Pakistan’s majority population is depended on agriculture which contributes 24% to the national GDP and is the largest source of earning foreign exchange. However, a host of problems are lowering agricultural production. According to the World Bank, 38 per cent of land in Pakistan is affected due to problems, including locust attacks, improper use of fertilisers, use of low-quality seeds, extra use of urea and climate change-induced problems. Low literacy level among farmers is another big problem.
These problems can be done away with by adopting technology; using high quality climate-resilient seed; and improving agricultural market under a three-pronged strategy that involves reducing farmers’ crop price risk, introducing contract farming and increasing farmers’ financial liquidity. There is also the need to learn pest control through remote sensing processing, a technique being used in China. Adopting these steps can help Pakistan solve agricultural problems.
Muhammad Furqan Abid
Jaranwala
