ISLAMABAD: The country’s agriculture sector showed a combination of resilience and challenges across all its sub-sectors during 2024-25, and despite climatic challenges, recorded a mere growth of 0.56 per cent, primarily driven by a 4.72pc sustained growth in livestock, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-25 released on Monday.

All important crops declined by 13.49pc due to reduced cultivation area and adverse weather conditions, leading to a decline of 30.7pc in cotton, 8.9pc in wheat, 3.9pc in sugarcane, 15.4pc in maize, and 1.4pc in rice.

Important crops accounted for 17.82pc of the value added in the agriculture sector and contributed 4.19pc to the national GDP, while other crops contributed 13.88pc to agricultural value addition, and 3.27pc to GDP.

The growth trend emphasises the sector’s enduring importance, while also highlighting the urgent need for modernisation, climate adaptation, knowledge enhancement, and productivity improvements to sustain its contribution to economic growth and social well-being, the survey says.

Key crops decline by 13.49pc while livestock grows 4.7pc

Although the growth of 0.56pc is below the historical average, it is notable given the recently challenging climatic conditions. With livestock, the other two sub-sectors which recorded growth were 1.42pc expansion in the fisheries and 3.03pc growth in forestry.

Livestock remains the most dynamic and resilient sub-sector of Pakistan’s agriculture, integrated into rural livelihood. Engaging over eight million rural households, it contributes significantly (approximately 30-40pc) to their incomes. Livestock continues to dominate Pakistan’s agricultural landscape. Herd sizes grew moderately across major species. Cattle and buffalo populations reached 59.7m and 47.7m, respectively.

The crop sub-sector, which historically remained the principal growth driver, faced headwinds during fiscal year 2025. It registered a contraction of 6.82pc, largely due to the decline in important crops by 13.49pc and in cotton ginning by 19pc. Other crops, however, registered a positive growth of 4.78pc, which highlights potential for diversification.

The volatile performance of cotton crop highlighted the agriculture sector’s vulnerability to temperature fluctuations, varying rainfall, policy shifts and input availability. In the previous year, crop growth had been exceptionally strong at 10.85pc. This was followed by a decline of 1.17pc during fiscal year 2023, illustrating the cyclical nature of the sector and its inherent capacity to rebound when conditions are favourable.

In FY25, important crops accounted for 17.8pc of the value added in the agriculture sector and contributed 4.2pc to the national GDP. Meanwhile, other crops contributed 13.9pc to agricultural value addition and 3.3pc to GDP.

Sugarcane cultivation in Pakistan covered 1.19m hectares of land, depicting a 1.1pc increase from previous year. Despite a slight expansion in the area, sugarcane production registered a modest decline of 3.88pc, falling to 84.24m tonnes, primarily due to reduced rainfall and high temperature.

Moreover, area under rice cultivation expanded to 3.90m hectares, reflecting a growth of 7.2pc. Despite an increase in cultivated area, production volume experienced a marginal decline of 1.38pc, falling to 9.72m tonnes.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2025