THE government has recently decided to restructure the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), which is an appreciable decision aimed at boosting research and agriculture production. It is a well-known fact that without research, no sector can develop, but for agricultural crops, livestock and fisheries production as well as forestry and forage development, research is critically important for both removing the obstacles and increasing overall production.

PARC is an apex organisation, equipped with highly qualified and trained research personnel, responsible for conducting due research for the development of all agriculture components. It is doing its best to cover all aspects of research, but owing to older practices, managerial problems, lack of coordination and lack of proper dissemination of research findings, the required impact is not seen in public.

Farmers do not get due benefits, resulting in low per-unit production with respect to crops, livestock and fisheries. Further, forestry and forage output is very low compared to production volumes in neighbouring countries. Due to these reasons, almost every day, there is an unwarranted increase in the price of food items, which creates problems for both producers and consumers. The main reasons of low production are decreasing land fertility, water scarcity and unavailability of high-quality seeds. Poor farming culture and practices, climatic stress, pests and diseases add to the woes.

In livestock and fisheries, the main problem is the cost of production, mainly the feeding component, which is more than 75 per cent of the total cost. Quality seeds resistant to drought, salinity and salt are not widely used, and the same is the case with multi-cutting fodder and fodder trees.

Australia has developed quality fodder seeds for rangelands. During drought, two seeds are grown; the lush green one is rich in protein, while the other provides roughage to fill the belly. During heavy rains, drought seeds are replaced by the other one for providing enough protein and roughage. Rangelands are developed and maintained in such a way that they fulfil the nutritional requirements of dairy as well as meat animals by about 60-70pc.

In the fisheries and marine sector, there is a lot of potential, but no development work has been carried out. Research is required to be conducted on available potential in Sindh and Balochistan, and developing culturing practices of shrimp lobster, crab and other marine fisheries. Further, the research and development component needs to be strengthened in the forest and forage sub-sector to increase forest area.

Undeveloped areas should be developed for increasing per-animal production of milk, meat, wool, hair and quality hide. Per-pond production of inland as well as marine fisheries can be developed through due restructuring and strengthening of research activities of PARC in coastal areas of the country.

Increasing the overall production of agriculture sector is in the interest of producers and consumers, and, indeed in the larger interest of the national economy.

Dr Baz Mohammad Junejo
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2026