How and to what extent this cooperation or common approach can be achieved is a big question to which a convincing reply must be sought.
For this purpose, an in-depth study may be conducted on the agricultural and livestock production in all the Saarc countries. The proposed study, inter-alia, may find out as to which of these countries enjoys a comparative advantage of producing which agricultural and livestock products.
It is a common knowledge that almost all the Saarc countries produce nearly all the important food and fibre commodities in varying volumes. Cereals (wheat, rice, barely, maize, millets and pulses) and vegetables (potato and onion), fruits, sugar-cane (sugar).
While tea production is mainly confined to India, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka, Jute cultivation is concentrated in India, Bangladesh and Nepal and that of cotton in Pakistan, India and to some extent in Sri Lanka.
An overview of the agricultural production thus, reveals that among the seven member countries of the Saarc, only India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka are of importance from the point of view of farm production.
Livestock: Livestock and its products are produced in varying degrees in all the Saarc countries, but as in the case of farm commodities, only India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka are the main producers of livestock and its products. Beside live animals (cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, chicken), the main products include raw wool, hides, skins and casings.
Suggestions: For achieving the objective greater cooperation the agri sector, it is proposed that a 4-member commission of experts - one each from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka, may be constituted at the forth-coming session to be held in Islamabad in January 2003.
The TOR of the commission, in the first instance, may include conducting of a production survey in the member countries to find out the exact production pattern of commodities and products produced, technologies used for the purpose, various inputs applied, costs and finally the cost-benefit ratio.
As a result of this survey, the countries which are found the best producers of certain commodities, may be called upon to assist the less-developed countries to produce specified commodities with equal advantage depending on their ecological and climatic conditions.
Alternatively, the best producers, having comparative advantage of production and producing in excess of their domestic requirements, may be persuaded to offer their surplus production for sale, in the first instance, to the needy Saarc countries in preference to non-Saarc countries.
In this way, a beginning may be made for creating a ‘regional agricultural cooperation” of the Saarc countries for the common interest and benefit to all the concerned. Once this is accomplished, further avenues may be sorted out for cooperation in other economic and social areas.