PAKISTAN is an agricultural country and its salvation lies in moving forward in that direction. This is not to say that the country may ignore its industrial base as it is equally important for countries to be strong both in agricultural and industrial sectors. And at some level, some parts of both the sectors are interdependent anyway. However, there are not many countries that have the advantage of developing both the sectors. Pakistan has somehow, over the years, become oblivious to its strong credentials in the agricultural sector and has made pretensions of developing its industrial base.

The country lost the plot somewhere on the way and has tried to be a country that produces and exports light industrial goods. The result is that today Pakistan is neither a major agricultural country, nor an industrial one. It has become a victim of energy and water shortages due to inept advance planning, and its exports have refused to move beyond a certain level despite concerted efforts.

When the Green Revolution was ushered into Pakistan in the 1960s, it was thought that the country was well on its way to becoming one of the world’s leading agricultural economies. It was in that period that major dams were planned, such as Warsak, Mangla and Tarbela, and barren land was brought under cultivation. Much of this land had been until then outside the richly fertile regions that had the benefit of the elaborate irrigation system built around the River Indus and the other rivers of the Punjab and Sindh in the 1930s and ’40s by the British.

Pakistan was touted as a major emerging agricultural power, and rightly so, because it grew so many major crops. In fact, at one time, Pakistan’s wheat production was more than that of the whole of Africa’s and somewhat equal to that of the entire South American continent.

From food security to employment opportunities, development of Pakistan’s agriculture sector has vast and diverse potential to keep the wheels of national economy moving smoothly.

While Pakistan’s most important crops right from the beginning were wheat, cotton, rice and sugarcane, it also commanded a leading position among the world’s top five or ten counties in the production of chickpea, apricots, date palm, sugarcane, onions, kinnows and mangos. Pakistan is still a major world producer of dairy milk. It is also a notable producer of raw leather as well as finished leather goods because of its vibrant livestock sector. Its textiles and value-added textile goods also have a world market which can be expanded provided the required inputs are provided.

Pakistan’s fisheries are also important. The country has a coastline of about 1,120km and its exclusive economic zone extends up to 200 nautical miles from the coast. This area has a rich potential for the development of the fisheries sector. Since Pakistan has not moved into high-tech deep-sea fishing, its fishing boats only operate in the shallow coastal waters. The potential therefore needs to be developed because it can be an important source of export earnings.

The water crisis is beginning to hit the country due to so many reasons. The major one among them is that no large dam has been built in Pakistan since the 1960s and there is nothing in the pipeline except of course the Dam Fund which has its own contours and connotations.

Efforts were made in the 2000s to revive the Kalabagh Dam project so that it could serve as a water reservoir for the agricultural needs of the country during the arid season, but it became a victim of inter-provincial political disputes and was abandoned midway. At present, there are no chances of the project being revived. With the Dam Fund, the former chief justice did draw the nation’s attention to the looming water crisis. There are practical fears that the country might go completely dry by the middle of the next decade if major dams are not built or other workable solutions not found during this period.

The present government has put in its lot with the Fund, and the thinking now seems to be that, if not Kalabagh, other possibilities of dam building need to be explored and funds collected for this purpose. The only problem is that while fund collection is a judicious route and should have been adopted much earlier, but enough money cannot be collected for building even a single large dam within a short period. What the country needs in this respect is funding from the world’s major financial institutions, as it did when the earlier dams were built, but this seems a far-fetched possibility. At present Pakistan’s economy is grappling with other, more urgent, issues such as the current account deficit, dipping foreign exchange reserves, circular debt and the constant burden of oil imports.

Pakistan is also one of the countries where water is treated as a ‘taken for granted’ commodity. It has been known for a long time that Pakistan’s agricultural sector does not fully understand the value of water. The farmer in Pakistan has always had abundant supplies of water and he is just not open to other means of watering his lands because he is so used to flooding them. He fails to understand that a sprinkler system can water his lands as efficiently as the flooding system. Because his horizons are limited due to lack of education, he is oblivious to the fact that the sprinkler system and other more efficient watering systems are being used around the world with great success.

There are examples when countries with barren tracts of land converted themselves into fertile oasis with sensible water management. Likewise, there are countries that have taken the other route and become water-stressed countries; Pakistan being one of them. Countries in the former category have even become major exporters of fresh produce and world-leaders in agricultural technologies despite the fact that their geographies are not naturally conducive to agriculture. In Pakistan’s case, water experts have often expressed the view that if the sprinkler watering system is prudently used in our agriculture, there may not be a need to build large dams.

Frankly speaking, the subject of water has not been treated with due seriousness by Pakistanis at any level, whether farmers, rural dwellers or urban dwellers. Water usage habits of the people have always been wasteful and it is only in recent times, after all the media hype and awareness campaigns, plus the intervention of the highest judiciary, that some concern is becoming visible.

There is still a need to do a lot more and, along with the agricultural water users, people in general need to be educated to save this finite natural resource. Pakistan is also a country with a large seafront. If seawater is desalinated, it can be used by both urban and rural populations that live near the coast. It can be utilised for agricultural purposes as well. Many desert countries that have no fresh water resources have done the same.

Rains are an abundant occurrence in the upper northern half of the country. Sindh and Balochistan also get rains, especially during the monsoon months. All this water is wasted and flows into streams and rivers and finally finds its way into the sea. If a system is put in place, all this water can be saved and used for agriculture as well as to meet municipal needs of villages, towns and cities. Collection of rain water and its reuse would be of particular value to barren terrain in Balochistan and Sindh. One area that could be transformed into fertile land could be the Thar region; this vast tract could be used very beneficially for agricultural needs as well as for providing water for the ever-thirsty population.

Many crops grown across the country, particularly in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are wasted for want of support agricultural technology. If proper collection and packaging facilities could be provided at the very farm or field sites, much of this produce could be saved from unnecessarily rotting and could be converted into precious earnings for the farmers and growers, and add to national exports.

A Pakistani company picks up the red chili crop in Sindh and transports it to its factory in Karachi, packages it and sells it both within the country and abroad. At a seminar some time back, one heard of the problems of tomato growers in Sindh. They were lamenting that while they managed to transport some of their produce to the towns and cities in fresh condition, much of it was left behind and simply rotted in the fields. If some kind of paste-making and tinning facilities were to be provided at the tomato farms, the crop could be tinned and exported.

Pakistani mangoes and kinnows, some varieties of which are the best in the world, also meet a similar fate. Many countries where there is a demand for Pakistani mangoes and kinnows, are deprived of these delicacies because Pakistani exporters fail to export the fruits free of pests. Many steps have also been taken by the Pakistan government to grow olives in Pakistan and to export olive bye-products, such as olive oil, to many countries of the world but enough does not seem to have been done so far and Pakistan continues to spend precious foreign exchange on the import of olives and olive oil brands.

Development of Pakistan’s agriculture also offers vast potential on the employment front. Growth of agriculture will create many new jobs and it will be possible to gainfully employ the educated and uneducated youth in functions that the corporate and industrial sector may yet not be ready to provide.

WATER scarcity is the biggest threat to fertile lands in the country which, in turn, means serious consequences for the industrial sector. Pakistan is already a water-scarce country as owing to the poor state of infrastructure about two-third is lost due to poor transmission and seepage. Water scarcity hurts the entire agricultural chain besides creating problems for farmers, households and industries, thus causing food insecurity and unemployment.

Almost 145 million acre feet (MAF) water passes annually through the country of which only 14MAF could be stored and that too for one month, while the international standard stands at 90 days of storage. Country’s population would be 250 million by 2025 and the demand for water would be at 338 billion cubic meters while the availability would be 236 billion cubic meter. Hence, the government should try to take due steps.

Pakistan’s storage capacity is a mere 150 cubic meters per person which is much lower than many other economies. By 2030, according to the World Resource Institute, Pakistan will be faced with extreme water shortage owing to lack of water storage capacity and unsustainable groundwater utilisation.

Pakistan ranks seventh among countries at risk from global warming, thus flooding alone accounts for 77 per cent of all natural disasters, costing Pakistan heavily.

The groundwater table in and around Islamabad and Rawalpindi is falling at an alarming rate. While in 2000 drinking water could be pumped out at a depth of 20-40 feet, now even sinking pumps down to 200-300 feet fails to bring up water. According to present indications, after a decade or so the groundwater table may become impossible to reach unless and / or until some big projects to recharge ground water are undertaken. The present trend of sinking groundwater level indicates that in another two decades the twin cities may become totally devoid of groundwater.

A show of political will, coupled with sustainable long-term efforts, will help develop policies to pave the way towards a brighter future for Pakistan and its people.

Alarmingly, the crop yields and water resources are declining, leaving large tracts of barren land and making farmers debt-ridden. Unemployment is increasing and the groundwater table is fast depleting.

As the canals become old, the wastage through seepage rises, and sometimes water rarely reaches the tail-ends. In the process, some areas have become over-irrigated, causing water-logging, salinisation and degradation of soil, knocking off field productivity. In other areas, farmers resort to pumping groundwater.

Farmers must be educated about matching their withdrawals with recharging of aquifers, sowing crops that do not guzzle water, adopting irrigation techniques that use water efficiently, budgeting water bearing in mind that over half of it will go in evaporation.

Water resource management requires policies to ensure more productive, equitable and sustainable uses through reallocation across sectors.

The latest national water policy was announced in April 2018 according to which, Pakistan’s river-flows are heavily dependent on glacial melt (41%), snowmelt (22%) and rainfall (27%). The Indus system receives an annual influx of 134.8 MAF of water. Pakistan receives snowfall only in the Northern Areas of the country during winter.

The policy argues that water availability can be enhanced through a reduction in water loss, additional water storage through large, medium and small dams, recycling used waters, desalinisation of sea water and more efficient water use. The main targets proposed for 2018-30 are: to augment the dwindling irrigation deliveries into the existing canal systems on account of ever decreasing existing storage capacity of Mangla and Tarbela dams due to sedimentation and to develop new cultivated area on canal irrigated water, the existing water storage capacity of 14MAF must be increased by immediately starting construction of the Diamer-Bhasha dam having 6.4 million acre feet storage capacity; and to have Mohmand Dam with capacity of 0.676 million acre feet and other countrywide medium and small dams having cumulative storage capacity of at least 2MAF up to year 2030.

As global temperature rises, so does the fraction of the human population that is affected by either water scarcity or river flooding. Global warming over the 21st century is projected to reduce renewable surface water and groundwater resources. So, taking initiative, the government should come out with revolutionary policies and refworms in the agriculture as well as water sectors.

There is a dire need to promote efficient use of water through vigorous advocacy campaigns aimed at reducing wastage of water at both commercial and the household levels to raise awareness. It is with awareness that water resource conditions may change. It is time Pakistan’s water resources became part of mainstream discussion. A show of political will by the country’s leadership, coupled with continuous efforts to help achieve long-term energy, water and food security, will help develop synergetic policies. Increased water, food and energy security will help pave the way towards a brighter future for the country and its people.

AS experts put it, one word that defines agriculture research scene in Pakistan is ‘directionless’.

It lacks sustained political and financial commitment both at federal and provincial levels. The institutions at both levels work independent of each other, with no coordination. The private sector works for its own profits, free of official control or coordination. Whatever little is happening in the sector is more of an academic exercise, with little reference or relevance to the fields and farms. To top it all, there is no national institution that can work as clearing house for research projects and give the effort any direction. All these factors are pulling and pushing research in different directions and creating huge confusion at the national level.

The crisis in research, in fact, flows from the parent sector itself, as agriculture has been in a limbo after the 18th amendment. After the event in April 2010, the sector became ownerless as the centre was forced to devolve it and the provinces had no institutional capacity to host it. Unfortunately, they are yet to develop effective institutional framework to run the parent sector, leave alone sub-sectors like research. This institutional and ownership vacuum has hurt the sector, along with all its sub-streams like research, badly.

However, it is fair to say that even in the years before the 18th amendment, research never got its due recognition in the national scheme of things. For the last more than 71 seven decades, the official patronage has been at best an ‘off and on’ affair – largely designed to responding to emergencies like a particular crop failure (cotton, for example) in a specific year. Once the crisis was over, the entire initiative fizzled out.

This approach turned research into an occasional bandwagon, with everyone jumping on it when money flowed in and leaving as soon as the money dried up. The creation of, and now almost dying, bio-tech institutions explain the situation. At one point, over 30 institutions were created as the government realised its importance and every researcher got involved, needless to say, without any major achievement and all of them are now complaining about paucity of funds.

Pakistan invests around 0.25pc of its agricultural GDP on innovation which is below regional markers. Comparison is futile with the developed world which spares 3-4pc.

The private sector succeeded only where it was able to work independent of official control and it, naturally, worked for, and on, its own profits – maize and poultry being two examples – ignoring all other social and economic realities of the country.

This directionless research has a context. In the last seven decades, almost all governments – political or otherwise – developed a fetish for quick gains because of persistent political instability. All of them worked for projects that yield quick political and economic harvest. Unfortunately, agri-research does not fit that frame of quick gains; it is a long-drawn process that yields sustained and huge returns but is spread over years, if not decades. That is why it never appeared on the policy radars of successive regimes.

The world, however, has calculated huge long-term economic benefits that research can bring once it is pursued with the required political and fiscal will. The World Bank, for example, in one of its studies maintained that better research had been adding three per cent to world productivity since 1971. In some cases however, its gains are surprisingly quick.

The world bodies have also been maintaining that the internal rate of return (IRR) in agriculture research is among the highest in the world, at around 41 per cent – meaning thereby that the entire investment on it could be retrieved within 30 months. Hardly any other sector meets this lucrative IRR.

In Pakistan’s context, there are some additional benefits as well. In Pakistan, this rate, as per the calculations of some local scientists, could be even more because the sector here has consistently been under-performing. According to them, the IRR in case of Pakistan could go as high as 80 per cent – returning the entire investment within a short span of around 14 months. The social benefits could also be higher because of demographic realities of Pakistan. A small breakthrough in any of the crop could directly benefit over 70 per cent population (farmers) and indirectly to the rest 30 per cent (urban dwellers) through price reduction. This simple fact should make research the strongest candidate for official money, attention and planning.

Despite these potential benefits, Pakistan, to its misfortune, has not taken that route so far. As things stand, Pakistan invests only 0.25 per cent of its (agricultural) gross domestic product (GDP) on research. With economy now contracting – as being claimed by almost all international and national institutions – the figure might shrink further. Compare it with what India (0.45 per cent) and even Bangladesh (0.35 per cent) spend), and causes of Pakistan’s agricultural woes are not hard to understand. The developed world spares three to four per cent for research.

It is not only financial poverty that hurts research, but the infrastructure – both administrative and human – is also marked with confusion. At present, three tiers of institutions are involved in the research activity. At the federal level, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology etc. (through a long list of subordinate institutes) are involved in the process. At the provincial level, departments of agriculture, irrigation, forestry, provincial agriculture research boards etc. are part of the process. The third tier comprises agriculture universities administered by the provinces but funded by the federal government.

These confusing parallel streams with no division of work or mandate add to the bewilderment in research. These huge overlapping adds to the cost as well. That is why the funds spared by Pakistan and its federating units for research hardly meet administrative cost, without adding to the national pool of research.

Since the private sector has insulated itself from official activities, most of the research in the government sector has regressed into academic activity, designed at bloating curriculum vitae of researchers rather than any problem-solving in the field. The list of projects undertaken by provincial research boards testifies to the fact. The private sector was able to create two success stories – maize and poultry – because the technology and research came from abroad. Pakistani scientists played no role in them.

Due to these constraints, the rate of innovation in the sector has slowed down for the last few decades, leading to increased cost of production and marketing and turning the entire sector non-competitive in international markets. These problems can provide the basic context for research planning.

As a result, agriculture research has developed some inherent problems, like little and inappropriate investment, lack of coordinated planning, monitoring and evaluation, focus on academic rather than problem-solving areas, and little commercialisation of whatever research was able to achieve.

Without belittling the permanent role of research in agriculture, one can safely say that it would assume added significance in the years to come as climate change and increasing population exert additional pressure on Pakistan. The climatic change alone would need a new set of technology, agronomy, planning and practices.

Pakistan in the years ahead may not only have to coordinate research within the country but also collaborate with international players in the shape of multinationals to find new seeds that absorb weather shocks. It is time to start getting the act together and start planning for it.

THERE is no doubt that Pakistan’s retail sector is moving onwards and upwards. That much is beyond debate. When it comes to fashion retail, there are not even small-time naysayers to argue with. There is a certain sense of eagerness among the masses to wear and promote local fashion brands. In fact, there is a level of pride in parading your purchase which was in the years of yore only associated with imported stuff.

Although fashion retailers existed in Pakistan since very early on, what really kick-started the sector was the introduction of global brands and outlets in the local market. Once consumers were seen buying freely even with exaggerated price tags, the local industry also came out to have its share of the pie. The locals had to go for quality in order to compete with established foreign brands, and they did that with due investment and professionalism. Once that threshold was crossed, there was no dearth of buyers.

Among a hoard of enabling factors behind the obvious success of the local fashion brands over international competition, reasonable price points and availability surely rank high on the list.

While the local retail industry is far away from being saturated, it definitely has become highly competitive in recent years. A brand doing well always compels its local competitors to up their game if they are willing and competent enough to win a considerable market share. Otherwise, they may decide to barely survive or just find another business for themselves.

With textile exports taking a hit owing to various reasons, the big players have turned to the local market for sustainability, taking fashion retail to an entirely different level.

This almost cutthroat competition of gaining the market share eventually improves the overall quality of the market. And it has. We can observe examples in our markets as well. With the more recent influx of numerous fashion brands in Pakistan from all around the world, some local brands have emerged to be the market leaders and are actually giving a tough time to their rivals from overseas. In a lot of cases, the local brands have grown so much in this competitive setting that they have themselves outgrown the country’s geographical borders and have now gone international.

One of the major aspects that have aided the health of our retail sector tremendously of late is our local produce of good quality cotton and the local craftsmanship. The local lawn market is a proof that speaks for itself. Countless lawn brands are launched each year in the local market and many, if not most, do really well for themselves.

Cotton lawn, which used to be a very ordinary, affordable and bland affair, is now anything but. The enchanting colour pallets of lawn brands and advertising-driven glamour have certainly made lawn a hot commodity in society. The craze of modern cotton lawn is still fresh but it cannot be categorised as a fad anymore; it has proven its hold.

There were times when nobody preferred wearing the lacklustre fabric but the markets have shifted so radically that one will have some difficulty finding any women or any grownup for that matter who would not be able to recognise any of the mega brand names. Lawn designers are not treated as prodigies in our society for nothing.

Also gone are times when there were two seasons in a fashion calendar; In the last five or so years, there are about 10 ‘micro-seasons’ per year. New lines are coming out every other month. The term is called Fast Fashion. The fashion industry nowadays is designed to make you feel “out of trend” every few weeks. The merchandise is typically priced on the lower side as the quality is also low in terms of durability. The idea of business is to produce relatively lower quality merchandise and sell it in high volumes at cheaper prices.

Talking about the element of affordable prices among Pakistan-based fashion brands we need to give due credit to the country’s internal capacity – in the shape of its agriculture sector which produces one of the best qualities of cotton, the raw material without which even the most highly competent aptitude for value addition and merchandising would hold no water.

The reason we can produce such good quality garments at such competitive rates is that we hardly have to rely on any materials or labour from outside the country, we are virtually autonomous in these area and that gives our local fashion industry a major edge over other competing markets that do not have this luxury of self-reliance.

With textile exports taking a hit owing to various reasons, it is only understandable that the big players have turned to the local market for sustainability and the local market has not disappointed them at all. There are no losers in the equation.

To be honest, the market is not exactly favorable for local businessmen bringing in fashion brands from abroad. Even if they are bringing in a fast fashion, low priced international brand, after they take in the massive costs of importing the merchandise it becomes so expensive for the importer that they are bound to raise the selling prices to the level where they are considered exorbitant by the initially targeted audience and when the brand eventually opens its doors for public, it ends up as just another overpriced destination for average quality apparel. This scenario kicks them out of the fast fashion game which is what this “fashion era” is all about. The only brands that are actually serving the masses and selling high volumes at very economical price are local ones, and thank God they are good. In recent times one may notice a lot of local fashion brands are coming up with their taglines focusing on the fact that they are made in Pakistan which points towards the fact that consumers are not only aware but also appreciative of fashion apparel that is made in Pakistan.

The comparatively higher income and a more relaxed financial environment, cost-wise, allows the local names to open more and more outlets which obviously boosts their reach to the fashion hungry audience. People living in the metropolitan cities of Pakistan can often be heard complaining about the number of shopping malls being made in the city but every shopping mall on every nook and cranny has almost each one of our local apparel brand. It is just because they can, and they just can’t afford to miss out on an opportunity; even if it sounds useless now may turn into gold any time. Such are the dynamics of expansion of our retail sector.

When otherwise there is a huge dilemma of employment opportunities for people in Pakistan, our retail industry has proved to be a beacon of hope in the last few decades. The industry has been able to provide job opportunities to not just the well-educated lot but all the way down to people with just basic education to their merit. Our local retail industry is among those very few sectors in Pakistan which have always been a flag-bearer of the idea of equal employment opportunities as well.

VALUE-addition in agriculture can be defined as enhancing the worth of a product by changing it into different forms to make it more preferred in the marketplace; for instance processing wheat into flour, fruit pulp into juices and jams etc.

Unfortunately Pakistan has not been able to make any major headway in transforming any crop from its original state to a more valuable variety. According to a report, Chile, China and India reaped rich dividends through investment on value-addition in agriculture; even Tanzania, a poor country, was able to make substantial economic strides through investment on value-addition. Also, Bangladesh managed to earn $6 billion by adding value to one million bales of cotton, whereas Pakistan makes only $1.5 billion from the same amount of cotton.

There is a general consensus among stakeholders of the agri-business that value-addition has been ‘the critical missing link’ in Pakistan’s agriculture and horticulture trade.

While Pakistan is focussing on its production digits, the global economies are switching over to quality and value-addition to attract both local and international markets. Pakistan now produces over 30million tonnes of fresh fruits and vegetables but cannot take most of it to the world market because of lack of storage and processing facilities. In fact, in our country, investment in value-addition in agriculture has not picked up due to lack of initiative from the government and unrealistic taxation policy.

According to a report, main challenges facing agro-processing industry in Pakistan are post-harvest losses due to a lack of storage and transport, inability to supply raw materials, inadequate cold chain facilities, poor funding, lack of investment in supply, lack of training facilities for farmers and processors, poor product quality, weak regulatory system, poor technical choices and a lack of innovation, unequipped food analysis laboratories, inefficient market structure and lack of coordination links with academia, industry and research organisations. The report suggested establishment of agro-processing training institutes and small food processing units at district level, revision of Pakistani food standards for food quality, improving process efficiency and decreasing losses and increasing links between industry and research organisations.

Though transforming raw products into consumer-ready goods requires a lot of doing, there is no way out if we want to make agriculture the engine of economic growth.

Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Company (PHDEC) took some steps, like developing standards for fruits exports and the PakGAP system (on the pattern of GlobalGAP), but failed to implement the same as required support from the government was not available.

According to PHDEC officials, it is essential for value-addition to devise awareness campaigns for farmers and consumers, create a fully developed and monitored cold and supply-chains across the country, and make machinery acquisition less cumbersome through tax relaxation.

The PHDEC had also suggested to the government to involve its missions in identifying niche markets to be exploited. However, better late than never, it is high time the government made more serious efforts to encourage local as well as foreign entrepreneurs in investing in value-addition and capture markets, like, for instance, the Halal market currently being dominated by Malaysia and Turkey.

Case in point is guava, a fruit which occupies third position among major fruits grown in the country after citrus and mango. But the crop’s full economic potential could not be attained because of lack of required attention on guava processing, value-addition and exports. Guava, at present, is grown mainly for fresh consumption only. Traders are of the view that there is a lot of potential for fresh guava and the demand is expected to rise with more consumers becoming acquainted with the fruit. The chief executive officer of Harvest Tradings suggests that well-equipped processing units with latest technologies should be installed in guava producing areas with research facilities to improve and increase production of quality guava.

Though with the passage of time food processing and packaging has grown and the names of some locally processed and packaged food brands can be quoted as very successful, there is a huge gap between the output of food crops and the scale on which their value-added products are being produced for local or export market.

According to the officials of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), if we exclude processed meat, fish and manufactured spices, the export earnings of all other value-added food items, including dairy and milk products, cereal-based food items and confectionary, fetch less than $100 million a year.

Agri-traders argue that there are many obstacles to value-addition in Pakistan. These include inadequate supply of inputs, inadequate safety standards, poor financial support, erratic inputs and poor artisan skills, poor technical choices and lack of innovation. So both public and private sectors must cooperate by sharing responsibilities and coordination. On the other hand, for value-addition, it is fundamental to work out comprehensive awareness campaigns for farmers and consumers so that fully developed and monitored cold and supply chains across the country could be set up, preferably on public-private partnership basis, and to achieve the desired result there is also a need to make machinery acquisition less cumbersome through tax relaxation.

Companies involved in food processing business say that local sale volumes can be increased further and export potential can be further realised more effectively if the government comes up with a plan for mapping the domestic food sector and then categorise the market players on different basis.

There is no denying of the fact that agriculture sector continues to be the mainstay of Pakistan’s economy as it makes a substantial contribution to the country’s economic growth and employment. Though transforming raw agricultural products into consumer-ready goods requires lots of managerial expertise, general and specialty labour, packaging, transportation, rent, business taxes, and many other costs, the fact remains that if we want to make agriculture the engine of growth, then we must give all possible incentives to all those entrepreneurs who want to invest in value-addition in agriculture.

In addition to good economic growth potential, value-added activities can also help in diversifying the economic base of rural communities – a community where 75 per cent of our population lives. Therefore, to make our presence felt in the international agri-market local agricultural producers and community leaders have also to work together to attract agribusiness ventures for value-added activities that will utilise local resources intelligently and augment the quality of rural life that is desired by everyone.

FOOD processing and packaging across the world have seen a boom in recent times, and the Pakistani market is no different. The rise in the local market is undeniable but it is still not at its optimal level. Our food processing and packaging brands have even crossed borders and are very popular in international markets, but the gap between our yield from food crops and the quantity in which we produce processed and packaged food is considerable. We could achieve much better results from this industry but it has been hindered for numerous reasons one of which is our negligence towards upgrading the farming procedures and equipment.

For a country which relies massively on agriculture for foreign exchange earnings and a better part of our 200 million population is in one way or the other associated with agriculture, we are way behind in modernising the sector.

According to industry experts, we are not just spending enough to introduce modern practices in the agriculture sector and we are criminally behind in terms of agricultural research and development. The new government seems focussed on increasing our export figures in an effort to make Pakistan self-sufficient financially, and, that being so, there is better way than to improve our food export figures, say the experts.

Pakistani industries, like, say, textile and its value-added products, which represent a pillar of our country’s exports, are also dependent on one of our main agricultural produce; cotton. There is almost no other logical way to improve our country’s cash inflow from exports without massive and meaningful improvements in our agriculture sector.

We do have agricultural research departments and even full-fledged universities focussing on agriculture alone, but are they doing enough? We haven’t seen a breakthrough in any agriculture-related research in quite some time that would have given us an edge over our competitors in the international market. Other agriculture-based countries are way ahead of us in the race for modernising their farming practices and subsequently high-end value addition in food industries.

We produce surplus in numerous crops every year and after fulfilling our national requirements we just export what is left of it without any value-addition to the crop. Even what value-addition we do for the local market is at best minimal. Apart from some basic products that we have been making for decades, we do not come up with products or even concepts which encourage value-addition and processing part in the national food industry. For the very basic products that we create with value-addition, the quality is still not up to the mark in most cases when we talk of international markets.

With CPEC, we are entering a phase where a lot of international players from different industrial sectors are expected to take interest in making investments in Pakistan. There is every reason for us to particularly promote foreign investments in agriculture, food-processing and packaging domains.

Foreign investors should be offered financial and taxation incentives for setting up industrial units for food processing and packaging. If it happens alongside technology transfer, it would be the proverbial icing on the cake This seems like a very good opportunity for the new government to work upon and achieve its goals of not just increasing exports but creating the promised job opportunities.

AWAY from the entire debate surrounding tobacco consumption, there can be no argument about the hardcore legality of tobacco farming and the fact that the crop ensures revenue for the state and employment for the workforce.

Tobacco farming, predominant in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), requires minimal land for cultivation and has the potential to fetch a lucrative price per kilogram. Most of the tobacco farmers of today were originally opium farmers till the government banned its production in 1979 through the Hadd Ordinance and encouraged them to switch to the tobacco crop instead.

According to the Pakistan Tobacco Board, more than 100 million kilogram of tobacco is produced annually in KP and some areas of Punjab. The three most widely used types of tobacco are the Flue Cured Virginia (FCV), Burley and Nicotiana Rustica (White Patta).

Though tobacco is grown on around 0.25 per cent of the total irrigated land in the country, the crop plays an important role in Pakistan’s economy by generating income and employment for farmers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers. A workforce of 350,000 is directly and indirectly employed in the tobacco industry, generating an annual income of roughly Rs.300 billion and a source of livelihood for 1.2 million people.

But for certain impediments, Pakistan can earn foreign exchange, a precious commodity in itself, through export of tobacco products.

There are 75,000 growers producing tobacco all over Pakistan, with more than 45,000 growers located in KP producing 95% of FCV over an area of 30,000 hectares in the districts of Swabi, Mardan, Charsadda, Buner and Mansehra. On average 80-85 million kilogram of FCV, which is the main ingredient of cigarettes, is produced by growers of these districts every year. The sector is also one of the main contributors to the government exchequer and sourced more than Rs476 billion from FY 2013-14 to FY 2017-18 in Federal Excise Duty / Sales Tax according to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Pakistan is the eighth biggest producer of the tobacco crop in the world, with great potential to become a major export of the country. For the past few years, tobacco exports in Pakistan have been on the rise, with manufacturers exporting 6.8 million kilogram of tobacco worth $16.25 million in 2017-18.

The Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB), working under the Ministry of Commerce, is the federal authority responsible for regulating the tobacco crop. The PTB ensures that tobacco laws related to the buying of the crop are followed by all manufacturers and the rights of farmers are protected. Key regulation regarding the crop includes the PTB Ordinance, MLO 487 and Tobacco Marketing Rules 1993 and 2016. However, industry insiders believe that the laws are in dire need of being revisited since they do not have proper controls in place to check the flourishing illicit trade in the tobacco industry, which is the biggest issue in the industry; big enough to cause doubts about its sustainability.

According to the PTB Ordinance, tobacco manufacturers, dealers and exporters have to declare to the PTB the amount of tobacco that they intend to buy in the next year, and to ensure that they have contracts in place with respective farmers to meet their quota requirements. This is done to make sure that there is no surplus crop and the farmers may earn sustainable incomes on their production. A Minimum Indicative Price for the crop is also determined by the PTB for the same purpose.

Some illegal buyers and cigarette manufacturers, however, under-declare their quota and buy the crop produced by the farmers at very low rates, depriving the farmers of incomes they deserve to get. These illegal manufacturers also buy non-recommended varieties of the tobacco crop as well as entire crops that are treated with banned protective agents. Illegal manufacturers exploit the loopholes in the law to their advantage, while the farmers get the short end of the stick.

Over the past few years, the quota declared by cigarette manufacturers has been roughly 50 million kilogram, with the lion’s share bought by two multinational manufacturers and the rest by the local entities. According to the PTB, production of FCV leaf is approximately 74-75 million kilogram since 2013 (ranging between 64 million and 90 million kilogram). This in effect means that at least 25 million kilogram, or one third of the crop, is bought and sold illegally in Pakistan, with no quality or price control.

It was also substantiated by the PTB chief in a Report as noted in the minutes of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination. “The Chairman, Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) informed the Sub-Committee that they receive demands for tobacco from the tobacco industry at the start of the year and announce it for the growers etc. He informed that the amount of tobacco produced in a year, if converted to cigarettes, accounts for only 60 per cent of the total cigarettes manufactured during the year while the remaining goes unaccounted for. This is usually purchased by market dealers from the open market for the illegal manufacturers. These dealers are not registered with PTB and, therefore, the data of tobacco which they purchase for the illegal manufacturers is not reconciled with the data of PTB”.

This black market leads to another compounding issue; taxation. With such a large black market, the under-declared purchases cannot be taxed at the provincial level by the relevant department. Not only is the government deprived of revenue, this under-declaration eventually compounds the matter of evaded Federal Excise Duties (FEDs). The tax evasion in the industry, which takes roots at the start of the supply chain, is estimated to be Rs35 billion a year.

Farmers are in dire need of support from the government to ensure the protection of their rights under the law and to improve their economic conditions by creating sustainable international market linkages for their produce. For the promotion of exports, the PTB needs to put in place adequate control to ensure that the recommended varieties of tobacco are grown, and the banned crop protection agents are not used in order to be compliant with international obligations including those set by the United Nations Global Compact, the Montreal Agreement and the Stockholm Convention. Farming methods based on new technologies should also be used to improve yields and, in effect, incomes.

The issues faced by tobacco farmers are often overlooked in the agricultural landscape of the country, despite being concentrated in the KP stronghold. The crop has the potential to not only create revenue for the government through taxation, but also boost exports. The government should look to revisit the dated laws from the 1960s that basically allow the black market to flourish. It should also enforce existing laws to ensure good quality crop is produced at the right price and the farmers earn their fair share of the income.

AGRICULTURE is a commercial proposition taking care of many a livelihood. Every farmer adopts a cropping pattern where his comparative gains are higher. However, it is the middleman who has a complete stranglehold over the farmer as the former controls the payments for what the latter produces. Successive governments have failed to change the prevailing system. For decades, farmers in Pakistan have had little or no say in choosing markets or buyers for selling their produce. The government mandates marketing and selling of farm produce of essential crops only through state-owned institutions on minimum support price as announced by the government for each crop. In order to avoid delay in receiving payment by the government departments, the farmers prefer to sell their produce to the middleman or to local buyers.

“We have our own aarhtis – as the middlemen are called locally – since the time of our forefathers. We sell all our produce, primarily wheat, to them. In return, they take care of all our needs and demands in cash or kind. We do not have to face any problem in case of any tragic or happy happening in the family as the aarhtis have to meet all our demands,” said Mohsin Ali, 55, a farmer in village Jagiot, in the outskirts of Islamabad. Explaining the challenges involved in direct payment, Mohsin Ali says a majority of the farmers would not understand the basics of the system, and the government in any case cannot provide the services provided by an aarhti.

In Pakistan, farmers do not sell their produce in the open market. The middlemen purchase their produce by paying a little higher price than the prevailing price — in books alone — and fulfil farmers’ productive and non-productive needs. Middlemen continue to act as the custodian of the produce and sale proceeds because all procurement happens through them and the payment from procurement agencies reaches the farmer through them as well. This indirect system of payment puts the cash in the hands of the middlemen, which they leverage to exploit the farmers.

Giving the middlemen complete hold over farmers is actually a parallel business of money-lending. Between sowing and harvesting, any time farmers need money, the middlemen are happy to provide a loan at a high rate, which would be higher if it is for a wedding. After the harvest, the middlemen first deduct the debt and/or interest, if any, from the payment due for the produce. As the input costs of farmers increase and relative returns diminish, they often find themselves in need of loans. Here again, the middlemen are their saviours. Besides high interest, the farmers are also made to hand over blank signed cheques to the middlemen so that they could recover their loaned amount as and when a cheque is deposited in the bank.

Marketing is the weakest link in the agriculture chain, creating more and more space for the middlemen who overrule both the growers and the consumers.

“Eliminating the middlemen would enable the growers to get 35-40 per cent higher returns. The only constraint is that the local demand is limited,” says Raja Basharat, a farmer-cum-builder in village Barma in the vicinity of Islamabad.

In such a situation, it seems that setting up of private agricultural markets has become inevitable where farmers could sell their produce then and there without the influence of the middlemen. The setting up of modern private agriculture markets would facilitate proper grading, processing, packaging and marketing of quality produce. Provision of cold chains would also facilitate access to high-end domestic and international markets of perishable farm commodities. The presence of competitive private markets will have healthy effect on the existing markets in terms of prices offered and facilities provided.

The farmers do need protection. They have to face a raw deal amid market fluctuations. Every now and then, cotton does not fetch the expected price; the onion-growers have to shed tears as the prices slump, and the wheat producers feel cheated when they have to sell the commodity at below-market prices despite a bumper crop. It is common knowledge that the traders manipulate prices in connivance with officials of various procurement agencies when the farmers bring their produce to the markets. As a result, the middlemen make more profit than the growers. So it makes sense to strengthen the marketing mechanism to protect the farmers’ interests. The farmers too will have to make efforts. They can, for instance, form cooperatives and store their produce for deferred disposal.

Achieving economic sustainability is the biggest challenge for small and marginal farmers. Production and marketing of all products, industrial or agricultural, are interlinked issues. But this principle vis-a-vis agriculture has not been given due consideration and marketing of food grains has continued to be quite outdated. Marketing is considered to be the weakest link in the agriculture development chain, creating more and more space for the middlemen.

There is a need for reaching out to the farmers with a multi-disciplinary approach to develop agri-business information hubs to provide them with the latest information regarding the sale and purchase of agricultural produce.

Apart from providing information on agricultural marketing and agronomic practices, these centres may play a key role in improving the quality of agricultural produce by educating the farmers about the scientific approach to farming with the aim of making the farmers aware of the latest advances in the field and help them getting a competitive price for their produce besides providing the relevant information on agro-marketing, organic farming and improvement of crop quality.

These centres should have computers, television sets, libraries containing videos and literature on farm education for the benefit of the farmers besides guiding the farmers and organising regular training programmes, seminars, workshops, buyer-seller meetings, laboratories to test and grade farm produce, providing complete information on marketing, post-harvest management of crops and prevention from various diseases.

All in all, the move to set up centres to educate the farmers about various aspects of agricultural practices besides providing them much-needed information on marketing their produce will be a step in the right direction.