Major Problems Faced by Agriculture Sector in Pakistan
Agricultural sector is the backbone of our economy. But the growth of agriculture in Pakistan is facing a lot of problems. Due to various causes, per acre yield is very low in Pakistan as compare to other developed countries. Problems of agricultural sector faced in Pakistan are categorized as below:
1. Defective Land Tenure System
The land tenure system defines the relationship between the land owner and tenants. Such a relationship is not good. The tenants work hard and cultivate the lands but the major share of the production is taken away by the landlords and owners. The tenants do lose their interest in respect of production and cultivation. So, the productivity in agricultural sector remains low per acre.
2. Defective Rural Socio-Economic Setup
Due to defective rural socio-economic setup in Pakistan, the agriculture sector remains depressed because it has never been thought to change its lot. Land serves as sources of livelihood for poor cultivators, while on the other hand for landlords as a symbol of power. It means that agriculture sector in our country is still having its primitive character lacking the commercialization.
3. Inadequate Supply of Agricultural Inputs
The supply of modern inputs like high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, mechanized machinery etc. not only costly but also inadequate and irregular in Pakistan. Numbers of fertilizer producing units are just 10 in Pakistan.
4. Lack of Credit and Weak Financial Position
Basically our farmer is poor and he has low level of income and unable to purchase the HYV seeds, fertilizers, tractors, tube-wells and threshers etc. Agricultural credit (money available for a person to borrow) facilities are not common in Pakistan. Credit that can facilitate agriculture is not available easily. Moreover, non-institutional sources are available but these are not reliable due to high rate of interest. It is a common saying about our farmer that he born in debts, grows in debts and dies in debts. It means that financial position of Pakistani farmer is weak and poor. According to “Pakistan Human Development Report 2003” about 57.4% poor are working for feudal-lords without wages.
5. Instability in Agricultural Marketing Prices
The price market of agricultural goods generally remains unstable in the country. Cobweb theorem is very popular in case of market prices; it means that a price of one commodity is much high in this year and much low in the next year and vice versa. The farmers, do not get due reward from the sale of their productions. So, they remain unsatisfied.
6. Scarcity of HYV Seeds
Our poor farmers have to use lower quality seeds due to non-availability of High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds. On the other hand, if seed is available they cannot be purchased due to low income. Agricultural production is badly affected because of inferior quality of seeds.
7. Uneconomic Land Holdings
Due to increasing population and division of land under the law of inheritance, landholdings are subdivided over and over again. The result is that very large number of farmers has less than 2 hectares of area. Moreover, holdings are scattered. It is difficult to use modern machinery on small pieces of land.
8. Inadequate Agricultural Research
The average crop yield in Pakistan is very low as compared to the production levels of the advanced countries of the world. In order to raise the potential of agricultural production, there should be continuous improvement in the research for agricultural growth. Total agricultural universities and colleges are only 16 in Pakistan.
9. Political Instability
Political instability has affected development in all economic and social sectors. Unfortunately, the political situations in Pakistan are not stable. It creates unrest among the farmers to sell the productions to various industries as a raw material. On the other hand, people hesitate to invest in agricultural sector due to political unrest.
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