The University of Faisalabad
Agriculture in Pakistan
Group Members Wasim Niaz Waqas Haider Waqas ur Rehman Wahid Hussain Talha Anees
25% of Pakistan's total land area is under cultivation and is watered by one of the largest irrigation systems in the world .
Pakistan has one of finest water system in the world. Pakistan irrigates three times more acres than Russia
Agriculture accounts for about 23% of GDP and employs about 44% of the labor force Pakistan is one of the world's largest producers and suppliers of the following:
Chickpea (2nd) Apricot (4th) Cotton (4th) Sugarcane (4th) Milk (5th) Onion (5th) Date Palm (6th)
Mango (7th) Tangerines, mandarin oranges, clementine (8th) Rice (8th) Wheat (9th) Oranges (10th)
Pakistan ranks in Agriculture
Pakistan ranks fifth in the Muslim world and twentieth worldwide in farm output. It is the world's fifth largest milk producer.
Cash Crops Of Pakistan
Cotton (4th) Sugarcane (4th) Onion (5th) Mango (7th) Rice (8th) Wheat (9th)
Cotton cash crop of Pakistan
Pakistan ranked fourth globally after China and the US, in production and was the first in cotton export Cotton is known as the silver fiber of Pakistan In Pakistan cotton crop is cultivated in the southern Punjab and Sindh
Cotton as a source of income
Cotton is the major textile fiber used by man. Cotton is also providing livelihood to over 5 million people at the farm and industry and trade, furnishes raw material for 1035 ginneries and 441 textile mills and 650 oil expelling units in the country.
Cotton seed is also used extensively in milk production over 2 million tones cotton oil cake is also obtained which is used as livestock feed
Punjab and Sindh are the major cotton growing provinces. The respective shares of the two provinces in cotton production are estimated at 81 and 19 percent, respectively.
Agriculture Biotechnology in Pakistan
Agriculture plays an important role in the national economy of Pakistan, where most of the rapidly increasing population resides in rural areas and depends on agriculture for subsistence Most of the activities have been on rice and cotton, which are among the top 5 crops of Pakistan
First training course on recombinant DNA technology was organized at the Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Pakistan, one of the 3 agricultural centers of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) There are now more than 300 scientists working in 29 research centers conducting biotechnology research on various aspects of different crops, and about US $17 million has been invested by the government in biotechnology research and development during the last 3-4 years.
Molecular Breeding
In Pakistan, most of the crop improvement activities using modern biotechnology are focused on rice and cotton, which are among the top 5 crops of Pakistan. Brassica, chickpea, chilies, cucurbits, potato, sugarcane, tobacco, and tomato have recently been taken up
Export
Agriculture engaged 44% of the economically active population Agricultural production increased by an annual average of 4.4% during 1990 2009 Cotton, the most important cash crop, generates more foreign trade income than any other export item
In 2007/08, production totaled 8.3 million bales. Rice, sugarcane, tobacco, rapeseed, and mustard are also large export earners. Rice covers 11% of all croplandproduction in 2007/08 totaled 3.88 million tons.
Factor affecting this sector
Water Pakistan is sitting on a major water bomb and despite the warnings the countrys administration has easily neglected this problem, a problem which actually threatens the very existence of the country.
Over the years, the water availability in the country has fallen drastically with statistics pointing a sharp fall from 5,000 cubic meters per capita. Pakistan stands on the verge of being declared a water scarce state where the international benchmark of being water scarce stands at 1000 cubic meters per capita
Pakistan is actually one of the most arid countries in the world with an average rainfall of under 240 mm per year large volumes of water from the Indus River have been diverted upstream to Punjab Province to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for agriculture and for consumption in cities. Consequently, downstream in Sindh the Indus River has now shrunk drastically.
Fertilizers
The rise in fertilizer prices, which drove
the farmers to its reduced usage, has caused concern that Pakistans wheat crop could be1.7 million tons lesser than the earlier estimate. The countrys wheat production may touch 23.3 million metric tons, which is short of the target which was 25 million tons.
The demand for di-ammonium phosphate,
a kind of fertilizer, fell drastically after its prices shot up by 100 percent. In September, last year, the government paid the growers 950 rupees ($12) for 40 kilograms as the floor price in an effort to increase plantings this amount is a hike from the previously paid 625 rupees
Pesticides
Pesticides and chemicals rates in the market are very high and farmer could not effort these high prices pesticides due to which most part of their crops become the victim of insects and spoil the whole fields of crops.
Non-comprehensive Policies of Pakistan
18 billion in budget was allocated for agricultural sector of Pakistan but the withdrawal of subsidy on pesticides and electricity on the conditions of IMF has done serious damage to this sector. Whereas America and European Union are giving a huge amount of subsidy to their farmers
In Punjab sugar cane is sold 200 Rs. per 40 kilograms. It was purchased and later on stocked by Industrialist in their stores. When Brazil bought sugarcane from International Market and prices become high, the Pakistan sugar mills owners projected demand of selling sugar at high prices, thus Pakistan faced sugar crisis.
