop its economy by selling onions, pulses and rice to the international community. Whether or not he is correct but his narrative needs not to be thrown away. It’s been for long people are hearing that Pakistan is an agricultural country and there is no doubt that the agriculture sector is very important and considered as backbone of the country.
The agricultural sector abso-rbs about 42% of labor force and also stimulates growth in other sectors, for example, in hoteling. But this backbone is often limited to the food needs of the country so as there are no shortages. Countries who are self-sufficient with respect to agriculture do not need to import necessary food stuff for humans, livestock and poultry. Despite its high contribution in national GDP, Pakistan faces shortage of important items like wheat and sugar and the recent shortages is an example of that.
Two of the world’s largest economies, the United States and China, have least shares of agriculture in their economies. In fact, it is the industrial-manufacturing sector which drive their economies as their percentage difference between manufacturing and agriculture sectors is more than double. They mainly focus and look to manufacturing sector to boost their exports and also contribute to various other local sectors. Although the contribution of agriculture in GDP of United States and China is less than 10% but still, they have managed to be self-reliant in terms of food. In terms of technology, the farmers of the United States are more equipped with latest technology and therefore their production capacity is equal to or more than China.
Pakistan’s total cultivatable land is about 48% while contribution of agriculture to the national GDP is about 20%, matched with the industrial sector. More than half area of Pakistan is not suitable for cultivation as it is either covered by mountains, deserts, shrubs or other lands with low organic content. The problem is exacerbated by using outdated machinery, techniques, methods, and droughts. As the population of Pakistan is touching the figure of 220 million, achieving food production for all has become the greatest challenge in near future. In addition, predictable water shortages will further worsen the situation.
Pakistan’s non-arable land is equipped with natural resources in the form of ores for metals, rocks for minerals and fossil fuels. Bulk of this non-arable land is located in the western half of Pakistan, mainly occupied by the provinces of Baluchistan, FATA merged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and some parts of Punjab and Sindh. These natural resources provide raw material for industries and are directly effective on the production rates. The non-availability or scarcity leads to their import. Many of the natural resources are used in iron and steel industry, cement industry, automobile industry, pharmaceuticals, electronics, fertilizers, textiles and construction industries. These include chromite, hematite, gypsum, bauxite, baryte, sulfur, calcite, magnesite, salt, soapstone, limestone, dolomite, marble, and silica sand. The resource of crude oil is used in the rubber industry, various chemical and other petroleum products.
In mining sector, Pakistan’s highest extraction of principal minerals include marble, limestone, rock salt and gypsum. Among fossil fuels, coal extraction tops this list followed by natural gas. The extraction of crude oil is the lowest among them. Apart from the vast agricultural lands, the provinces of Punjab and Sindh is also bestowed with natural resources of coal, natural gas, granite, salt, limestone, porcelain, silica sand and fire clay. Recently, iron ore and other metallic minerals were predicted in the sub-surface rocks termed as the Indian Shield rocks of the Punjab. Initial surveys cover an area of 18000 km2 and include the cities of Faisalabad, Chiniot, Sargodha, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib and Kasur. Swift progress on its exploitation with modern methods will benefit the iron and steel production industry.
Similarly, a greater number of cement factories around the Salt Range can greatly enhance the exports of cement. A separate coal-based power plant near the Salt Range and Surghar Range can be installed to manage the energy needs of the country, reducing the financial burden of importing furnace oil. The provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan as well as northern areas have rich deposits of minerals, ores and gemstones. These include granite, limestone, marble, soapstone/talc, gypsum, salt, emerald, topaz, tourmaline, aquamarine, ruby, epidote, quartz (in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern Areas), chromite, iron ore, copper-gold, lead-zinc, titanium, antimony, gypsum, fluorite, baryte (in Baluchistan). The highly likely and real potential of oil and gas of Baluchistan and earlier FATA has not been tested yet.
The agricultural potential of the eastern half of Pakistan could be coupled with swift exploitation of mineral resources to cater needs of the country as well as to further boost the economy. The relatively low economical gains in agricultural sector in the western half of Pakistan could be countered through higher economic gains in the mines, minerals and gemstones sectors. For example, price of only few grams of a gemstone could be in hundreds of thousands to millions in rupees. However, proper legislation, infrastructure, financial constraints are the main hurdles as some are located in remote and far flung areas (e.g. in Baluchistan). The use of modern technology and methodology in exploration is needed for proper and enhanced exploitation of these natural resources. Pakistan should take full advantage of the CPEC-driven financial and infrastructure development for the exploration of its mineral resources, especially in Baluchistan and FATA merged Khyber Pakhtunkh-wa and also locating new ones. This will result not only in uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the western part of Pakistan but also in boosting the needs of the country as well as much needed export sector of Pakistan.
abdus.saboor@uop.edu.pk
