By S.M.Hassaan Bin Ghayas Agriculture is the largest sector in the Pakistan economy and accounts for 24% of gross domestic product (GDP). Government figures show that average growth in the sector during the past five years has been 4.6% per annum and, in 1998, a growth rate of 5.9% was a major contributor to the overall GDP growth rate of 5.4%. Approximately 70% of Pakistans foreign exchange earnings come from the sale of agricultural products (such as cotton, rice, fruits and vegetables etc) and this has stimulated demand for the provision of raw materials, equipment (mostly second hand) and services to agro-based industries, mainly in the cotton textile industry which is the largest industrial sub-sector in the country. The sector is also the largest source of employment and accounts for over 50% of Pakistans labor force - nearly 2 million new jobs have been added since 1995 of which 70% are estimated to be in rural areas. The present and previous Government from time to time has introduced a range of incentives to enable farmers to boost production and increase output by allowing Foreign Direct Investment in the agricultural sector. New targets have been set for different crops for the year 2000-2001 with special emphasis on cotton crop which is estimated at 9.7 million bales of cotton, 51. 6 million tonnes of sugarcane, 5.1 million tonnes of rice, 1.5 million tonnes of maize and 22 million tonnes of wheat during the said period. In the foreign trade, it is agriculture, which dominates through exports of raw commodities like rice, cotton and fruits, semi processed and processed products like cotton yarn, cloth, carpets and leather products. Of the total export earnings of Rs 387.2 billion in 1998 - 99, the earnings from export of rice and cotton alone amounted to Rs 26.3 billion or 7 percent of the total exports. Import of agricultural commodities contributes substantially to total Pakistan imports. The major agricultural import categories are edible oils and grains, pulses and tea. During 1998 - 99, the value of the former category is made up of about 73 percent palm oil and the remainder is mostly soybean oil. The latter category is made up of over 85 percent wheat imports. Together, these two import categories represents 13.5 percent of the total imports. However, expected wheat production targets (19.5 million tonnes) in FY 99 - 00 was surpassed and the country for the first time exported US $ 250 million worth wheat.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 18:34:43 +0000
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