Any four agricultural problem in Pakistan
Answers
DISCUSS THE MAJOR PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURAL SECTOR OF PAKISTAN. WHAT MEASURES DO YOU SUGGEST TO IMPROVE THIS SECTOR?
Introduction:
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
Problems of agricultural sector are categorized as below:
A. TECHNO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
1) Limited Cultivable Area
The total area of Pakistan is about 79.6 million hectares, out of which only 23.7 million hectares (28%) area is used for agricultural purposes. About 8 million hectares area is idle and un-utilized. There is vast sub-division and fragmentation of land holdings, as a result modern technology cannot be applied in agriculture sector.
2) Water Logging and Salinity
Water logging and salinity are twin problems of agricultural sector due to salinity, deposits of salt in land have appeared on the surface of land and they have adversely affected the performance of agricultural sector. Water logging and salinity affect about 0.10 million acre of land in every year. It is not only waste of land but also reduction in productivity.
3) Slow Growth of Allied Products
Allied products refer to those productions, which are not agricultural but indirectly, help the farmer to improve his living standard. Pakistan is in-sufficient in the production of fruits, milk, poultry, fisheries, livestock and forestry. As a result not only our food quality is poor but also industries such as furniture, textiles and dairy cannot be developed.
4) Low Per Hectare Yield
The most important problem of agriculture is its low yield per hectare for almost every major crop. 45.0% of labour force is engaged in this sector in Pakistan while it is less than 5% in developed countries. But, other countries of world are getting higher yield per hectare due to use of modern technology and trained labour.
5) Inadequate Infrastructure
Rural infrastructure like, roads, storage facilities, transport, electricity, education, sanitation and health facilities etc. is inadequate to meet the requirement of growth of agriculture. Total length of farm-to-market road is not only shorter but their condition is also poor. Many villages have no metal-led road at all. Electricity is available to only 3/4 rural populations.
6) 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.
7) Old Methods of Production
No doubt, mechanization of agriculture is increasing in Pakistan, but in most of the areas, the old implements are still being used for agricultural production. Old and orthodox techniques of production cannot increase the production according to international levels.
8) 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.
9) Lack of Irrigation Facilities
Shortage of irrigation facilities causes a serious limitation in the expansion of crop area in Pakistan. The lower water supplies, loses from water course in the fields are the serious problems of farm sector. Actual surface water availability is 91.8 million acre feet.