Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s renewed emphasis on strengthening agricultural research, ensuring the availability of quality seeds for small and medium‑scale farmers, and modernising crop estimation systems is a welcome recognition of the sector’s persistent weaknesses. Agriculture remains the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, yet farm productivity has stagnated due to structural inefficiencies, outdated practices, and policies that often serve vested interests rather than the needs of ordinary farmers.
Good intentions, however, will not suffice unless they are translated into coherent policy and implemented with consistency. Reforming agriculture requires more than directives; it demands a comprehensive overhaul of federal and provincial policies, markets, and institutions that shape what farmers produce, the costs they bear, and the returns they receive. Above all, agricultural policy must prioritise smallholders and medium‑scale farmers, who form the majority of the sector, rather than catering to powerful lobbies.
The sugar industry illustrates how policy has historically been skewed. Decisions on support prices, procurement, and exports have often been designed to protect mill owners, who wield considerable political influence. Cotton provides another example of systemic failure. Farmers rarely receive a fair share of the value generated by their crop, as middlemen and supply chain actors capture much of the margin. This imbalance has contributed to declining yields and discouraged investment in cotton cultivation.
Improving productivity alone will not resolve these issues if farmers remain trapped in inefficient markets and exploitative arrangements. A serious reform programme must address structural barriers. Smallholders need affordable access to bank credit, reliable inputs at fair prices, protection against adulterated pesticides and poor‑quality fertilisers, and certified seeds that are both high‑yielding and climate‑resilient. Extension services must be revitalised to ensure that modern farming techniques developed in research institutions reach the fields where they are most needed.
Market reform is equally critical. Farmers should be able to sell directly to efficient markets and buyers rather than relying on middlemen. Investments in storage, grading, transport, and digital market information can reduce the gap between consumer prices and farmer earnings. Transparent pricing mechanisms would further strengthen trust and efficiency. The proposed national crop estimation system is long overdue. Reliable data is essential for planning imports, exports, storage, and pricing. Yet such a system will only be effective if its estimates are credible and generated through modern technology.
The real challenge lies not in the prime minister’s intentions, which are sincere, but in the government’s ability to confront entrenched interests that benefit from the current system. Agricultural modernisation requires a holistic plan encompassing research, seeds, credit, inputs, extension, markets, water management, and value chains, with the smallholder at its centre. It also requires political will to reform policies that favour powerful groups at the expense of ordinary farmers. Without these reforms, no intervention will deliver the productivity gains that Pakistan’s farmers and economy urgently need.
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