Neglecting agriculture

Agriculture sector is in a state of perpetual crisis because of the tall claims but no practical steps of the successive governments to enhance crops yield per hectare. The production of all major crops in Pakistan is the lowest in the world. A major part of the economy still relies on agriculture as it contributes 20 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). It provides employment to 42 percent of the labor force. Bulk of country’ exports include cotton, rice, maize, sugar and wheat. But agriculture development ranks at the bottom of the priorities set in the Public Sector Development Program. (PSDP).

The utter neglect of the agriculture deprives the small farmers to exploit maximum potential of their small landholdings. The latest report on the productivity of the agriculture sector reveals that per hectare production of wheat in Pakistan is 3.1 ton as compared to 8.1 ton in European countries. The productivity of cotton per hectare is 2.5 ton whereas it is 4.5 ton in China. The situation of sugarcane production is also dismal with 63.4 ton per hectare which is 125.1 in Egypt and even higher in Srilanka and Brazil. Pakistan produces 4.6 ton of maize per hectare and its yield per hectare is 11 ton in European countries. The feudal class can not efficiently manage their big landholdings but get all the monetary benefits from the government. The so called Kissan Package of 2016 was loaded in favor of feudal class and against the farmers of small landholdings who put up hard labor to enhance the pre hectare yield. The small land owners are not provided subsidy for best varieties of seeds, agriculture implements and fertilizers. They do not get better price of their crops like sugarcane, rice, wheat, maize and vegetables. That sugar Mills owners refused to buy the sugarcane at official rate of Rs.180 per 50 and offered a price of Rs. 120 per 50 Kg.

The lopsided policies of the government are the main hindrances to boost the agriculture production. Agriculture extension department is least bothered to create awareness among the farmers of small land holding s to abandon the rational methods of farming and persuade them to sow better quality of seeds and optimum doses of fertilizers. The major thrust of the federal and provincial governments is on the constructions of roads, highways, motorways and metro bus. The construction of small, medium and big dams have been treated like prohibited trees and the intermittent supply of irrigation water badly affects the per hectare yield of all crops. Rain fed areas are completely neglected as small dams are not built  to provide a sustainable irrigation system by storing rains water. In the southern districts of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa small dams can bring a green revolution. Likewise, in the provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan rain water can be stored for irrigation and drinking.

The construction of multidimensional big dams has been completely excluded from long term development policies and the federal government has adopted an attitude of permanent animosity towards the construction of big dams. A purely technical matter of Kalabagh dam has been made an issue of political life and death by the mainstream political party, PPP and nationalist parties of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Sindh.  The financing of Diya Mir Basha Dam has been withdrawn from CPEC frame work because of the irrational conditions imposed by China that were against the national interest of Pakistan. It is time to end the craze for building more motorways and divert resources for the speedy development of agriculture.