Pakistan Agriculture News / Discussions

[ghazi52]

Agriculture, IT twin engines of growth: Finance Minister​

Aurangzeb expresses intention to shut down Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation, create alternative mechanism for maintaining strategic reserves

 

[ghazi52]

Agriculture: Policy whiplash to follow farmers into the new year​

Ahmed Fraz Khan
December 30, 2024

Stung by a steep price crash (wheat) and an equally massive crop collapse (like cotton, maize and rice) this year, farmers are not very hopeful for the next one either. They believe that existential issues that caused a sectoral crisis in 2024 would not only continue dogging but may worsen — at least in the short-run — and squeeze the life out of farmers and farming during 2025.

Listing those fear factors, the community pleads that a policy vacuum, the new but still uncertain taxation regime, and now agriculturally verifiable climate changes are all question marks that would loom large next year without any answers.

Instead of policymakers helping farmers find answers, they have become part of the problem, confusing the community further by inaction, adjusting policies to foreign and international dictates rather than the local realities and refusing to enter into debate even on the most crucial issues.

“We, the farmers, are at a loss of understanding how the present regime wants to deal with the sector,” says Abad Khan, a farmer and member of the Farmers’ Associates Pakistan. It is total policy paralysis. It started in early 2024 when the government announced the procurement price of wheat with much political funfair and then refused to purchase at the last moment, even after distributing gunny bags.

Uncertainty reigns in the agriculture sector as farmers reel from half-backed policies, zero clarity from lawmakers, and a steadily worsening climate crisis

This massive policy shift came abruptly, without any debate at any level — farmers, government, and the media — and no one discussed it or saw it coming, but it came. For farmers, the result was crushing; they lost over 30 per cent of their income and livelihood overnight. Even then, the government refused to explain its policy position.

Wheat is sown yet again, without any support price or policy explainer. This insensitive attitude, where the government is not ready to explain, let alone justify, its policy position despite the devastating blow to farmers, augurs hardly well for all those connected to this crop, Mr Khan laments.

“Taking a cue from the government, sugar millers have started crushing this season without telling anyone what the price of cane is. After a staple crop, a cash crop is being dealt with the same way, and farmers are calculating and suffering the cost of policy reversals without knowing what comes next.

“The governments, both national and provincial, should at least tell farmers what they want to do to them. Instead of cosmetic steps like solarising tubewells and subsidising tractors, the government should deal with the crucial policy issues,” he added.

‘The governments, both national and provincial, should deal with crucial policy issues, instead of taking cosmetic steps like solarising tubewells and subsidising tractors’

 

[ghazi52]

Taxation Regime

Goaded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Punjab government is toying with the idea of changing the taxation regime in the province, where 80pc of agriculture takes place. Though no one knows for sure the details of the new regime, leaked media reports suggest its conversion from revenue to income-based and divide it into five slabs — with the highest income slab (over Rs4.8 million) costing 45pc tax.

This naturally causes anxiety among farmers, who do not know what awaits them in 2025, especially when some reports suggest it would be slapped with a retrospective effect.

“One should not forget that there is dreadful confusion,” claims Farooq Ahmad Bajwa, a lawyer and president of the Basmati Growers Association. Despite these rumours and different versions of the proposed regimes, which have been doing rounds in the media for the last six months, no one is bothered to own or disown these reports; there is complete silence on the part of the government.

As per reports, it may also be double taxation, cast to the owners and lessees — both are supposed to show income from the same land, with the owner as beneficiary and the absentee farmer and lessee as the actual one.

“Once implemented, this regime would kill farmers financially if tax is collected. If not, the IMF would strangulate the state. The most tragic part is that the government is not ready to explain its position despite demoralising theories about its potential act. It is economically and politically harmful for the government to think that it can leave farmers hanging, take abrupt and unexplained decisions and let growers adjust to their shocking effects — as has happened in the case of wheat and cane.”

 

[ghazi52]

Climate change

Climate change, according to farmers, is now a verifiable agricultural phenomenon; its 2024 damages can now be calculated mathematically. This year, among other factors, climate caught crops like rice, maize, cotton and sesame at the wrong and crucial times and caused 35-65pc production losses.

Sesame, which saw its acreage expanding from 600,000 acres to 1.7m acres in the last two years, experienced 65pc loss. Cotton lost 35pc, rice losses stand at 30pc and so is that of maize. No doubt, these crops were weak on nutrients because of the financial impact of wheat loss early this year, but beneficial weather could have helped them regain strength. Instead, it afflicted its own losses, dragging the entire production cycle down and multiplying ruinous losses.

“The policy response? None; instead, we got elegiac sermons. The government should come up with a clear policy response, broken into milestones and fiscal allocations,” demands Dr Iqrar A Khan, former vice-chancellor of Agriculture University and celebrated academic of the sector. It can neither be wished away nor would delayed response help. Rather, losses would multiply and make agriculture even more uncertain," Dr Khan warns.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 30th, 2024

 

[ghazi52]

Pakistan's agriculture sector has apparently missed an opportunity to shift benefits of bumper crops, especially wheat, on to average farmer. Though the federal and provincial governments are declaring year 2024 as a success, the real stakeholders seem to be unhappy with the way authorities have managed the affairs in this critical sector.

In the last fiscal year, ie 2023-24, the agriculture sector grew 6.25%, providing a significant support for the country's overall economy. Nearly all major crops saw an increase in production with wheat surpassing the estimated target. Wheat harvest stood at 31.4 million tons as compared to 28.2 million tons in the previous year. Being a staple crop, wheat holds a 9% share in agriculture and has 2.2% contribution to Pakistan's gross domestic product (GDP).

 

[ghazi52]

Rice output surged 34.8% to 9.9 million tons in FY24 from 7.3 million tons a year earlier.

Cotton crop, there was a surprising growth of 13.1% in cultivation, which translated into a whopping 108.2% increase in harvest that reached 10.2 million bales.

Sugarcane production, however, decreased 0.4% to 87.6 million tons in FY24 against the output of 88 million tons in the previous year.

 

[ghazi52]

These figures seem promising, especially for a country having more than 60% rural population, but some key decisions, especially by the Punjab government, have turned the situation bad for farmers, who were initially celebrating the bumper harvests.

The government had announced a minimum support price of Rs3,900 per 40 kg of wheat, however, the Punjab government, under an agreement with the World Bank, did not purchase the commodity, leaving farmers at the mercy of open market forces.

"The open market was not paying the minimum support price and if we consider a price lower by at least Rs100 per 40 kg, which was offered to farmers, then one can easily guess how much money growers have lost," remarked Pakistan Kissan Ittehad President Khalid Mahmood Khokhar.

He elaborated that wheat was like an engine for farmers; if they got the best price, then it had a positive effect on other crops too.

 

[ghazi52]

"In FY24, wheat farmers got the minimum support price of Rs3,900 per 40 kg, which resulted in a staggering growth of 6.25%. This year, I believe wheat crop will see a setback, triggering a negative growth in the overall agriculture sector," Khokhar warned.

To offset the side effects of withdrawing from the wheat market, the Punjab government has announced several initiatives. An example in this regard is Kissan Card, through which the provincial government is looking to provide subsidised seeds, fertilisers and other inputs.

While the federal government has allocated only Rs5 billion for the agriculture sector in current financial year 2024-25, the Punjab government has earmarked Rs64.6 billion.

 

[ghazi52]

The Kissan Card programme involves interest-free loans for 500,000 farmers with a maximum loan amount of Rs150,000, or Rs30,000 per acre. Total amount allocated for this year is Rs9 billion.

Under the Green Tractor scheme, Rs30 billion will be distributed among farmers for tractor purchase with easy instalments. The other key initiative is solarisation of tube wells, for which Rs9 billion has been set aside to shift 7,000 tube wells to solar technology.

 

[ghazi52]

"Water scarcity is another challenge for an average farmer. The government should focus on revamping the entire process, starting from purchasing farm inputs to selling crops in markets; this needs a lot of hard work with commitment," Malik added.

Private sector agricultural experts said that the federal government should play the role of a coordinator to fix issues in association with the provincial governments.

They cautioned that consistency was the key as Pakistan could not prosper and address its existing challenges in order to move towards modern agriculture, if secretaries and other important persons in key organisations were changed frequently. Already, the country's production is decreasing while the population is increasing. "Pakistan is facing a population explosion; we have more mouths to feed than our total production," remarked Pakistan Agricultural Research Council former chairman Yusuf Zafar.

 

[ghazi52]

Training in China: Govt to foot expenses of 1,000 agri graduates: PM​

Zulfiqar Ahmad
January 23, 2025

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Wednesday that the government will cover all the educational expenses of 1,000 Pakistani agriculture graduates selected for advanced agricultural training in China, with the first group set to depart in March.

During a review meeting concerning ensuring merit in the selection process of 1,000 Pakistani agriculture graduates, the prime minister insisted that there should be no compromise on merit because backdoor channels for such opportunities are quite common in the country.

He also directed to constitute a committee to address the grievances of students who do not fulfil the selection criteria during the application review conducted via PM’s portal. Sharif noted that a special quota of 10 percent has been allocated for students from Balochistan for this training initiative.

 

[ghazi52]

Pakistan drought dents winter harvest​

AFP
January 23, 2025

A farmer ploughs a field using a tractor in Multan on January 23, 2025. A winter drought is ravaging crops in Pakistan’s breadbasket, farmers said on January 23, with the region parched by a 40 percent drop in rainfall. Photo: AFP

LAHORE: A winter drought is ravaging crops in Pakistan’s breadbasket, farmers said Thursday, with the region parched by a 40 percent drop in rainfall.

Pakistan – home to more than 240 million people – ranks among the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which scientists say is making extreme weather events more common and more severe.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) says the farming heartland of eastern Punjab province saw 42 percent less rainfall than normal between the start of September and mid-January.

“The lack of rains has had a major financial impact on farmers, whether they have a big holding or a small one,” Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association Punjab chairman Malik Asghar told AFP.

“Potato is a staple in my area. The average is very low this year. Usually we could easily get 100 to 120 sacks per acre. This winter we have only gotten about 60 sacks per acre.”

The agriculture sector contributes nearly a quarter of Pakistan’s GDP and employs 37 percent of the national labour force, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

 

[ghazi52]

Chinese firm offers rice, maize cultivation project for Cholistan​

The Newspaper's Staff Reporter
January 28, 2025

LAHORE: A leading Chinese company has offered launching a pilot project for cultivation of rice and maize in Cholistan desert in Punjab, besides introducing genetically modified organism (GMO) cotton in the province.

The offer was made by BGI group chairman Wang Jian during separate meetings with Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Agriculture Minister Ashiq Kirmani and Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Sahoo, here on Monday.

Mr Wang also offered introduction of GMO cotton for 15 per cent increase in the yield of white lint.

The chief minister welcomed the offers and appointed the agriculture minister as the focal person for these initiatives.

The BGI group also offered its cooperation in cancer treatment and genetic testing, as the CM directed the health secretary to prepare a feasible plan for this purpose by coordinating with the Chinese company.

Expressing her desire to set up a modern genetic testing lab in the province, she hoped that the cooperation between the Punjab government and BGI would be a game-changer in the health sector.

Mr Kirmani said that Punjab would like to benefit from Chinese experience in GMO technology and gene editing for promoting cotton cultivation as the province required new hybrid seeds capable of tolerating pest attacks due to climate change.

He said that the provincial government would cooperate with the foreign investors for promoting organic fertilizers and the latest farm research. It was agreed during the meeting that opportunities would be provided to agriculture scientists from both countries to share their experiences through study visits.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2025

 

[ghazi52]

Balancing the crop and water equation​

Khalid Saeed Wattoo | Chaudhary Mohammad Ashraff
February 10, 2025

THE water requirements of Pakistan’s agriculture sector, which consumes nearly 90 per cent of the nation’s water, continue to rise due to multiple factors. The sector is striving to meet the food demand of a growing population by increasing crop yields, improving cropping intensity, and expanding cultivated land by reclaiming barren areas like Cholistan. All of these rely, in varying degrees, on water.

Climate change — manifested through rising temperatures and recurring heatwaves — is another factor. The year 2024 was the hottest on record, while the 2010s remained the warmest decade in history. Such rising temperatures have not only increased the water requirements of almost all crops but also exacerbated water losses in irrigation channels.

Most alarmingly, Pakistan’s evolving cropping patterns are increasingly dominated by water-intensive crops, particularly rice and sugarcane. From 2011-12 to 2023-24, the area under rice (paddy) cultivation surged by 41pc, from 2.57 million to 3.63m hectares, while sugarcane acreage grew by 12pc, from 1.06m to 1.18m hectares. Likewise, maize cultivation has also grown significantly by 51pc during the same period.

On the supply side, overall surface water availability is declining due to reduced river flow and diminished storage capacity caused by reservoir sedimentation. Already, per capita water availability has fallen below 1,000 cubic meters, and Pakistan is currently classified as water-scarce.

Alarmingly, Pakistan’s evolving cropping patterns are increasingly dominated by water-intensive crops, particularly rice and sugarcane

Compounding this challenge, the National Drought Monitoring Centre of the Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued an advisory warning of drought-like conditions, as most regions received 40-52pc less rainfall than expected from September 2024 to January 2025.

All these factors have led to indiscriminate groundwater pumping to support water-intensive crops, evidenced by rapidly declining groundwater tables in several districts. This worsening water crisis raises a critical question: has the time come for fundamental policy and strategic adjustments to balance limited water resources with water-guzzling cropping patterns, particularly as climate change further intensifies the strain?

Cropping patterns are typically shaped by a complex interplay of various factors, including soil type, water availability, crop duration, production costs, farming practices, and pest and disease susceptibility.

 

[ghazi52]

In recent years, yield uncertainties due to climate change and market dynamics — determining farmers’ profitability — have assumed primary importance.

The expansion of rice cultivation, in particular, has been fueled by the advent of short-duration (90 days) basmati varieties — Kissan Basmati (1509) — and high-yielding hybrid varieties. Additionally, as an export commodity, rice prices have remained relatively stable, further encouraging its cultivation.

Moreover, these short-duration varieties have enabled farmers in several districts to increase cropping intensity from two to three crops and have also initiated a trend of cultivating two consecutive (sequential) rice crops in a year. While this has boosted Pakistan’s rice exports from $2 billion to $4bn in just a few years, it has placed immense pressure on water resources.

In the case of sugarcane, lucrative indicative (support) prices set by the government annually — until their discontinuation in 2024-25 — have played a key role in expanding its acreage over the past few years.

Given the declining availability of surface water, decreasing rainfall due to climate change, and a stressed groundwater aquifer, the current cropping patterns — dominated by rice and sugarcane cultivation — are unsustainable. Therefore, some urgent policy and strategic adjustments are highly essential.

Many countries have successfully reduced agricultural water consumption by promoting water-efficient irrigation techniques. Pakistan, however, has struggled to achieve significant results in such endeavours. In particular, water-saving techniques in rice cultivation, such as ‘direct seeding of rice’ and ‘alternate wetting and drying’, have failed to gain widespread adoption.

Another potential solution is crop zoning. In select districts of Punjab, restrictions could be imposed on rice cultivation while encouraging farmers to grow low-delta Kharif crops. A precedent for such measures already exists in Sindh, where farmers in certain districts on the left bank of the Indus River are prohibited from growing rice, primarily to address waterlogging. However, such a policy decision needs extensive debate in the country to develop consensus.

A far better approach is to focus on market-driven solutions that enable farmers to earn comparable incomes from alternative crops but with fewer agricultural inputs and hassles. For instance, sesame, with its low water requirements and strong export potential — reaching $414m in 2023-24 — presents a compelling option.