Reviewing the quarterly goals of the Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is reported to have emphasised the need of taking new initiatives and attracting investors in the agro-based industries to make the best of the huge potential of this sector. Citing higher agriculture production in recent years, he said it was made possible by the increase in per acre yield, primarily because of success of the policies of the government. This enabling approach, he said, could bring a revolution in the lives of the people in the rural areas.
Regarding the prospects ahead, the Prime Minister sounded quite confident of attainment of the wheat target of 21.2 million tonnes. Similarly, the observations the Food and Agriculture Minister made on the occasion seem to have flowed from optimism about increased production, to varying degrees, in cotton, wheat, sunflower and rice, attributing this to the sector's positive response to the policies of the government.
Viewed in the perspective of hefty increases registered in the yield of crops, over the decades past, the situation now obtaining will appear to be not much at variance with the past under changing governments over too long a period.
Now that the Prime Minister has deemed it expedient to make a call for new initiatives, along with efforts aimed at attracting foreign investors to this sector in the country, it should leave little to doubt that there is a great deal more left to be desired to make the best of its tremendous potential that would meet the eye in focused attention on quantum jump in crop yield. It will be noted that this realisation, howsoever belated it may appear, can be traced to unsatisfactory results accruing from similarly motivated agriculture boosting plans.
It will be recalled that with unmistakable focus on enhanced production, attainment of targets had remained subject to increasing investment in its enabling factors, with farm credit assigned the lead role. Needless to point out, credit-driven pursuit of agricultural development has continued to fall short of fond expectations of the country's economic planners and managers. However, it goes without saying that the approach of increasing output, mostly at the cost of quality and stability in prices, has come to be regarded as the bane of the nation's economy.
Notwithstanding the vital role of a number of major crops in the country's industrial progress, the gains have yet to reflect in the lives of the people, particularly, in the rural areas.
All this put together, should adequately explain the grinding poverty plaguing the rural areas where the bulk of the country's fast multiplying population has remained concentrated. Were it not for the thoughtless plunge in industrial development soon after independence, state of the economy, as measured by the living standards of rural masses, would have been the envy of many a developing country.
For the utterly backward agriculture that Pakistan inherited, had tremendous growth potential, which could be gainfully harnessed in industrial pursuits in a planned manner, thereby proportionately distributing the fruits of economic development. This did not happen, simply because the early rulers, lured by the industrial achievements of the developed countries, virtually placed the cart before the horse in the race of economic development. Now that Shaukat Aziz has rightly emphasised the urgency of new initiatives for development of agro-based industries, it will certainly boil down to the need of making a beginning from the very beginning.
This is how it should be. For otherwise, we will be seen like sticking to an ostrich-like approach, that is fighting shy of opening the eyes to reality, hoping things would change on their own. It will, however, be noted that the new thrust that the Prime Minister has now outlined, has a great deal to do with the sane advice from the Asian Development Bank, as received in response to a reported request for assistance to increase agro-related exports.
However, according to a newspaper report, ADB, on its part, has stressed the need of focusing more attention, specifically, on fruits and vegetables, as they figure prominently among the exportable farm products of the country. Again, as this sector has remained largely neglected, its export potential could considerably expand through value-addition, by setting up small processing plants right inside the rural areas. Besides saving much of the fruits, vegetables and flowers that go to waste, the strategy will also prove instrumental in boosting agro-based exports, thereby helping reduction of poverty in a systematic manner too.
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