Agricultural import bill can approach the fuel import bill.

(March 27-2023)The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Monday said the plight of the agricultural sector will never allow the economy to develop.

Inflation and poverty are continuously increasing due to collapsing agri sector, the food security situation is deteriorating and the import bill of agricultural inputs is increasing, it said.

The growth of this important sector has been 2.2 percent to 2.6 since the last fifteen years which is very low while during this period there has been a tremendous increase in the population and the demand for the industrial sector, said Brig. (retd) Aslam Khan, Chairman of PEW.

In a statement issued here today, he said that wheat, maize, cotton, sugarcane, and rice are the most cultivated crops which consume most of the water, labor and capital, but their production has increased by only 1.1% in the last two decades.

He noted that the role of elites is very important in the deterioration of this sector, while other problems include wrong policies of the government, climate change, lack of investment, substandard seeds, fake pesticides, expensive fertilizers, and non-availability of loans.

Apart from this, lack of research, primitive methods, and some other problems have also played their role, he added.

Aslam Khan said that due to these conditions, farmers are continuously suffering and their production is falling therefore the government has to import agricultural commodities and other items worth billions of dollars.

If policymakers continued to neglect this sector, its import bill may soon reach the same level as the fuel import bill, which Pakistan cannot afford to pay.

This will increase poverty and worsen the food security situation which is already far from satisfactory for years.

The biggest hurdle in the development of this sector are politicians and bureaucracy and this sector can be revived with the help of private investment.