Agricultural Policy Recommendation

8/10/2019 Agricultural Policy Recommendation

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Youth ParliamentPakistan

Policy

Recommendation

Agricultural

Transformation and

Support Program



• "rowth of the forestry sub1sector is witnessed at !.5 percent ascompared to the growth of +.// percent last year.

• isheries sub1sector has .+% percent contribution in agriculture

registered a growth of +./* percent compared to the growth of +.65percent last year.

!ssues faced 1y the Agricultural Sector

&hough the agricultural sector is facing problems in Pakistan, yet the

ma2or chunk of money comes from this sector. &he pertinent problems of the

agricultural sector of Pakistan which hinder its growth and development are

#espite having an e'tensive irrigation system, Pakistan is estimated to

be losing !% million cusecs of water every year from its rivers into the sea, as

it does not have the reuired reservoirs capacity to store water and bring it

under utili3ation for agricultural purposes. 8imilarly, the Pakistani farmers are

still utili3ing archaic method of 9ood irrigation which is ine:cient and wastes

around 5+ to 6+ percent of the water. &his is causing the alarming problem of

water logging and salinity, which renders the cultivatable land into the

barren land. ntil now no eective measures have been taken to control it.

<oreover, the storage capacity of the current dams is decreasing; due to

siltation at their basin thus reducing the water availability per acre. =ecause

of which farmers are motivated towards installing tube wells to irrigate their

crops; which also contributes toward salinity and becoming a ma2or issue in

most parts of Pun2ab and 8indh.

&he failure of the previous agricultural reforms is evident by the fact

that traditional methods of cultivation and harvesting are still predominant;

which results in low yield per acre. 0n comparison to other developing

countries like 0ndia and =angladesh, who are using modern scienti-c

methods of cultivation, cattle rearing, irrigation and agricultural research and

development, the yield gap per acre is wide and Pakistan is producing below

its productive capability. Pakistan is far behind in adopting modern

agricultural practice and no serious attempt is being made to revert it.

#omestically, Pakistan has failed to meet the mechanical and high yieldvariety seed demand by local farmers. urthermore, Pakistan has failed to

evolve sustainable agricultural practices which are resulting in the reduction

of the soil fertility and wastage of water, fertili3er and pesticides.



0n addition to this the main focus of government policies has been on

land and crop yield, however, the man behind the plough is conveniently

ignored. A typical Pakistani farmer is illiterate, lacks -nancial capacity and

engages in small subsistence farming. #espite having the agriculturalresearch and educational institution in the country, the bene-t of modern

agricultural research and modern agricultural practice have not trickled down

to the small farmer. >urrently, there is a sheer lack of avenues for an

illiterate farmer to avail information regarding modern practice and modern

agricultural instruments. urthermore, since ma2ority of the farmers practice

farming at small scale and only own $ acres of land; they lack -nancial

capacity to practice commercial farming and elevate out of poverty. &hese

small farmers do not have facilities to avail small agricultural credit purchase

to seeds, pesticides, fertili3ers etc.

Pakistan has around % million hectors of cultivatable land, whereas

only !./ million hectors is cultivated. &he underutili3ation of land resource is

due to the fact that the ma2or landholders are large feudal owners, who only

bring partial landholding under1cultivation and the rest is left uncultivated.

4ikewise, the farmers who work on their lands are 2ust tenants. &his uncertain

situation of occupancy neither creates incentive of work hard nor attracts



capital investment. 8imilarly over the past few decades? government

prioriti3ation of industrial sector has diverted resources from agriculture to

the development of industries. <oreover, to address the problem of land

utili3ation and small farm si3e, there has been land reform but they have

remained a controversial and comple' issue. 4arge landowners retain their

power over small farmers and tenants, especially in the interior of 8indh,

which has a feudal agricultural establishment. &enancy continues on a large1

scale one1third of Pakistan@s farmers are tenant farmers, including almost

one1half of the farmers in 8indh. &he ma2or obstacle to eective land reforms

implementation in the country is a landmark verdict by the 8hariat =ench of

the 8upreme >ourt of Pakistan. &he a3albash Baf vs. >hief 4and

>ommissioner 2udgment; the case involved the e'propriation of land of

a3albash Baf, a religious charitable trust with more than a thousand acres

of irrigated land near 4ahore. &he land was appropriated for land reform

during the regime of Cul-ar Ali =hutto in the late !/6+s and early !/7+s.=hutto enacted the <artial 4aw Degulation, which provided for land to be

taken from the rich and distributed among the poor. &he 4and Deform Act

!/77 (Act 00 of !/77) further lowered the ma'imum limit of land ownership

and provided cash compensation to those who surrendered land. Eowever,

the losses of the land by the landowners were not taken lightly and eorts

were made to strike down the reforms. As a result, when =hutto was

removed from o:ce by "eneral Cia?s martial law government, the

F0slami3ationG of the laws of Pakistan began. Cia set up 8hariat benches in

the Eigh >ourt of each province that were tasked to e'amine and decide

whether any law or provision of law was against the in2unctions of the 0slamic

law. After some time, provincial 8hariat benches of four provincial high courts

were consolidated in the form of one ederal 8hariat >ourt (8>). a3albash

Baf approached the 8> in !/7/. =y !/*/, the 8> declared land reforms

un10slamic and the land reform legislations passed during the time of =hutto

null and void.

&o address problems faced by Pakistan?s agricultural sector there is a

need of comprehensive agricultural and land reforms which present a

comprehensive solution for infrastructural and commodity value chain

development and appropriate land reforms to boost the agrarian growth and

increase productive e:ciency, while ensuring the overall rural development

to alleviate widespread poverty and creating employment opportunities.



'12ecti(es

&he Agricultural &ransformation and 8upport Program?s speci-c ob2ective

is to increase, on a sustainable basis, the income, ensuring food security,

alleviate poverty and improve living standards of the agrarian1rural

community that is engaged in the production, processing, storage and

marketing of agricultural commodities.

Rationale

&he Agricultural &ransformation and 8upport Program (A&8P) has a

huge potential in enhancing the role of agriculture as an engine of inclusive

growth leading to rural employment, wealth creation, and diversi-cation of

the economy. According to the Hconomic 8urvey of Pakistan +!%1+!$,

agricultural sector employs $%.7I Pakistani labor force, currently only

contributes $I to the "#P of the Pakistan; even Pakistan is predominately

an agrarian economy. &he bene-ciaries of these reforms are more than 7+I

of the Pakistan population, who either are directly or indirectly involved in

the agricultural sector.

Policy Recommendation

3omponent -4 !nfrastructural #e(elopment

&he main thrust of the new reforms should be targeted towards rehabilitationof agricultural and ancillary social infrastructure to revive the sector.

Pakistan irrigation system has not undergone any ma2or e'pansion ormaintenance pro2ect. =esides developing new dams (water reservoir), headworks and canals, the current system reuires an e'tensive up gradation



eorts. &he ma2or dams need to be protected against the siltation problem,and increase their capacity to e'tend their useful life. <oreover, modernirrigation water conveyance canals need to be built, with lined green banks;both to reduce water wastage due to land seepage with cause salinity and asa measure of protection against 9ush 9oods. <oreover, a comprehensive

system of water drainage parallel to irrigation system need to be developedto ensure agricultural sustainability by protecting soil from erosion and waterlogging.

&o ensure to development of agricultural market and ensure betterconnectivity between rural and urban region, there is a dire need of establishing modern motorways across country, with a modern network of feeder roads to ensure the smooth 9ow of input in the rural region and of output to the urban region for consumption and e'port. =etter connectivitybridges the gap between rural and urban areas; conseuently develop ruralmarkets and provide symmetrical information to the farmers.

>urrently Pakistan reuires an eort to develop rural development

support system to ensure a sustainable growth both in income and living

standards. "overnment on the urgent bases needs to increase the share of

development funds for the rural areas for the establishment of new schools

and health centers and rehabilitation of the current institution to meet the

need of the modern times. &he literacy and health of farmer and his family is

essential to driving the growth engine of the agricultural sector and ensuring

adoption of modern farming techniues and mechani3ation of farms.

&o encourage the adoption of modern agricultural and irrigationpractice and to educate farms in the modern practices of farming there is

dire need of establishing demonstration and technology centers in individual

agricultural district. &he aim of these institutions would be to provide a

bridge between agricultural universities of Pakistan to direct reach out to

farms in their areas to inform farmer about modern sustainable practice.

urthermore, there is a need to increase the penetration of internet in the

rural areas, so that a cost eective procedure of information dispersion and

credit facilitation can be ensured.

As the Pakistan agrarian markets are operating under traditional modeof operation, there is a need to moderni3e them. or dairy to grain the supply

chain lacks the storage facilities to cut down the output losses. "overnment

should encourage farmers and agririan traders to establish modern trading

practice and storage facilities to cut down the demand side cost and

spoilage.



As the average Pakistani farmer is small and lack the -nancial capitalto invest in modern agricultural techniues, the government shouldencourage the private and agricultural banks to increase the amount of credit borrowing available to the farmer. &he easy access to the borrowingwill encourage small farmer to pursue moderni3ation of farming techniues

and mechani3ation of farms. &he new avenues of -nancial support throughthe means of internet can open hori3on of agricultural development.urthermore, the agricultural banks should utili3e the mobile platform foragri1banking and insurance farms should develop means of crop insurance tosafeguards farmers from unforeseeable losses.

3omponent ,4 Agricultural 3ommodity alue 3hain #e(elopment

>ommodity value chain development refers to the structuring of the

whole range of goods and services necessary for an agricultural product to

move from the farm to the -nal customer or consumer; while utili3ing

modern methods of production, processing, delivery and research.



0n the past, agrarian reforms were either targeting a particular link in

the value chain or a speci-c input or output need. Eowever, to transform the

entire sector there is a need to rethink and moderni3e all links in the chain to

promote an inclusive and sustainable growth.

&o begin with there is prereuisite for the development of agrarian

sector to cope with evolving needs, so a signi-cant focus need to give on the

capacity development for public (agricultural research, e'tension, relevant<inistries? department such as Dural #evelopment, <onitoring and

Hvaluation for e:cient e'ternal supervision), private (<icro inance

0nstitutions, agro1dealers, etc.) and community1based (producers?

organi3ations, cooperatives, inter1professional bodies, etc.) institutions.

training value chain actors in technical and managerial skills; promoting use

of science J technology; training in post1harvest reduction methods

including food processing; business and entrepreneurship training; training of

communities and health workers on prevention and management of common

diseases as well as good nutrition, sanitation J hygiene practices;

development of market information system (<08); management of environmental and social impacts; implementation of policies to promote

private investment in agriculture.

3omponent .4 6and Reforms



Pakistan, given the highly uneual distribution of landownership and

new technology in agriculture has unleashed powerful contradictions which

are not only likely to become constraints on continued agricultural growth,

but are also generating acute social tensions the nature of the economic

process, in the absence of an eective land reform, is such that it is

enriching the rural elite at the e'pense of the rapid deterioration in the

economic and social conditions of the ma2ority of the rural population.

&he previous enact land reforms are satisfactory to achieve desired

social and economic results; with slight amendments. &he classical

application of land reforms (ceiling on land holdings) is deemed un10slamic by

8hariat >ourt and the door to the implementation of reforms is pretty much

closed; so the government has to undertake the investigation of the nature

of land ownership at the time of 0ndependence. #ue to the court decision the

use of 0slamic notion of social welfare no longer is applicable in order to

2ustify state intervention in property rights of individuals. &he future outlook

for the reform as pointed out by Kustice (D) #r. &an3ilur1Dahman, e'1>hief

Kustice of the ederal 8hariat >ourt is that FL8tate shouldM set up a high

powered National >ommission for 4andsO to make country1wide inuiries

and investigations as to the mode of acuisition of the lands by the landlords

and their predecessors1in1interest, and to determine whether they are valid

or not in the eye of 8hariah.G #ue to colonial appropriation of the ma2or

landholding in the country, they could be designated as unethically

appropriated land to further the interest of the =ritish colonial enterprise.

&hus deem these appropriate as un10slamic and bring them under the stateownership and distribute back to millions of landless tenant in the country.

8econdly, there is another possibility that lies with the legislators, that is to

review the e'istence of the ederal 8hariat >ourt (and the 8hariat Appellate

=ench) itself and there1after re1introduce legislation along the lines of the ?7

and ?77 reforms.

&he Pakistani agricultural growth has been predicated on the rapid

increase in yields of the relatively larger farms due to the bene-ts derived

from mechani3ation of farms and use of chemical fertili3ers and pesticides;

which are out of the reach of the small farmers. Eowever, continued growthin the ne't decades will have to be derived from increasing yields per acre of

the small farmers. An essential precondition for this is the institutional and

economic change which will give the small farmer better access over the

new inputs, and greater control over his production process and investable

surplus. 0n this sense, an eective land reform is now not only an imperative

of a more euitable economic growth, but of growth itself.



3onclusion and Recommendations Summary4

• &here is a dire to take measures to increase agricultural factor

productivity by increasing e:ciency by adopting modern

agricultural practices and operations; through encourage both

public and private sector investment in agriculture DJ# and crop

e'tension techniue.• &o make rural areas economically viable, there is a need to increase

pro-tability by stabili3ing and rationali3ing agricultural input and

output prices, ensuring reduction production and post1production

losses.

• &o perform better in world market there is a need to make Pakistani

agricultural produce competitive by reducing cost of production,

developing comprehensive agricultural marketing strategy,

improving uality and ensuring B&?s sanitary and phyto1sanitary

(8P8) compliance.

• or a sustainable development of agricultural sector in Pakistan,

there is need to diuse basic and technical agricultural knowledge

among illiterate and small farmer through developing a

comprehensive educational program by agricultural universities and

institutes; with an aim to promoting environment friendly

agricultural practices through incentives and rewards.

• &o curb the losses from salinity and waterlogging, a moderni3ation

plan of Pakistan?s irrigation system is reuired, along with educating

farmers of the opportunity that modern irrigation practices present

them.• &o increase the agriculture?s contribution in the "#P, the

government need to direct its eort towards rural community

development program; focusing on establishment of rural

infrastructures and moderni3ation of agricultural markets.

• &o reduce the social ineuality, there is need to reboot the 4and

Deform rdinance of !/77, a stronger social case need to made to



make the reforms compliant to the decision of the 8hariat Appellate

=ench of the 8upreme >ourt of Pakistan?s decision.

• &o support the growth of industrial sector and increasing value

addition in agricultural products, government need to divert its

attention towards encouraging both public and private to invest in

processing agricultural products before e'porting it out.

Appendi7

Agricultural Policy Recommendation

Documents

Transcript of Agricultural Policy Recommendation