PAKISTAN used to earn much of its foreign exchange through agriculture. The foreign trade largely depended on export of cotton, rice, sugarcane and wheat.

However, the country is not producing any surplus crops now for exports. As a matter of fact, countries not only depend on agriculture for food consumption of their people, but for national income and producing raw material for industry as well.

Despite modern technology and latest agriculture machinery, Pakistan faces numerous challenges in the agriculture sector. This has led to a decrease in exports of agricultural products.

One of the problems being faced by farmers across the country is their inability to buy latest equipment for greater production. The use of modern technology can certainly increase agricultural productivity.

One wonders why millions of dollars are spent on imported luxury cars, though our farmers can cultivate only 28 per cent of the total land in the country because of lack of modern technology and machinery for agriculture.

The strong demand for farm products has raised crops and livestock prices nationwide. Farmers are trying to double their efforts to increase their output. They are buying more land and equipment on heavy loans to take advantage of the rising prices of farm products.

Political parties such as the PPP and the PML (N) must put sincere efforts to help farmers live a prosperous life.

Economic problems the country is facing are also caused by the lack of attention in the field of agriculture. Experts believe that the economy is expected to be in deeper trouble if farmers and the agriculture sector continue facing problems.

SAHIRA NISARTurbat