July 14, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1424

One of the perennial problems of Pakistan’s agriculture is low productivity. There admittedly has been an increase in yields over the years but these have been, by and large, negligible.

The country has managed domestic food needs and earning through exports by extending acreage under cultivation of some cash crops and relying on exports in other, mainly edible oils. But possibilities of higher yields have generally gone unexplored.

Lack of attention on some vital areas has been the stumbling block. Mechanization of the farming sector has progressed at a lethargic pace. The planners have simply ignored the needs of small farmers who cannot afford to purchase high cost machinery and have remained, per force, tied to equipment that is attaining superannuation in many parts of the world, including countries that are classified as third world.

The industry producing farm machinery has been highly profit-oriented; the government has also not provided it incentives to manufacture and sell at a price that is affordable for small farmer. As a result, the lack of modern and efficient tools has hampered effective growth of the agriculture sector and yields have tended to remain stunted or grown at a slow pace.

More damaging has been the country’s attitude towards research that plays a vital role in developmental activity; for agriculture, it is the very lifeline. But the situation in this area is pathetic. Both the government and the private sector manufacturers of equipment for farming have failed the country in mechanization of agriculture.

The impact of research on productivity is known the world over and Pakistan has benefited from research in the past. The wheat varieties introduced in the 60’s provided the seed for the Green Revolution and helped the country attain autarky in the crop. A surplus was also produced in 2000-01. While this wasn’t entirely the result of research, methodical, research based application of inputs contributed substantially to the bumper crop of that year.

Another area in which research produced life saving results for Pakistan is cotton. It had been devastated by Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) in the wake of the country’s highest crop. CNCV had played havoc in other countries too and ruined their economy. Sudan in fact had to abandon the cultivation of cotton for a period of five years to clear the fields of remnants of the virus.

Pakistan survived a similar fate because of the remarkable research effort undertaken by the Central Cotton Research Institute, Multan. Its resistant varieties, produced under the guidance of Pride of Performance winning scientist, Dr Zahoor Ahmed with the support of a team of qualified and dedicated scientists developed seeds that could withstand the onslaught of CLCV and help farmers gain in yield as well.

The role cotton plays in the national economy need not be emphasized. Suffice it to say that it is Pakistan’s most vital cash crop both in terms of export earnings and as employment generating crop as it is the engine that runs the textile industry.

The textile sector that has made huge financial gains and has made heavy investment in upgrading its machinery and equipment-one does not grudge that because it fulfilled a basic need, is unfortunately and most regrettably, not known to have spent even a penny on promoting research in cotton. That task has been left solely to the state. While investing in the upgradation of the sector is a positive step, what worth would be state of art production facilities if the supply of quality raw cotton is not sustained?

The same lamentable attitude pervades other industries that benefit from raw materials supplied by the farming sector. One sugar mill is said to have taken up research for improving sugar content of cane in earnest; other sugar mills prefer to concentrate on making growers wait in a queue for the payment of their sweat and toil. Rice exporters have started attaching importance to polishing and packaging but their contribution towards helping farmers to increase plant population and assisting farmers to increase yields has been next to nil.

The picture and practice among leather goods manufacturers is no different. Their raw stock comes from livestock that is part and parcel of the agriculture sector. Research on raising productivity and making breeders aware of the benefits from ensuring better quality of hides and skins is in their interest but they do not consider this is a priority area with the results that both the breeders and the manufacturers continue losing profits that should be theirs for the asking.

Generally, industrialists and exporters that draw their profits from the agriculture and livestock base for their sectors take the farming sector for granted. This attitude needs must change for ensuing mutual sustainable growth. Strengthening the research base is also important in view of the demands of the WTO that are knocking at the doors of the world. From the look of things, Pakistan is most ill- prepared for meeting them and is badly neglecting research that is one of the vital tools for equipping the country for entering a new world regime.

If the private sector has let down the country in this area, the public sector has not done any better; it may in fact have distorted the field of research. Till about two decades back, research was accorded due importance. Priorities seem to have changed in recent times. Research is conducted both at the federal and provincial levels. Over 175 organizations exist for different subjects and disciplines. The federal government has large conglomerates as well as for a number of individual crops while provincial governments have set up research centres and stations at relevant points for single crops and multi- purpose ends.

That should suggest considerable activity and, in a manner of speaking, that is happening too. But their task is getting hampered by lack of adequate funding and it is not producing the desired results because of weak linkage between result of research and their application in the fields. Pakistan National Commission on Agriculture had recommended 1.5 per cent of agriculture GDP for research but the government is spending about 0.2 percent.

The ratio between salaries and operating cost makes meaningful research difficult, if not impossible. It is recommended to be 6:40 but in Pakistan, roughly about 80 percent goes towards salaries. Despite that, researchers have done some good work but no system has been evolved, at least none is practice on a consistent basis for application of the findings of scientists to field conditions.

Research has also been staggered in to academic, research and extension while the there should be more productive with a close connection; they should preferably be under one discipline.

This was the system we had followed in the 60’s and early 70’s. Its bifurcation has cost the country heavy. It is desirable that we should revert to the previous system that is also practice in countries that have succeeded in raising their agriculture out put.