History:

Agriculture is considered the backbone of Pakistan's economy, which relies heavily on

its major crops. Pakistan's principal natural resources are arable land and
water. Agriculture accounts for about 18.9% of Pakistan's GDP and employs about
42.3% of the labour force. This sector directly supports the country's population and
accounts for 26 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The major agricultural crops
include cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits and vegetables.
In the year 2019, Pakistan produced 7.5 million tonnes of rice and ranked 10th in
largest rice producing countries.In the year 2016/17, Pakistan produced 6.7 million
tonnes, of which around 4 million were exported, mainly to neighbouring countries, the
Middle East and Africa.
Cotton is a major crop of Pakistan after wheat and it occupies the largest area in
Pakistan compared to other crops. Cotton crop earns the country largest export
revenues and in addition to the lint, the seed of cotton for oil and meal accounts for 80
percent of the national production of oilseed. Cotton and cotton related products
contribute 10 percent to gross domestic product (GDP) and 55 percent to the foreign
exchange earnings of the country. The area under the cultivation of cotton crop
increased significantly in the last 30 years, around 7.86 million acres in 2015–2016.
Much of the Pakistan's agriculture output is utilized by the country's growing processed-
food industry. The value of processed retail food sales has grown 12 percent annually
during the Nineties and was estimated at over $1 billion in 2000, although supermarkets
accounted for just over 10% of the outlets.
The Federal Bureau of Statistics provisionally valued major crop yields at Rs.504,868
million in 2005 thus registering over 55% growth since 2000. while minor crop yields
were valued at Rs.184,707 million in 2005 thus registering over 41% growth since 2000.
The exports related to the agriculture sector in 2009–10 are Rs 288.18 billion including
food graThe leading daily newspaper Jang reports that the national herd consists of
24.2 million cattle, 26.3 million buffaloes, 24.9 million sheep, 56.7 million goats and 0.8
million camels. In addition to these there is a vibrant poultry sector in the country with
more than 530 million birds produced annually. These animals produce 29.472 million
tons of milk (making Pakistan the 4th largest producer of milk in the world), 1.115 million
tons of beef, 0.740 million tons of mutton, 0.416 million tons of poultry meat, 8.528
billion eggs, 40.2 thousand tons of wool, 21.5 thousand tons of hair and 51.2 million
skins and hides. ins, vegetables, fruits, tobacco, fisheries products, spices and
livestock.Fishery and fishing industry plays an important role in the national economy
of Pakistan. With a coastline of about 1046 km, Pakistan has enough fishery resources
that remain to be fully developed. It is also a major source of export earning.
Aquaculture is also a rapidly developing industry in Pakistan. Especially the Punjab
Province has demonstrated rapid growth in fish farming. GIFT Tilapia culture has also
been introduced quite recently in Pakistan especially Punjab province. About only 4% of
land in Pakistan is covered with forest. The forest of Pakistan are a main source of
food, lumber, paper, fuel wood, latex, medicine as well as used for purposes
of wildlife conservation and ecotourism.
Production:
Pakistan produced in 2018:

 67.1 million tons of sugarcane (5th largest producer in the world, behind Brazil,
India, China and Thailand);
 25.0 million tons of wheat (7th largest producer in the world);
 10.8 million tons of rice (10th largest producer in the world);
 6.3 million tons of maize (20th largest producer in the world);
 4.8 million tons of cotton (5th largest producer in the world);
 4.6 million tonnes of potato (18th largest producer in the world);
 2.3 million tonnes of mango (including mangosteen and guava) (5th largest
producer in the world, only behind India, China, Thailand and Indonesia);
 2.1 million tons of onion (6th largest producer in the world);
 1.6 million tons of orange (12th largest producer in the world);
 593 thousand tons of tangerine;
 550 thousand tons of tomatoes;
 545 thousand tons of apple;
 540 thousand tons of watermelon;
 501 thousand tons of carrot;
 471 thousand tons of date (6th largest producer in the world);
In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.[9]
Ranking:
Pakistan is one of the world's largest producers and suppliers of food and crops
according to the different sources.

 Cotton (4th)
 Milk (4th)
 Date Palm (5th)
 Sugarcane (5th)
 Onion (7th)
  mandarin oranges (6th)
 Mango (4th)
 Wheat (7th)
 Rice (11th)
Pakistan ranks eighth worldwide in farm output, according to the List of countries by
GDP sector composition.
ROLE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF PAKISTAN:

Agriculture is the process of cultivation of the soil and the land for economic and
production purposes. Pakistan is an agriculture based country meaning that Pakistan’s
economy heavily depends on the agriculture yields. About 48% of the country’s labour
force is engaged in the agriculture sector and about 70% is related to it both directly and
indirectly. It is considered to be the main source of food for the citizens of this country.
The agriculture sector also provides a large amount of raw material to the industrial
sector.

The sector contributes about 25% towards GDP which is the highest of any other
economic sector. The points stated below explain in detail the role of agriculture in the
economic development of Pakistan

1. Major source of employment:

The agriculture industry provides employment to a large portion of the labour
force of the country. More than 45% of the labour force is thought to be directly
associated with this industry while more than 66.7% of the rural population is
dependent on agriculture. Agriculture has played an important role in the
reduction of unemployment and disguised employment.
2. Increasing the GDP of the economy:
Agriculture abundantly contributes to the GDP of Pakistan. A country prospers
and develops economically when its GDP increases. At the time of independence
agriculture was the largest contributor to the GDP of Pakistan but as time passed
the service industry took over. Now agriculture has the third largest contribution
in the GDP of the country. Livestock and fisheries is a huge part of this sector
and it not only provides employment to the people of Pakistan but also is
exported to several countries. Livestock accounts for 40% of this economic
sector and 9% of the GDP. Pakistan is considered to be at the fifth position in the
Muslim world and ranked at the twelfth position World Wide for farm output. It is
the world’s fifth largest milk producer. All this implies that agriculture is the
backbone of the economy of Pakistan.
3. Foreign exchange earner:
The agriculture sector the major source of foreign exchange earning in this
country. Products such as cotton, rice and wheat are exported to various
countries. It brings about 65% of the total earnings.
4. Reduction in poverty:
The agriculture sector has a huge role in the development of the rural areas. The
productivity helps to reduce poverty and also stimulates non-farming employment
too. The people are able to get the basic necessities of life such as a good
sanitary system, clean water, electricity, provision of health and educational
facilities etc. About 21% of the population of Pakistan is below the poverty line.
5. Food requirement:
The population of Pakistan is increasing rapidly. According to the UNDP
population growth report, the population growth rate of Pakistan is 2% per year.
So in order to protect the country from dying of starvation, the food production
has also increased manifold. In this case the agriculture sector is the only
economic sector that is meeting the demand of the people. And in comparison
the agriculture sector has also reduced the imports from other economies. So it
can be said that agriculture is playing a vital role in sustaining the economy of
Pakistan by providing food for the country’s citizens.
6. Increasing Tax revenue for the government:
The more money the government can make using tax schemes the more money
 it will have, to spend on the development of Pakistan. As agriculture contributes a
lot to the per capita income so the government tax revenues increase as their tax
revenues are directly proportional to the increase in the GDP. In this way
agriculture helps in generating more tax revenue for the government.

Measure to improve the efficiency of agricultural sector for development of

economy:

1. Yield collection problems:

The collection of yield from small farmers is very expensive & difficult process. So
it is a great problem of marketing. There should be some easy way for collection of yield
from the farmers.

2. Rough grading Products:

Commodities or products which are graded have higher price in the market. In
Pakistan mixing of poor & good qualities are common. So grading problems must
reduce.

3. Storage problems:

The storage facilities in markets are not enough, seller can not store & wait for a
higher price of the product due to lack of warehouses. Because of this some perishable
produce suffers loss.

4. Middleman’s role:

The middleman takes a big share of farmer crop without doing anything. The
farmers borrow the money from them & sell their products at low prices. So this is a big
loss to the farmers.

5. Transportation problems:

Our sources of transportation are insufficient, so regular supply of product is not

possible to the market. The village are not properly linked to the markets. For proper
provision of products to the market their must be sufficient as well as fast means of
transportation.

6. Revenue system:

Our farmers have to pay land revenue after the harvesting of each crop, so it forces the
farmers to sell their produce at low price.

7. Market Advisory Committee (MAC):

 MAC (Market Advisory Committee) at district and tehsil level should be set up to
provide technical advice and information to co-operative marketing societies. The
officers of co-operative & agriculture department should be the members of the
committee.

8. Market reforms:

The government should improve the markets system. Strict rules and laws
should be introduced. The prices of agricultural products should be checked by the
inspectors in the market.