Woes: ‘Agriculture sector not getting attention’

ISLAMABAD: The agriculture sector is considered the backbone of the economy but it is not getting the due attention since long, said Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) President Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday. Inputs are being increased to boost production, which was increasing cost of doing business while neglect continued to reduce share of agriculture in the GDP, he said. Hussain said it was next to impossible to ensure national development while keeping agricultural development on the backburner. Reduced production was contributing to poverty in the rural areas and widening the gulf between rich and poor. Policies of the government continued to push farmers to prefer low cost crops over high value crops, he said, adding that different packages announced failed to achieve the desired results.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2017.

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