Promoting agriculture

Pakistan is an agrarian country and in view of the fertile land and rich livestock, the country would not have faced the kind of situation it is experiencing these days if timely measures were taken to promote and modernize agriculture and livestock. No doubt, it is also an accomplishment that the country is able to feed its increasing population but the potential is much more and optical utilization of agricultural potential of the country can help earn huge foreign exchange as well. The government has announced that it is going to launch 13 projects at a cost of Rs296 billion to promote the agriculture and livestock sectors in the country. This is appreciable in view of the fact that agriculture is a devolved subject but even then the federal government will chip in Rs93.5 billion, while provinces are expected to contribute Rs50 billion to promote the agriculture sector.

An important aspect of these projects is water conservation and the plans envisage water course lining, development of small dams and their command areas, and establishment of check dams and ponds to store water for irrigation purposes. We would, however, point out that the country is heading towards water scarcity. In this backdrop, it is regrettable that the government has allocated just peanuts for construction of Diamer-Basha Dam as progress on the project is not moving beyond meagre allocations for acquisition of land. This should be a priority along with focus on research on new and better seed qualities, adoption of modern agricultural techniques and implements and a comprehensive strategy of packaging, grading and marketing to increase exports meaningfully.

Shehroz Majid

Karachi