The government is gradually beginning to put the agriculture sector under greater and more positive focus but all said and done, there seems resistance against treating it on a par with industry
even though major industries are dependent on the sector for their raw materials and the treasury has to cough up a lot more to finance imports of urgently needed food stuff than the cost of supporting agriculture to produce more to meet domestic needs.
There is a clear stronghold of vested interest elements on certain food items and a heavy price is paid in other areas because of the lack of professional know-how at the highest level.
In Pakistan, the 'highest level' is generally read as the President of the country because he is the most powerful individual but the reference is to the quality of leadership available in the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) and to quite an extent, the provinces too although provinces are admittedly better equipped for dealing with problems and requirements of the farming sector.
The manner of handling the last wheat crop is a glaring case in point. All through the time the crop was in the fields, official experts kept parroting the 'all's well' theme but they started blaming nature and other such factors that had been there all the time.
They should have been able to measure the impact of rains and harshness of the summer season much before the crop matured. Either they lacked the know-how to draw the conclusions from ground conditions or they were clinging to expectations against realities.
This is true of many crops and fruits as well with the result that some of the most valuable assets of the country are getting wasted and rotting due to non-professional management of the sector.
Even more worrisome should be the fact that the government has no institutionalized system for obtaining the best from professional expertize in the public sector at the federal level and initiative is neither encouraged nor rewarded in the provinces.
Junior level officials, mostly educated in agriculture colleges and institutes are forced to play a role subservient to the whims of public servants that are posted against a vacancy for a period of two to three years and then, possibly just when they are getting the hang of it all, they are handed over the command of another sector.
Some officials do make an effort to deliver their job honestly and in a professional manner but there is no dearth of individuals who treat postings as parking points in a period of transition.
There is a strong case for organizing the public sector on a professional basis for more than one reason. Whatever the official figures for poverty, it is rampant and it is speedily devouring rural population that forms the majority of the people living in Pakistan.
The rise in poverty, even if the process of adding to the number of people living below survival line were arrested, a major percentage of the poor would be from the farming sector.
Poverty in villages is directly reflected in urban migration. Most cities are already mismanaged because they are over populated; available civic facilities have become terribly insufficient and would become more and more unreliable and inefficient if pressure is not eased from major urban centres.
This would ultimately cause law and order problems and even escalation in the incidence of crime. Mechanization is rapidly taking over from traditional agriculture. This is it should be. But this means fewer opportunities for labourers in villages.
This would also expedite urbanization of rural population. The government can arrest this frightening process by creating opportunities for out of work farmers to earn a living near their homes.
The projects undertaken by previous governments like small scale industries ended up in the hands of urban entrepreneurs whose approach did not contain interest in unskilled rural labour.
Their attitude is understandable but, if the poor, unemployed farmer is to be given a reprieve, the government should establish training facilities for this segment. It does not appear possible to arrest a rise in poverty without attending to this requirement.
The lack of proper and professional attention is already concretely seen in the sector and none other than the State Bank of Pakistan has taken notice of the grim situation of the sector and noted a dismal growth in major crops.
Actually, this is re- stating what has already been placed on record in the Economic Survey that was released prior to the budget 2004-05. That document had recorded low growth of the sector and the SBP has reemphasized that position.
The third quarterly report of the SBP for FY 2003-04 notes that major crops grew by 2.8 per cent in comparison with growth rate in 2002-03 that stood at 6.9 per cent. The growth of minor crops admittedly rose a little but I would be surprised if anyone in Minfal can pin point factors for this raise and possibly even provincial agriculture departments are unlikely to have much idea of the positive turn of events.
They would be pleased but that would mark the end of the story. They would also realize that things could deteriorate as easily as they have improved. The way out is an institutionalized professional approach in which experts have the last say instead of generalists whose numbers are continuously swelling with people from other public sectors that have an even less insight in to the sector than civilian generalists.
It is time that the government reorganized the administration of the sector and allowed it to be run by people who are qualified for the job. If that were not done, results would be more dismal. This is not building a doomsday scenario for the sector but something boldly inscribed across the rural Pakistan.
The least the government can do is get experts who can read the writing. If they do that, they may be able to find a way out of the deepening and thickening quagmire that Agriculture of Pakistan is fast becoming.
