Pakistan is an agrarian country. Its main crops are cotton, rice, wheat, and sugar cane. Fruits like mangoes, oranges and apples are abundantly planted and as far as vegetables are concerned, all types of vegetables are cultivated here. Still, there are certain issues related to the agriculture sector.
Modes of agriculture in Pakistan are backward. There are big areas that are cultivated by oxen instead of a tractor. Most of the small farmers are poor and as such, they are unable to purchase quality seed, fertilizer, and other mechanical equipment like threshold, harvester, etc.
The MiddleMan Effect:
After getting a crop, especially the vegetables, it becomes very difficult and expensive for the farmer to take it to the main market. Here comes the role of middle man who exploits the farmer. Middlemen purchase the crop at a quite cheaper rate and sell it to the commission agent at a reasonable price. Being poor, the farmer is not in the position to establish cold stores to preserve the vegetables and therefore, he is bound to sell the crop at the sweet will of the middle man.
The second issue is related to the agriculture sector is the dependency on rain. A big part of agricultural land is rain-dependent, especially the Pothohar region. If rains are sufficient in time, then everything is fine and if the quantity of rain is insufficient and also out of season then the farmer faces the bigger problems.
For the last two decades, load shedding of electricity also badly affected the irrigation system as a sufficient quantity of water could be given to the crops.
The role of banks can also not be greatly appreciated here as big landlords are usually successful in taking the heavy loans and small farmers usually due to different adverse factors are unable to pay back even the small loans. Therefore, they bear the terms and conditions by the banks, which usually become the burden on them.
Waterlogging and sanitary is a big issue in Pakistan due to which a big part of agricultural land is wasting. Although, provisional governments have tried to stop water longing and sanitary by cement the sides of the canals. To stop erosion, plantation of trees in big quantity is a good measure, but it has not been done properly.
Political Effect:
Absentees’ landlordism is a big issue associated with agriculture. Big landlords are usually attached to the politics and there they usually reside in federal or provisional capital. The land is handed over to their employees who usually busy in politics instead of taking an interest in enhancing the capabilities of the agriculture sector.
As far as the farmers of fruits are concerned, they are also facing problems of the same kind, i.e. the high price of fertilizer and lack of water. Although the major area where plants are cultivated is very fertile like oranges in Sargodha district and mangoes in Central and South Punjab. Most of the small farmers are facing a shortage of cold storage and in here also middle man exploits them by offering them lower prices.
The quality of crops of Pakistan that has been mentioned above is very high, but government partnership does not seem to be at a desirable level to export the crop.
Although agriculture is suffering from not having up-to-date technology still Pakistani fruits and rice are one of the favorites in the world.
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