April 4-5, 2013 Expo Centre, Johar Town, Lahore April 4-5, 2013 Expo Centre, Johar Town, Lahore A FTER the adoption of the 18th Amendment by the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, the agriculture sector became an almost exclusively provincial forte. The provinces should have been wise enough to have done some homework before negotiating the ownership of the sector. But, unfortunately, they did not. To make matters worse, they are refus- ing to be wise even after the event. It sounds especially true for Punjab, known as the food basket of the country by virtue of its 80 per cent contribution to the agricultural economy of the coun- try. The province is still to prepare a well-defined and time-bound policy for rul- ing the sector. There is no policy document, not even a paper or brief in the provincial possession. Some general attributions can be found on the websites of different depart- ments like Agriculture, Livestock, P&D etc. The entire policy, if it can be so called, is restricted to projects – either conceived by the bureaucracy or pre- pared by the lenders. Since they bring money (loans) and political mileage (sell- ing to the media), no one seems to be bothering about their effectiveness, or lack of it. Punjab needs to have a clear policy, broken into long- and short-term objec- tives and goals with committed financial and administrative resources, and backed by political will for implementation. Such a policy will certainly have dozens of contours that can be suggested and debated. But it would be better if the Punjab, somehow, is able to integrate the sector instead of breaking it into sub-sectors and then further dividing it to accommodate politicians. The province needs to realise that sheer spread of agriculture institutions is mind-boggling at this point of time; universities, research organisations, exten- sion wings, private businesses, commercial activity and industry – all of them have converted the sector into a policy diaspora. Without any central planning agent, no one knows what they are doing and how to achieve what. It needs to integrate all its agriculture-related efforts and bring them at one point – under one umbrella. That is the model that the world has adopted in the last few decades. Why cannot Punjab try it? It should create a central planning secretariat, which may take care of the entire agricultural spectrum, with all its sub-sectors – horticulture, irrigation, livestock, forestry, food and fisheries. All of them overlap grossly and create planning and practical confusion in the official circles and on the field. Currently, all of them are independent departments, headed by some jealously independent bureaucrats, who come from the most privileged district manage- ment group (DMG) of the central superior services (CSS). Under them, these departments have become independent fiefdoms. All of them have their inde- pendent budgets, planning wings and finance division, conceiving their own pro- jects and spending money – without consulting or knowing what others are doing. Each secretary has his own vision, working ethics and rules to run the depart- ment. Frequent transfers and postings at the top level, mostly for political rea- sons, ensure further confusion. It the last four years, the Agriculture Department has had six secretaries, while the Irrigation and Livestock departments had five each. With Continued on Page 14 By Ahmad Fraz Khan The province should create a central planning secretariat which may take care of the entire agricultural spectrum with all its sub-sectors that at present overlap grossly and create planning and practical confusion in official circles as well in the fields. Punjab must lead the front A FAST growing economy, a rising urban middle class, a predominant- ly young educated population and the changes in climatic conditions will have serious repercussions on food production, food security, nutritional status and cropping pattern in the not-so- distant future. Although economic growth rates have slowed down in the last five years, Pakistan’s long-term annual growth of per capita income has been around 2.5 per cent. It is estimated that in real terms, per capita income had quadrupled four times by 2003. If the growth rate reverts to the historical mean, an average Pakistani will be earning eight times higher in real times by 2031. At present, this may look like a Herculean task, but good governance, sound economic management and continu- ity and consistency in economic policies would make it happen. This general affluence will be accompa- nied by a rising middle class. The propor- tion of the middle class in 2010 is estimated to be one-third of the total population i.e. approximately 60 million. By 2030, Pakistan’s population would be around 260 million and if the current trend of urbanisa- tion and income growth persists, about 150 million people will fall in the middle income class category. Their incomes and living standard would be comparable to those in Southern European countries with average incomes of over $20,000 a year. This class will comprise mainly of profes- sionals, businessmen, public, private, NGO sector executives and services providers etc. More than 60 per cent of Pakistanis will be living in mega cities, metropolitan areas, large cities, towns and peri-urban localities by 2030. Urban population growth rate has been twice as fast as rural because of migra- tion. The pull factor of the cities largely due to better jobs and livelihood opportunities act as a magnet for the migrants to Karachi and Lahore. Other big cities by 2030 would be Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, Gujranwala, Peshawar and Quetta. By 2030, 67 per cent of the total popula- tion will fall in age group 15-64. As life expectancy rates and health standards improve and female literacy rates rise, the proportion of working population with both members of the family earning incomes will also show an upward incline. Urban Literacy Rate in 2011-12 was 74 per cent compared to 48 per cent in the rural areas. By 2030 not only the urban liter- acy rate would cross the 100 per cent mark, but the ratio of college and university grad- uates, skilled and technically qualified man- power and high-end professionals would be significantly large. These changes in incomes, location, demography, educational and nutritional status would exert a demand for foods very different from the existing pattern. The tastes and preferences of urban, educated middle class with higher income will gener- ate a shift in the food consumption basket away from cereals towards meat, poultry, dairy products, edible oil, fruits and vegeta- bles, sugar, fish, etc. On the supply side, the rate of increase in global food output has slowed down. Rates of investment in agriculture are lower, com- petition for water and land is becoming tough, the pace of new technology and inno- vation breakthroughs has slowed down, cost of production is rising due to high petrole- um prices and the subsidy policies of high income countries continue to create price distortions in world commodity markets. Projections show that real prices for food and the inputs for agricultural production will remain higher for the coming decade compared to the past decade. This implies that Pakistan will be better off if it plans to produce food items domestically by taking advantage of its irrigated land, low-cost labour and technological innovations. In Pakistan, the average growth rate of agricul- ture has decelerat- ed from 5.4 per cent in the 1980s to 3.2 per cent in 2000s. Any technological breakthrough of the Green Revolution type does not appear imminent in the immediate future and therefore this growth rate is unlikely to improve in the coming decade. There have also been perceptible changes in the compo- sition of national output and agricultural sector. Agriculture now accounts for only one- fifth of the national output and this share in all probability will slip downwards to 12-15 per cent by 2030. Surplus Agriculture labour force that is about 40 per cent presently will also move out and is expected to be absorbed in the fast-growing urban centres and burgeoning services sector. Educated labour force would not stay in agriculture unless new technologies or inno- vative practices requiring skilled manpower are introduced. Rough estimates put the labour force working in agriculture and agriculture-allied activities at 30 per cent of the total employed by 2030. Unless these constraints are removed, the domestic food supply situation does not look as promising as it did in the decades of 1980s and 1990s. Historical evidence, however suggests, that labour and land productivity gains can take care of the additional demand for food, provided all the inputs such as energy, irri- gation water etc. are available proportion- ately and input price hikes do not outstrip the output price increases. Productivity per unit of land and per unit of water in Pakistan relative to Indian Punjab is low and there is thus much scope for increasing productivity. Furthermore, the mix of agriculture out- put has to change from staple grains and cereals to high-value agricultural commodi- ties. Livestock and dairy products now account for more than 50 per cent of the agriculture value-added products, while 35 per cent originates from the major crops, 11 per cent from minor crops (lentils, fruits, vegetables etc.) and three per cent from fisheries and forests. By 2030, the contribution of Livestock, dairy sub-sector and minor crops will have to rise at the expense of grains and cereals. There are a host of sectoral reforms that have to be implemented in the next 20 years to achieve the postulated productivity gains and meet the changing demand pat- tern. The most important reform to make the agriculture sector efficient – remunerative for the farmers, competitive for the con- sumers and responsive to the changing demand pattern – has to be in the area of agriculture marketing. The present collusive marketing system where the petty officials of Agricultural Departments and the cartels of arhthis or middle men are causing havoc to both the consumers as well as the producers will Vision 2030 is vital By Ishrat Husain Educated labour force would not stay in agriculture unless new technologies or innovative practices requiring skilled manpower are introduced. Rough estimates put the labour force working in agriculture and agriculture-allied activities at 30 per cent of the total employed by 2030. Continued on Page 11
Transcript
April 4-5, 2013Expo Centre, Johar Town, Lahore
April 4-5, 2013Expo Centre, Johar Town, Lahore
A FTER the adoption of the 18th Amendment by the National Assemblyon April 8, 2010, the agriculture sector became an almost exclusivelyprovincial forte. The provinces should have been wise enough to havedone some homework before negotiating the ownership of the sector.But, unfortunately, they did not. To make matters worse, they are refus-
ing to be wise even after the event.It sounds especially true for Punjab, known as the food basket of the country
by virtue of its 80 per cent contribution to the agricultural economy of the coun-try. The province is still to prepare a well-defined and time-bound policy for rul-ing the sector. There is no policy document, not even a paper or brief in theprovincial possession.
Some general attributions can be found on the websites of different depart-ments like Agriculture, Livestock, P&D etc. The entire policy, if it can be socalled, is restricted to projects – either conceived by the bureaucracy or pre-pared by the lenders. Since they bring money (loans) and political mileage (sell-ing to the media), no one seems to be bothering about their effectiveness, or lackof it.
Punjab needs to have a clear policy, broken into long- and short-term objec-tives and goals with committed financial and administrative resources, andbacked by political will for implementation. Such a policy will certainly havedozens of contours that can be suggested and debated. But it would be better ifthe Punjab, somehow, is able to integrate the sector instead of breaking it intosub-sectors and then further dividing it to accommodate politicians.
The province needs to realise that sheer spread of agriculture institutions ismind-boggling at this point of time; universities, research organisations, exten-sion wings, private businesses, commercial activity and industry – all of themhave converted the sector into a policy diaspora.
Without any central planning agent, no one knows what they are doing andhow to achieve what.
It needs to integrate all its agriculture-related efforts and bring them at onepoint – under one umbrella. That is the model that the world has adopted in thelast few decades. Why cannot Punjab try it?
It should create a central planning secretariat, which may take care of theentire agricultural spectrum, with all its sub-sectors – horticulture, irrigation,livestock, forestry, food and fisheries. All of them overlap grossly and createplanning and practical confusion in the official circles and on the field.
Currently, all of them are independent departments, headed by some jealouslyindependent bureaucrats, who come from the most privileged district manage-ment group (DMG) of the central superior services (CSS). Under them, thesedepartments have become independent fiefdoms. All of them have their inde-pendent budgets, planning wings and finance division, conceiving their own pro-jects and spending money – without consulting or knowing what others aredoing.
Each secretary has his own vision, working ethics and rules to run the depart-ment. Frequent transfers and postings at the top level, mostly for political rea-
sons, ensure further confusion. It the last four years, the AgricultureDepartment has had six secretaries,
while the Irrigation and Livestockdepartments had five each. With
Continued on Page 14
By Ahmad Fraz Khan
The province should create a central planningsecretariat which may take care of the entireagricultural spectrum with all its sub-sectorsthat at present overlap grossly and createplanning and practical confusion in officialcircles as well in the fields.
Punjab mustlead the front
AFAST growing economy, a rising
urban middle class, a predominant-ly young educated population andthe changes in climatic conditionswill have serious repercussions on
food production, food security, nutritionalstatus and cropping pattern in the not-so-distant future. Although economic growthrates have slowed down in the last fiveyears, Pakistan’s long-term annual growthof per capita income has been around 2.5per cent. It is estimated that in real terms,per capita income had quadrupled fourtimes by 2003. If the growth rate reverts tothe historical mean, an average Pakistaniwill be earning eight times higher in realtimes by 2031. At present, this may looklike a Herculean task, but good governance,sound economic management and continu-ity and consistency in economic policieswould make it happen.
This general affluence will be accompa-nied by a rising middle class. The propor-tion of the middle class in 2010 is estimatedto be one-third of the total population i.e.approximately 60 million. By 2030,
Pakistan’s population would be around 260million and if the current trend of urbanisa-tion and income growth persists, about 150million people will fall in the middle incomeclass category. Their incomes and livingstandard would be comparable to those inSouthern European countries with averageincomes of over $20,000 a year.
This class will comprise mainly of profes-sionals, businessmen, public, private, NGOsector executives and services providersetc.
More than 60 per cent of Pakistanis willbe living in mega cities, metropolitan areas,large cities, towns and peri-urban localitiesby 2030. Urban population growth rate hasbeen twice as fast as rural because of migra-tion. The pull factor of the cities largely dueto better jobs and livelihood opportunitiesact as a magnet for the migrants to Karachiand Lahore. Other big cities by 2030 wouldbe Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan,
Hyderabad, Gujranwala, Peshawar andQuetta.
By 2030, 67 per cent of the total popula-tion will fall in age group 15-64. As lifeexpectancy rates and health standardsimprove and female literacy rates rise, theproportion of working population with bothmembers of the family earning incomes willalso show an upward incline.
Urban Literacy Rate in 2011-12 was 74per cent compared to 48 per cent in therural areas. By 2030 not only the urban liter-acy rate would cross the 100 per cent mark,but the ratio of college and university grad-uates, skilled and technically qualified man-power and high-end professionals would besignificantly large.
These changes in incomes, location,demography, educational and nutritionalstatus would exert a demand for foods verydifferent from the existing pattern. Thetastes and preferences of urban, educatedmiddle class with higher income will gener-ate a shift in the food consumption basketaway from cereals towards meat, poultry,dairy products, edible oil, fruits and vegeta-bles, sugar, fish, etc.
On the supply side, the rate of increase in
global food output has slowed down. Ratesof investment in agriculture are lower, com-petition for water and land is becomingtough, the pace of new technology and inno-vation breakthroughs has slowed down, costof production is rising due to high petrole-um prices and the subsidy policies of highincome countries continue to create pricedistortions in world commodity markets.
Projections show that real prices for foodand the inputs for agricultural productionwill remain higher for the coming decadecompared to the past decade. This impliesthat Pakistan will be better off if it plans toproduce food items domestically by takingadvantage of its irrigated land, low-costlabour and technological innovations.
In Pakistan, the averagegrowth rate of agricul-ture has decelerat-ed from 5.4 percent in the
1980s to 3.2 per cent in 2000s. Any technological breakthrough of the
Green Revolution type does not appearimminent in the immediate future andtherefore this growth rate is unlikely toimprove in the coming decade. There havealso been perceptible changes in the compo-sition of national output and agriculturalsector.
Agriculture now accounts for only one-fifth of the national output and this share inall probability will slip downwards to 12-15per cent by 2030. Surplus Agriculturelabour force that is about 40 per centpresently will also move out and is expectedto be absorbed in the fast-growing urbancentres and burgeoning services sector.
Educated labour force would not stay inagriculture unless new technologies or inno-vative practices requiring skilled manpowerare introduced. Rough estimates put thelabour force working in agriculture andagriculture-allied activities at 30 per cent ofthe total employed by 2030. Unless theseconstraints are removed, the domestic foodsupply situation does not look as promisingas it did in the decades of 1980s and 1990s.
Historical evidence, however suggests,that labour and land productivity gains cantake care of the additional demand for food,provided all the inputs such as energy, irri-gation water etc. are available proportion-ately and input price hikes do not outstripthe output price increases. Productivity perunit of land and per unit of water inPakistan relative to Indian Punjab is lowand there is thus much scope for increasingproductivity.
Furthermore, the mix of agriculture out-put has to change from staple grains andcereals to high-value agricultural commodi-ties. Livestock and dairy products nowaccount for more than 50 per cent of theagriculture value-added products, while 35per cent originates from the major crops, 11per cent from minor crops (lentils, fruits,vegetables etc.) and three per cent fromfisheries and forests.
By 2030, the contribution of Livestock,dairy sub-sector and minor crops will haveto rise at the expense of grains and cereals.There are a host of sectoral reforms thathave to be implemented in the next 20years to achieve the postulated productivitygains and meet the changing demand pat-tern.
The most important reform to make theagriculture sector efficient – remunerativefor the farmers, competitive for the con-sumers and responsive to the changingdemand pattern – has to be in the area ofagriculture marketing.
The present collusive marketing systemwhere the petty officials of AgriculturalDepartments and the cartels of arhthis ormiddle men are causing havoc to both theconsumers as well as the producers will
Vision 2030 is vitalBy Ishrat Husain
Educated labour force would not stay in agriculture unless new technologies or innovative practices requiring skilled manpowerare introduced. Rough estimates put the labour force working in agriculture and agriculture-allied activities at 30 per cent of the total employed by 2030.
Continued on Page 11
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 20132
P AKISTAN has yet to capi-talise on its rich agricul-ture base to claim a sharein the multi-billion marketof agro-based products.
The low level of value addition ofthe farm produce retards the trans-formation process in the rural econ-omy that slows down the pace ofgrowth and development.
The country’s positioning onranking chart of agriculture produc-tion is impressive. However, itstotal share in international trade ofless than 0.2 per cent, according torecent trade figures of the WorldTrade Organisation, points to thecountry’s failure to build on thecomparative natural advantage.
Pakistan is projected to be fourthbiggest cotton and mango producer,second biggest chickpea producer,third biggest milk producer, fifthbiggest sugarcane and date palmproducer, sixth biggest orange andapricot producer, seventh biggestonion producer, eighth biggestwheat producer and 17th biggestrice producer, according to the datacompiled by Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO). The currentcomparative data on the countriesranking in poultry, meat andleather production is not available.
There seems to be huge potentialin the country to make it big infood, juice, confectionary, gar-ments, footwear and range of otheragro-based product categories inter-nationally. The sad fact is that theaggressive global brandswith a wide range ofproducts have cap-tured even the grow-ing domestic mar-ket in several seg-ments. Whether itis cheese, butter,cereals, packagedjuices, frozen veg-etables, tinned fish,confectionary itemsetc., Pakistani consumersare deprived of viable optionsby the domestic industry.
Experts see it as a collective fail-ure of public and private sectors inthe country. “If the governmentfailed to put the right set of policiesto direct investment towards thesector of comparative advantage,the private sector can also not beabsolved of the responsibility. Thebusiness in the country seems to bedriven by some considerationsother than tapping on the natural
advantage of operating from thissoil,” said a leading light of the lastgovernment’s economic dreamteam in a private conversation sometime back, hinting at the rent-seek-ing behaviour of the trading class.
The senior government officialwas also implying the lack of entre-preneurship in Pakistani businesscommunity. “How else can youexplain wastages in the commoditysector? Why are we left behindwhen we have men and material tomake it happen? Big business withample resources like to play it safeunder the tutelage of the govern-ment or some multinational, whileothers who take interest are notresourceful enough in terms offinance and knowledge to go far,”he argued bitterly.
The business leaders defendedtheir class and held the governmentresponsible for the sorry situation.“I believe the business class hasmanaged business a lot better thanthe government has delivered gover-nance. I agree that there is a hugescope of business expansion in thiscountry. Had my community notbeen aware of the business potentialin Pakistan, we would have movedout for better returns,” a key busi-ness leader responded to the charge.
“Look at the challenges thatCorporate Pakistan faces.
The infrastructure isinsufficient and ineffi-
cient, there is noguarantee of securi-ty for life or proper-ty, and the govern-ment likes to vacil-late over every
issue under the sun.If the companies are
growing, reportingsparkling performances,
the businessmen of the coun-try can possibly not be stupid andinefficient,” he went on.
“Besides, it is factually incorrectto say that local companies are neg-ligent or naïve for not been beingable to appreciate the strength ofcommodity production advantagethat Pakistan enjoys. How can youforget Gul Ahmed, Nishat Group,Cresent, Al Karam, Orient,Lakhanis, Farooq etc in textiles thatdepend on cotton, and, not to forget,
Engro, Michelle’s, Dittu, Shan,Guard, Mughal, K&N, Fauji Cerealsetc. who depend on the agro sectorfor their raw material,” he added;his tone getting bitter by the second.
“Luckily we still have a lot moreto tap on. Yes, more conducive busi-
ness environment with consistentpolicies will allow the businessmento act more confidently and explorenew frontiers in commodity valueaddition,” he concluded his case indefence of his community.
When confronted, a senior retiredcivil servant currently working forWTO rubbished the businessman’sposition. “Nowhere in the world gov-ernments pamper their business com-munity the way it is done here inPakistan. They enjoy subsidies, taxbreaks and loan write-offs. Their lead-ers do global marketing on govern-ment expanse. The government nego-tiates trade treaties to let them enjoyadvantage in export markets. Howwell have they responded to preferen-tial treatment by the government?”he asked, and then answered withoutwaiting, “Very disappointingly.”
“It is embarrassing for the gov-ernment to even talk of the situa-tions it has to deal with while inter-acting with our trading partners.They dodge and they lie. Barringsome exceptions, they are not reput-
ed well in the global market. Askthem how much of their export mer-chandise is rejected by theirimporters. How efficient are they inthe disposal of rejected consign-ment lying at some port in theWest,” he blasted.
“If exports of the country are lowand trade share is dismal, it isbecause there are no high-valueexportable surpluses. We tend toadjudge success of businessmen bytheir lifestyle, when globally theyearn respect by competing on thestrength of quality and efficiency,”he said.
A leader of the farming communi-ty, when contacted for his take onthe issue, focussed more on theimpact of the situation on the farm-ing community that he believed hasnot been treated well in the countryby depriving them of their fairreward for the hard work.
“According to recent estimates,more than two-third of Pakistanisstill live in rural areas, of whichabout 68 per cent are engaged inagriculture, representing 40 percent of the total labour force. Theagriculture sector accounts forabout 22 per cent of the nationalGDP. Against all odds, the sectorhas delivered steady growth foralmost three decades. Still it fails to
get the attention it deserves inIslamabad,” a leader of the farmingcommunity of Sindh commentedwhen reached over the phone.
“The economic planning exercisein Pakistan is urban-centric. Youneed not be Einstein to discover
this. The 2012 growth strategy poli-cy paper of the last governmentholds testimony to that. I am alsonot ready to buy the argument ofnet capital transfer of wealth fromurban to rural sector over the lastfive years under the PPP rule. Yes,in 2009 and 2010 growers fetchedbetter prices, but the cost of inputsneeds to be factored in beforeassuming run-away profits. If it wasreally as good as projected, why it isnot visible,” he wondered.
“Both the government and theflourishing manufacturing class inPakistan neglected the agriculturesector. It is an irony – is it not? – thathalf of the horticulture produce iswasted and our children are fed onimported chips and juices,” a pro-gressive farmer of Punjab argued.
He also dismissed the impressionthat the agriculture produce inPakistan is not being processed.
“The rural economy of Pakistanhas been transforming at a naturalpace. Yes, it is too slow to match thefast-growing needs of the neglected
rural population, which is abouttwo-third of the total. Lack of policyinterventions by the governmentand the reluctance of the privatesector to invest in agro-based prod-ucts deprives the country of theopportunities to fully capitalise onthe resource base,” said aresearcher.
“All major crops in Pakistan –cotton, wheat, rice and sugarcane –enter the value chain before hittingthe retail or the international mar-ket. About cent per cent of thesecrops are processed. Textile, sugar,flour and rice mills take care of themajor crops,” he said.
Some other analysts found theapproach apologetic and defensive.The supportive facilities to reducewastages and produce high valuemarketable products are lacking inPakistan. Investors in the publicand the private sector can play theblame-game to their heart’s content.Nothing, however, will changeunless required investment is madewhere it is needed.
“Last year, Pakistani mangoeswere selling in Dubai markets forhalf the price of Indian mangoes.We must invest in storage, grading,proper transportation, packaging ofour precious production of fruitsand vegetables,” another expertcommented.
The research showed that theagriculture production can actuallybe doubled with the right set of poli-cies addressing problems faced bythe farming community. Also, theprogress so far has been despite thegovernment apathy and lack ofappropriate policy interventions.
The link between the extensionand research in the relevant fieldand actual practitioners has beenweak, if there was one at all. Thedevolution of the agriculture fromcentre to the provinces, thus far, hasonly added to the chaos in the field.
There are several dozen spe-cialised research outfits functioningin different parts of the country.However, in the absence of govern-ing guidelines, they seem to betotally rudderless.
Whatever little work has beendone on streamlining the agricul-ture value chain has been inspiredby the support of the developmentpartners such as the World Bankand ADB or funded by friendlycountries. US, Australia, UK andGermany are active through NGOsin the sector. ■
The writer is a member of staff.
By Afshan Subohi
The missing link?
OPPORTUNITY: Meat is one of the several products that are awaiting a chance to enter the value-addition chain.
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 3
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 20134
L IKE various sectors ofhuman life, agriculturebegan its journey as a low-technology pursuit. Pair ofoxen or mules, manually
crafted implements and amplehuman labour were the compo-nents that made agriculture workin fertile and semi-fertile territo-ries. With industrial revolution, thetechnology of agriculture was grad-ually mechanised. And mechanisa-tion depended upon the corre-sponding usage of energy in vari-ous forms and types. Apart fromvery under-developed locations onthe planet, most of the countrieshave a high utilisation of energyfor undertaking agricultural enter-prises of a diverse range.
In Pakistan, the introduction ofwhat was called a GreenRevolution, technologies caused avisible departure from primitivemanual applications to technologi-cally superior practices. Thus till-ing of land was done by tractors,animal and organic manure wasreplaced by chemical fertiliser,water supply was facilitated bycanal head works and later tube-wells, and harvesting was done bydifferent mechanical accessories.The transportation of raw materialand farm produce was managed byvehicles of various capacities. Acommon thread that joined all therevolutionary advancements wasenergy.
In Pakistan, energy productionand distribution is a critical issuein every sector of life, includingagriculture. No farm can nowattain its optimum productivitylevel until and unless a compatiblemagnitude of energy is supplied toperform various production relatedtasks. Yet much of the rural agri-cultural territories receive scantyelectricity supply, especially dur-ing the peak summer season.
Geographical disadvantages,constraints in accessibility of con-duit extensions, poor planning andallegedly politicised extension ofrural electrification schemes hasgradually affected the farm poten-tial of this country. Official viewby government organisations suchas Alternative EnergyDevelopment Board (AEDB),paints a very rosy picture. It isclaimed that over 85,000 villagesout of a total 125,000 have beenconnected to the national grid.Feedback form common rural
folks inform us otherwise. Whereas an ambitious National
Rural Electrification Plan was pre-pared and launched during therecent past, very little progress hasbeen noticed. Even the connectedvillages have many chronic issues
that remain unresolved despiteassurances given by ministers andtheir henchmen from time to time.
Some analysts argue that a rou-tine pattern is followed in respectto rural or village electrification.Locations of schemes are chosenby political favourites in the pre-vailing regime. Capital costs aresiphoned off the developmentfunds allocated either throughdepartmental outlay of the agencyconcerned or extracted from thediscretionary budgets of electedmembers of the assembly.
With great pomp and show, theelectricity is anchored in the tar-geted village. But soon, the operat-ing costs magnify and the mainte-nance problems overwhelm thearrangement. In some cases, errat-ic and unreliable supply becomesthe destiny of village dwellers orthe scheme comes to a grindinghalt, erasing the net benefits of theinvestment that was made in thesector. There is comparative dis-parity in respect to provinces also.
Mark W. Gellerson, an academicresearcher, in a study informed
that villages in Punjab have themost optimum economic internalrate of return (EIRR) related toinvestment in rural electrificationfollowed by Sindh, KhyberPakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.However, this obvious wisdom is
derived from the fact that theusual grids of 11KV from the distri-bution system are considered forthe purpose. The extraordinary dis-tances in Balochistan and undulat-ing topography in KhyberPakhtunkhwa demand an out-of-box approach to reach out to thevillages for agricultural and otheruses.
Many local and indigenous solu-tions to power woes have beenfound on self-help basis. A 100-kilo-watt Bayun micro hydel project wascompleted by Sarhad Rural SupportProgramme where local people con-tributed some funds and labour in2012. More than 4,000 people aredirectly benefiting from the enter-prise. Similarly, in the ultra-warmand desert terrain of Tharparkar,tube-wells have been sunk in identi-fied locations that function on solarenergy. Serious notice of such suc-cesses must be taken to learn anddisseminate the lessons for attain-ing a multiplier effect.
Pakistan is one of the largestproducers of milk. Hence, the num-ber of cattle heads available run
into the millions; over 29 million,to be precise. Enormous potentialremains to transform the readilyavailable cow-dung into biogas andutilise the full potential for multi-ple purposes.
Several initiatives have been
taken by semi-government andautonomous organisations such asthe Rural Support ProgrammesNetwork (RSPN). A domestic bio-gas programme was launched in2009 with some external support.Some initial successes were report-ed in this respect.
Construction of 70 biogas plantsin the first year, reaching out infour districts in Punjab and extend-ing awareness at a mass level inchosen locations are some men-tions. The country possesses anational and four provincial ruralsupport institutions. An integratedapproach can be devised to strate-gise and connect these vital initia-tives to harness the potential of aresource that is not only wastedcontinuously, but found causingenvironmental damage and healthhazard to millions of rural dwellers.
While the gas so produced canenergize agro enterprises in multi-ple ways, the sludge from the pro-duction operations can be readilyused as manure. Cultivation ofplants that can be utilised for pro-ducing bio-diesel is a proven alter-
native in many parts of the devel-oping world. The agriculturalwastelands, with suitable modifica-tions, can be made to grow seedsnecessary for bio-diesel produc-tion. Many laboratory scaleresearch studies have been done toexplore the possibilities of cultivat-ing cheap and fast-growing speciesthat can help utilise this usefulagro-based option of power genera-tion.
Pakistan has more than 100sugar mills located in various partsof the country. A usual waste gen-erated during the operation isbagasse, which can be used in pro-ducing electricity. All these sugarmills across the country utiliselocally-grown sugarcane. Aroundthe world, energy is produced byusing bagasse, a by-product in thesugar manufacturing process. Thispotential is presently utilised to avery limited extent. A useful pre-feasibility study by the Board ofInvestment, Punjab, informs usthat the total potential of electrici-ty generation from sugar mills is inthe range of 3000MW. The presentoutput is only 700MW. It needs arigorous follow-up to utilise thisenormous but dormant avenue ofpower generation.
From the standpointof consumption, elec-tric power is con-sumed in agricul-tural contexts infour main heads;domestic use, run-ning small andmedium scale vil-lage infrastructure,irrigation, and agro-industries.
Given the general povertylevel and socio-economic condi-tions, the consumption in dwellingunits is low, especially those locat-ed in remote terrains. There is apersistent need for using electrici-ty to run various types of pumpsand motors related to operationalroutines in farming. While somemachinery also uses diesel as afuel, it is generally an expensiveoption. Thus, for most of the staticinstallations, affordable electricityis the best choice. Irrigation sys-tems, especially tube-wells and
agro-industries, require proportion-al quantities of electricity.
The village society shall requirefew mobilisation and support ini-tiatives to make it a worthy con-sumer group and managers ofpower infrastructure. Our leadersand rural support organisationsneed to inform the agro-clientelethat subsidising energy is no longeran option. If a compatible tariffstructure is mutually worked out indifferent locations served by thenational grid, it can cause usefulchange. This small help shall lowerthe burden on distribution compa-nies and power generation enter-prises to a reasonable extent.
The option of becoming produc-ers of power should be explored atall the levels. AEDB will do well ifit evolves a cooperative packageenabling the village communities togenerate power by using availableraw material and opportunities.
Through extension of basic tech-nical knowledge and demonstra-tion support, various forms of alter-native and conventional technolo-gies could be made to work forlocal and regional advantage. Forexample, canals can be trans-formed by creating appropriate
potential difference to runturbines leading to pro-
duction of electricity.The promotion ofsmall and mediumscale agro-indus-tries and enterpris-es can be greatlyuseful in making
villages liveable forour rural people. Dairy related value
added units, carpet weav-ing, bee keeping, small work-
shops, feed mills, poultry units,storage and warehousing units,flower cultivation, rice husking,seri-culture and many types ofenterprises can experience growthand expansion if and when cheapand reliable energy supply ismobilised in our village contexts.Among other benefits, expectedrise in village prosperity shallbring a balance in respect to migra-tions towards cities. ■
The writer is a freelancer
Energising agricultureBy Dr Noman Ahmed
TENSION: The high-tension wires often end up causing more tension than what they are supposed to cause.
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 5
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 20136
T HE lifting of banon seafoodexports by theEuropean Union(EU) by initially
allowing two companieshas enlivened hopesamong other exporterswho will now strive tomeet the EU require-ment to resume theirshipments as well.
Akhlaq Enterprises andA.G. Fisheries at theKarachi Fish Harbourhave been re-listed toexport seafood toEuropean destinations.EU had imposed ban onPakistani seafood in April2007 for not meetinghygienic conditions.
Certainly the lifting ofban was not in sight thisyear in view of the AuditReport of Inspectionissued by the EuropeanCommission in whichPakistan’s name was notincluded for any visit bythe European Union offi-cials to the harbour andother installations.
The recent talksbetween Pakistan andEuropean Union officialson textile package underthe Generalized Systemof Preference (GSP)a p p a r e n t l yplayed a keyrole as theE Ual lowedseafoodimportsf r o mPakistanw i t h o u tany inspec-tion.
One of theowners, AkhlaqEnterprises’ Syed AkhlaqHussain Abidi, said theEU ban was actually aself-imposed ban by thegovernment of Pakistanunder whose request allthe 11 plants were de-list-ed by the EU as theauthorities here wereunable to satisfy them-selves about the condi-tions at the harbour.
He said that due tochanges in the leadershipat the Marine FisheriesDepartment (MFD), noproper actions were
taken and it was onlyafter the current manage-ment took over that aserious effort was madewhich finally producedpositive results.
He said the KarachiFish Harbour Authority(KFHA) seriously workedon boat modification withhuge subsidy andimproved fish-holdingconditions. Along withthe FishermenCooperative Society(FCS) they need to main-tain the harbour and theauction hall as well as thenearby surroundings inhygienic condition.
MFD, after taking sug-gestions from all theplants, carried out a chainof inspections of plantsand worked with them forremoving various defi-ciencies and improvedthe HCCP plans with thehelp of UNIDO experts,and selected two plantsinitially as they werefound the most compli-ant.
Two more plants are onthe verge of being select-ed and their cases havealso been forwarded to theEU, and they may soon get
the approval as well,said Akhlaq
Hussain, hop-ing that
m o r eplants cana p p l yand afterthey arefound to
be compli-ant, they
can also berecommended
for approval.However, both the EU
and the MFD shall bewatching constantly andcan suspend anyapproved plant if they arefound deficient enough tobe moved against. As thisyear’s audit programme isalready published, it isexpected that an EU dele-gation may includePakistan for audit andcheck in the year 2014.
Mohammad MoazamKhan, former DG of MFDwho currently heads theWWF, said that prior to
ban on seafood export toEurope in 2007, annualexport to these countrieswas estimated to be about$50 million which, ifaccounted for six years,may reach about $300million which is almostthe level of total exportfrom Pakistan. It was amajor setback for thefisheries industry.
There is no disagree-ment over the fact thatalthough marginal devel-opmental activities havebeen carried out mainlyby the Sindh governmentand to a lesser extent bythe Federal government,but there is a lot still to bedone.
The European Unionhas raised concerns thatfish and fisheries productsoriginating from otherfish harbours, includingIbarhim Hayderi, Pasniand Gwadar, had alwaysfound entry into theEuropean markets, but noattempts were ever madeby the government toimprove standards. Even
now, the infrastructureand laboratories estab-lished by the governmentare getting old and therewill be an immediateneed to improve them orelse it will again be apoint of contention in anyfuture inspection by theEuropean Union.
It may be recalled thatEuropean Commissionwas approached by thegovernment in August2009, with a report citingremoval of shortcomingsthat had been pointed outduring the 2007 inspec-tion. It took about fouryears for the EuropeanCommission to take adecision based on variousinformation provided bythe Marine FisheriesDepartment.
The former director-general said it was a pointof concern that a generallaxity prevails in the fish-eries sector as conditionsof auction and sale at theKarachi Fish Harbourremained extremelyunhygienic with fish and
shrimp still being auc-tioned on dirty floors. Themanagement of condi-tions at the landing cen-tres are seeminglybeyond the control of rel-evant authorities andthere is a fear that thenext visit of the inspec-tion team may not be aneasy task.
He said the visit of theInspection Mission for2013 did not includePakistani, but as a specialcase the EuropeanCommission took thedecision this year.
Law and order situa-tion in Karachi has beenthe main deterrent for avisit, and keeping in viewthe continuing slide onthat critical count, thereis a genuine concernamong the stakeholdersthat the visit may notmaterialise anytime soon.And whenever it doestake place, the conditionof the fisheries sector, asit stands today, may notbe an easy sailing for theauthorities.
Mr Khan said that theincrease in prices ofmajor seafood commodi-ties and unprecedentedlandings of cephalopod(squid and cuttlefish) arethe main reasons forincrease in export earn-ings. He claimed thatPakistani products arefinding their way in theEuropean marketsthrough third countrieseven though the practiceis in against EuropeanCommission regulations.It may be pointed outthat export may notremain at a high levelbecause of the presentglut in South East Asianmarkets and poor land-ings observed duringrecent months.
Another reason forincrease in earnings, MrKhan added, was exportof fish meal to Chinawhich is also consideredto have reached a plateau.Thus, any increase onaccount of fish mealexport is not expected.
He said seafood export
in future depends onincreased landings.Fisheries experts agreethat seafood productionwill further decrease inforthcoming yearsbecause of massive over-fishing. No major increasein seafood export is antici-pated by them.
Managing Director,Karachi Fish HarbourAuthority Abdul GhaniJokhio said there wereabout 13 EU observationspertaining to the trace-ability of catch and itslanding.
Ever since the EU ban,the KFHA, with the finan-cial assistance of Sindhgovernment, has madesignificant achievements.To facilitate fishermen,related fishing industryand other stakeholders tomeet increasingly com-petitive and ever-chang-ing business environ-ment, the Sindh govern-ment has taken initiativeto upgrade the harbouran ADP Scheme,Rehabilitation andRenovation of Harbour,at a cost of Rs556 million.
From 2007 to 2012,there was modification of539 large, small and Horaboats. This included fibreglass lining in fish-holdand on deck, hatch open-ing, provision of addi-tional hatch, protectionfrom oil and grease withfibre glass lining, instal-lation of awning, over-head tank and washbasin etc. All this wasdone to satisfy interna-tional standards.
Tindal and crew of boatswere trained for properhandling of marine food.Plastic fish crates, plasticbaskets, insulated plasticcontainers, stainless steelhydraulic hand pallettrucks, on-board flake iceplants, forklift trucks, andplastic pallets were provid-ed to facilitate landing andauction in the market halls.Besides, auction halls K-Iand K-II were renovated.
In the meantime,seafood exportersexplored more markets toboost business.
Mr Jokhio said that thelifting of ban was a resultof joint efforts off all
stakeholders, particularlyKFHA, Sindh govern-ment and MFD which notonly convinced all theactors involved in thefisheries sector to bringthe catch up to therequired standards, butthey worked hard todevelop a sense of safefood for all.
“Opening of seafoodexport to the EU certainlyis a major breakthroughwhich will increaseexports and stabilise thenational economy, but inmy opinion clearance ofEU is a trust over ourseafood and its value forour people,” he said.
“The KFHA is alsoworking on modern lineswith professionalapproach and in the nearfuture there will be signif-icant development at theharbour that I am confi-dent would be ISO certi-fied,” he said.
Focussing on the latestdevelopment at global,regional and local levelsin the fishing industries,KFHA has revitalised itsworking strategy basedon fisheries management,quality development andsafe food. To achieve thegoal, a Master Plan of theharbour had been pre-pared under which majordevelopment would takeplace.
New auction halls K-III,K-IV and K-V will be builtas per international stan-dards. Computerisation ofharbour management sys-tem is already in progressand CCTV cameras havebeen installed for surveil-lance. Four flake iceplants and Saw Mill havebeen established, whilethe weigh bridge is underconstruction.
The Master Plan will betaken up in phases withan overall cost of Rs1.5billion, and would involvereverse osmosis plant,fire-fighting system, fibreglass boat manufacturingplant, peeling-cum-pro-cessing plants, concreteroad network, KFHAhead office building, sew-erage treatment plant,new jetty/channel, oil dis-pensing station, and anew slipway. ■
By Aamir Shafaat Khan
A DAY AT THE FISHERIES: Even a quick glance is enough to make people realise why certain countries arereluctant to import seafood from Pakistan.
What a catch!
I N the last decade,the poultry sectorhas come of age.From largely a small-time domestic activi-
ty, it has grown into aworld-class industry. Asthings stand today,Pakistan’s poultry sectorcan compete with themost advanced countries
around the globe in all itscrucial aspects: technolo-gy, genetics and prac-tices.
The sheer statisticsdefine the extent andscale of the success story.Annual chick productioncapacity has touched onebillion birds, which meets40 per cent of nationalprotein requirements.The egg production has
crept closer to nine bil-lion per annum. Theshare of poultry has risento a quarter of nationalmeat consumption. Withtotal investment toppingRs300 billion, its annualturnover averagesaround Rs40 billion withan employment of 1.5million people.
Any industry can prideitself with such over-
whelming figures and thepoultry industry rightlydoes so, especially giventhe short span (less than adecade) of growth. Itstransformation from acottage industry to highlymechanised concern canbe divided into two parts.
During the first part, itgrew phenomenallybecause of technologyand massive investment.During the second, itbecame cartelised as bighouses went into allstreams of business,monopolised it and, resul-tantly, the poultry pricesmultiplied.
The bird flu attack in2004-05 put the industryon the path to change.The attack literally deci-mated what was thenknown as a poor man’sbusiness. At that point oftime, it was spread farand wide in the country,with farmers rangingfrom very small to medi-um. There were very fewof those who could claimor be described as big orsubstantial farmers.
The bird flu killed mil-lions of birds and thefarmers had to cull mil-lions more to save therest of the flock. Most ofthe farmers could notreplenish their stocks asit needed massive invest-ment and risk as the birdflu threatened to kill thestock repeatedly. Tomake it all even worse,rumours had it that theflu can jump to humansand kill them too. Withpeople stopping to con-sume chicken, the sectorlost its business anddietary rationale.
To its credit, the indus-try took it as an opportu-nity and found a solutionin the controlled shedsthat separated chicksfrom the seasonal carri-ers (migratory birds) ofthe disease.
The entire industrymoved into these shedsliterally within months.However, with theinduction of sheds asbasic requirement of thebusiness, it became high-ly capital-intensive –throwing out those smallfarmers, very few innumbers, who had man-aged to survive bird flulosses. With industryconfined to expensivecontrolled sheds, farm-ers needed millions ofrupees to set them up.The sheds assumed piv-otal business role asflocks would not survive
outside them.This trend drove even
the mid-level farmers outof the race, with theentire business startedconcentrating into a fewwealthy hands. Theentire range of the busi-ness – poultry feed,grandparent stock, par-ent stock, day-old chick,broiler chicken, and eggs– went into a few hands.The figures, given by theindustry to theCompetition Commissionof Pakistan, showed20,000 broiler and 6,000layer farmers, 150 hatch-eries and 141 feed com-
panies operating in thecountry in 2008. The CCPalso found that over 60per cent of the marketshare was held by a fewbig houses, which wereinvolved in the entirerange of the business.These big houses not onlyowned major share of thebusiness, but colluded tomanipulate the marketand enhance their prof-its.
The trend led to veryloud accusations ofcartelisation, whichbecame loud enough todraw the CCP into inves-tigation. It found a mea-
sure of truth in the accu-sations and slapped theindustry with a fine ofRs50 million in 2009.
The industry not onlyconcentrated in a fewhands, but in a certainregion as well: generally,it was Punjab and thecity of Lahore. The majorconcentration of businesswas within the 30-mileradius of Lahore. It wasalso a result of the wors-ening law and order situ-ation that had bedevilledKarachi for the last manyyears. This major busi-ness activity aroundLahore has its own cost; itkeeps market suppressedin and around the cityand high in other parts ofthe country as freight
Continued on Page 9
By A. F. Khan The poultry potential
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 7
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 20138
T HE poor livestock sectorhas been a saving grace forpoliticians and technocrats.They have traditionallybeen making high claims
about it – up to four per cent, andsometimes beyond – mostly to covertheir failures in agriculture and itsother sub-sectors. All these highclaims ultimately culminated intothe formation of an independentfederal ministry for livestock anddiary development before every-thing agricultural was devolved inthe wake of the 18th Amendment in2010.
However, at times, these claimshave often failed the reality checkfor two reasons; firstly, they varytoo wildly to be believed by thecommon man and, secondly, almostall of them are belied by the marketand agriculture realities in thecountry.
According to various official esti-mates, livestock animal populationvaries from 50 million to 66 millionanimals in the country. The sheerdifference of 16 million animalsbetween the two ends of the esti-mate is a cause of concern, evendoubt, for independent analysts. Asfar as Pakistan’s world ranking onmilk production is concerned, vari-ous official documents differbetween third to sixth positions.The actual milk production figuresare even erratic; varying from 35 to46 billion litres per year.
The market realities, however,contradict them all. Had Pakistanbeen having that kind of high milkproduction (even 35 billion litters),the country, with a population of180 million must have a per capitaavailability of little less than 200litres per person. That hardly seemsto be the case given the everincreasing milk prices – bothprocessed and open. Beef and mut-ton prices have also gone the sameway, multiplying even faster thanthose of milk.
The critics’ scepticism aboutclaims of more than four per centgrowth is based on ground realities.They wonder why there has been nocorresponding expansion in acreageof fodder to feed this additionalpopulation of animals. The currentfodder acreage in Punjab, whichhas almost been constant over thelast many years, belies such asser-tion. These 65 million cattle and
buffalos, leave alone other animalslike goat, sheep and camels, needjust less than 1.1 million acres offodder if six-animals-to-one-acreratio is taken as the benchmark. Ifnumbers of horses, mules andassess are added, the total popula-tion touches a staggering figure of170 million – as much as the humanpopulation of the country.
The Punjab, which hosts majorityof this population, traditionallysows fodder only on 4-4.5 millionacres. There has been no increase inthe acreage during the last fewyears. Where does the additionalfodder come from? No one knows.
Instead of making tall, and appar-ently false, claims, Pakistan — nowthe provinces after the 18th
Amendment – need to get the prior-ities and the figures right. A coun-try like the USA has 9.5 million ani-mal populations. It actually broughtits population down from 25 millionanimals, but took the milk produc-tion from 3,000 litters to 13,000 lit-ters per animal per year. Pakistanneeds to go the same way; cut theanimal population and increase pro-ductivity.
Almost all livestock expertsbelieve that Pakistan has the poten-tial to quickly multiply milk produc-tion and its products. According tothem, two-pronged national, includ-ing provincial, strategy must beginwith culling the bad stock anddeveloping elite breeds. Getting ridof bad breeds is equally important.
If the entire animal population
(supposing it is 66 million) is divid-ed into three categories, it wouldroughly have 22 million better ani-mals, 22 million average and 22 mil-lion poor. If it is able to get rid ofthe 22 million animals of bad stockand export meat, it would not onlyget billion of dollars in foreignexchange, but also spare preciousfodder for the rest of the animals.Each of these 22 million animalswould roughly yield 200 kilo-gramme of meat, which now sells at$15 per kilogramme. So, it wouldnot only bring the money in, butalso spare 22 million maunds offodder and 66 million litreof water a day for thebetter breed.
Of the remaining44 million animals,it needs to developa mechanism ofgenetic analysisand traceability. Infact, the Universityof Veterinary andAnimal Sciences(UVAS), Lahore, hasalready developed and execut-ed such a system on its own farms.There, they keep complete record–pedigree, genetic analysis – of eachanimal and sifting the elite breedfrom the rest. Each animal has anindividual identity and record. Thesystem needs to be expanded slowlyto cover other districts, divisions,provinces and the country.
Fortunately, the country is theproud host of two precious breeds –
Neeli Ravi (buffalo) and Sahiwal(cow) – that can be compared withany animal in the world. TheAustralians took these breeds fromPakistan, developed them and arenow one of the leading countriesexporting milk and its products.Currently, these breeds hardly formtwo to three per cent of the popula-tion. An effort must be made toslowly increase their population.The increase should be a target-ori-ented effort – increasing from threeto 10 per cent in the next five years,and to 50 per cent over the next
decade. The experts believe thatlivestock development
is 70 per cent a mat-ter of nutrition and30 per cent of dis-eases and animalhusbandry. Punjabis falling behind onnutrition more than
anything else.Some 71 per cent of
livestock farmers areeither landless (38 per
cent) or own less than five acres(33 per cent) of land. Practicallyspeaking, it means that over 70 percent of animals are mal- or under-nourished – mainly depending oncasual grazing, affecting their healthand productivity. Only 30 per centstock affords the luxury of silage-based diet. Couple this diet patternwith impure parentage, and poorperformance of these animals is nothard to understand.
Once the government is able toselect good breeds and ensure bal-anced diet, the rest would only be amatter of procedural animal hus-bandry – more of farmers’ aware-ness. The livestock productivity, asexperts put it, is a matter of four fac-tors – breeding, nutrition, health andanimal husbandry. Punjab, unfortu-nately, has been falling short on allfour accounts and is yet to developany guide to get out of this mess.
As far as breeding is concerned,the official services only cover sevenper cent of buffalo and 26 per centcattle. The rest of the animalsdepend on private bulls, of unknownparentage, for reproduction – pollut-ing genetic line and severely ham-pering health and productivity oftwo main milk-yielding animals. Dueto paucity of bulls, the inseminationcycle of buffalos and cows inPakistan routinely spans four to fiveyears against 15 to 18 months in thedeveloped world, bringing produc-tion down correspondingly.
The health front also leaves muchto be desired. Only 16 per cent ofthe stock is vaccinated and the restremains on curative regime. Theofficial agencies have turned plan-ning of the developed world on itshead, and executing it with a spirit-ed fervour. The critics think it isdue to corruption in the system asthe officials do it with completeimpunity.
All over the world, the public sec-tor concentrates on vaccination,leaving cure to the private sector.
But, here, the entire official effort isriveted on cure because it involveshuge purchases that benefit many.That is why the official agencies,with their entire wherewithal, havenot been able to control old diseaseslike foot-and-mouth, as vaccinationis not a priority. In Punjab, each dis-trict gets around Rs5 million annu-ally for purchasing medicines.
The less one says about hus-bandry management, the better itwould be. The farmers neither havetraining nor awareness nor exten-sion services nor technology. Onesimple fact reveals the official atti-tude towards management. Expertsbelieve that, as practised globally,the animals must have access towater 24 hours and be fed thrice aday. With this one step, the milkyield, they say, could go up by onelitre. In Pakistan’s rural areas, theopposite is true: most of the animalshave access to feed 24 hours, butwater is made available once a day.With these kinds of extension ser-vices, no wonder productivityresults are as bad as they are.
The profitability factor in the sec-tor is even worse for the farmers.All the above-mentioned factorsensure that productivity remains aslow as being on the bottom of worldranking. In Pakistan, yearly lacta-tion of an animal is 1,200 littersagainst 9,500 litters in the Europeor Australia.
Out of 35 billion litters, only threeper cent is processed, with 70 percent sold through the middleman.The middleman sale only adds tofarmers’ poverty. In Punjab, thecost of production, at current pricefactor, is around Rs18 per litre. Inmost of the rural Punjab, the saleprice is around the same figure. Ittouches Rs40 in suburban cityareas. In the cities, however, thesale price is over Rs60 per litre.
The situation is even worse in theprocessing industry which purchas-es milk at Rs24 and sells it aroundRs65 in the cities. The profit margindoubles up given the fact that itsells milk with 3.5 per cent of fats,and purchases at six per cent – cre-ating almost two litters out of one orselling milk cream separately. Thepoor quality of processed milk hasbeen a source of loud noises by con-sumer rights bodies, and even legalwrangling.
Since there are no linkagesbetween the producers and the con-sumers, the space for exploitationfor the middlemen and processors ishuge, and is exploited to the fullestextent. All these factors – cal it chal-lenges – are waiting for an officialresponse, but none has been in sightfor long. ■
The writer is a member of staff
Milking the consumers?
W ITH 63 millioncows and buf-faloes, Pakistanhas one of theworld’s largest
milch herds. It stands as thefifth largest country in milkproduction globally, yet only2,500 litres per animal perannum is obtained as com-pared to a minimum of 18,000litres per animal per annum inthe developed countries.
While most of the countriesare striving to improve theirlivestock genetically, produceveterinary medicines to keepthe animals free of disease,and opting for nutrient fodderto make them healthy,Pakistan, to a great extent, hasleft its farmers to fend for
themselves over the decades.By acquiring modern tech-
niques and improving overallmilk yield by minimum 15 percent, ex-CEO of NestlePakistan Ian Donald believes,the country has the potential tosurpass New Zealand’s milkproduction and turn into thelargest exporter of milk in theworld. But, at present, despiteits huge potential, the coun-try’s milk production is not suf-ficient even to meet its ownneeds.
Livestock is the single mostimportant sub-sector of agricul-ture which contributes 11 percent to the country’s GDP and39 per cent towards agricul-ture, providing livelihood toaround 5.5 million rural fami-
lies. A source of quality foodlike milk and meat and value-added products such as leathergarments and hand-knittedwoollen carpets, it earns hand-some foreign exchange for thecountry.
The famous dairy buffaloes,including Ravi-Neeli, con-tribute more than 68 per centof the total milk producedannually. The rest comes main-ly from its indigenous cattlethat include the Sahiwal, RedSindhi and Tharparker breeds.The country produces over 42million litres of milk annually.
Many dairy farmers in thepast made the crucial mistake
of importing cows that yieldedmassive quantities of milk perlactation without taking intoconsideration whether the cli-matic condition of Pakistanwould suit these breeds or not.Consequently, the farmers suf-fered enormous losses both incash and kind.
Over 90 per cent of the con-ventional farmers of the coun-try have an average herd of 3-5animals. If assessed on thebasis of their labour andexpenses, they, in most cases,are in a loss, said a farmer inSindh. These farmers are poorand cannot afford to buy newanimals available at an aver-
age price ranging betweenRs150,000 and Rs200,000. Theycan neither provide safe shel-ter to their herds nor qualityfodder throughout the yearbecause most of them have 3-5acres which are used mostly forgrowing crops and a little of itfor fodder, he added.
The cost of production of aconventional farmer with aherd of 3-4 animals is morethan the output, and if he doesnot get the required profit, hedefinitely would quit, leavingthe field open to largeinvestors. The output of large
Continued on Page 16
By Ahmad Khan
By Mohammad Omair Saqib
AGAINST THE TIDE: Freestyle grazing has long been given up by the developed world. In Pakistan it continues with serious consequences.
BURDEN: Only modernisation can save her soul.
The dairy bandwagon
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 9
G ROWERS, exporters andtraders expect bettercrops of onion, potato,tomato, mango and otheritems this year besides
hoping for good export earnings.However, consumers are unlikelyto benefit from improved produc-tivity as retailers, as in the past,will take away most of the benefitsby charging almost double theprice in various markets.
The government has not paidattention to the absence of anyeffective price-checking mecha-nism, and retailers continue tofleece the consumers without anyfear of being penalised for over-charging.
Mohammad Ishaq Hashim, aleading Chaunsa and Dasehrimango grower in Rahim Yar Khan,said that so far there are brightprospects of the mango crop in2013 compared to 2012 due totimely rains which have provedbeneficial.
However, he said, input cost hasincreased by 30-35 per cent thisyear due to increase in labour cost,transportation charges, fertiliserand agro-chemical prices whoseimpact will be felt in the end-of-the-line prices.
He said that last year mangoprices from the growing areas wasjust Rs30 per kg, but this year it isbound to go up to Rs40 per kg. Onecan imagine the retail prices to becharged by the market forces dur-ing the forthcoming mango season.
A potato-grower in Punjab alsoexpected a bumper crop this year,but claimed that prices are low thisyear and it is being sold below theproduction cost. There is a capacityto export 300,000-400,000 tons ofpotato, and around 100,000 tonshad already been shipped tillFebruary.
Haji Shahjehan, President of theFalahi Anjuman WholesaleMarket, New Sabzi Mandi at SuperHighway, said Pakistan being anagro-based country does not haveany strong policy or planning, andevery year the country faces crisisin some commodities, especiallywheat and flour prices, despite abumper wheat crop.
At times, consumers pay Rs80-100 per kg for tomato and some-times its price drop to Rs10-30 perkg. Onion price varies as some-times it sells at Rs40-60 per kg,while it was also seen selling atRs20-30 per kg. Instability in pricesshow lack of any price-checkingpolicy based on demand and sup-ply situation of various crops.
He said Pakistan was a producerof various fruits and the countryenjoys an edge over other coun-tries, but import of various fruitsand even some vegetables is thriv-ing which is hurting the local grow-ers.
He said bumper potato crop hasstarted arriving in the markets andits wholesale rate hovers betweenRs10-12 per kg. At least Rs5-6 per kgis included in the wholesale price in
terms of transportation chargesfrom Punjab producing areas toKarachi and packaging cost.
Keeping aside the transportationand packaging charges, one canassume the low profit and losses tothe potato-growers as they alsospend on purchasing fertiliser,seeds, pest control sprays for cropprotection etc.
Shahjehan said that the govern-ment should announce some kindof invoice subsidy as introduced inBangladesh, or 50 per cent dis-count on freight charges, so thatthe growers could get good prices.He said that due to rising powerrates, cold storage owners havealso started demanding high stor-age charges at Rs400-450 per bagof potato which was Rs300 per baglast year. Locally produced pota-toes enjoy high demand in coun-tries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia andthe UAE.
He expected potato productionof 1.2 to 1.4 million tons whilecountry’s requirement hoversbetween one to 1.1 million tons.
He said that there will be noproblem in the supply of onion andtomato this year, but the govern-ment should impose a ban on theimport of onion and green chillyfrom India.
Waheed Ahmed, Chairman, All-Pakistan Fruit Vegetable Importer,Exporter and MerchantsAssociation, said the rising trendcould be predicted according to cur-rent pace in overall exports of thefruits and vegetables in 2012-13.
He said the Association madefruitful efforts to regarding Kinnowexports and the fruit was now arriv-ing in foreign destinations with 100per cent composure in terms ofcolour, taste, maturity, and aromawhich has been appreciated andrecognised by importers/buyersand end-users. In the process, good
prices were ensured compared to2011-12. Previously, exporters usedto start export from earlyNovember which badly influencedthe export market due to immaturearrival of Kinnow with bitter tasteand less colour.
Onion export in the current fis-cal year was 175,000 tons up toFebruary 2013 and the futureprospects are quite rosy. However,compared to 2011-12, Pakistanimported large volumes of onion,he said, adding that theexport of both Kinnowand onion was hit bystrike that wascalled by goodstransporters dur-ing the core sea-son.
Waheed said thepotato season hadjust started withgood crop prospectsand there might be centper cent rise in exports com-pared to the 2011-12 season inmajor target markets like Russia,CIS Region, Far East and Gulfcountries.
In 2012, apple crop productionwas bumper in Pakistan, with 1.1million tons, but the growers hadfaced less return on investment(ROI) and, unfortunately, Iranianapple had been finding way intoPakistan for the last two monthsand giving tough competition tothe locally-produced variety.
Consumers had already tastedAmerican, New Zealand, Chinese,South African and Australianapples in 2012 at prices rangingbetween Rs240 and 400 per kg.
Vendors in different areas arecharging between Rs120 andRs160 per kg for the Iranian‘Golden’ apple, depending on theirsizes, while it was available atRs50-60 per kg in the wholesale
market. In contrast, the locally-pro-duced apple, especially ‘Kulu’,sells at Rs60-80 per kg in retail,while the retailers demand Rs100-140 per kg for the locally-producedred ‘Golden’ variety.
Around 20-25 big trawlers carry-ing Iranian apple are arriving inKarachi daily and one trawler car-ries at least 27-30 tons of apple.Iranian apple is also being import-ed while huge quantities are also
being smuggled into Pakistan. AsIran is facing US sanctions,
it is dumping its prod-ucts in Pakistan.
Iranian apple hasalso landed inPunjab andK h y b e rPakhtunkhwa.
He said Pakistaniexports of Kinnow
and mango to Iranhave to go through
lengthy, difficult andtime-consuming procedures in
terms of quarantine regulations, butthere are no such protocols and pro-cedures on Iranian products enter-ing Pakistan. This leads to fruit flydiseases and bacteria.
He urged the authorities con-cerned to design strict quarantineprotocols for fruits coming fromIran which at present are getting inwithout any inspection.
He said the 2012 mango crop wasworth 1.2 million tons showingabout 30 per cent decline in accor-dance of average forecasted pro-duction statistics. It is too early topredict about the 2013 season, buttentatively the production forecastis satisfactory. Kinnow crop of2012-13 season is expected to fetch1.8 million tons.
He added that the export targetof 215,000 tons of Kinnow for thisseason would be achieved as thefruit is being exported at an aver-
age price of $6 per 10 kg. In Dubaimarket, Kinnow is being exportedat 30-32 dirhams for a 10-kg pack.Exports are under way to marketslike Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia,Bahrain, Kuwait, the Netherlands,the UK, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh andthe Philippines.
He said some companies are alsoexporting mango pulp, but facingstiff competition from India due toa big price difference on the grow-ing side. In a total export market of215,000 tons of mango pulp, Indiaenjoys 70 per cent share.
He urged the government to pro-vide subsidy on invoice by 25 percent so that mango pulp producedin Pakistan could compete withIndia.
The 2012 -13 season is so far pro-ductive and fruitful for overall freshproduce’s exports, especially foronion, potato, Kinnow, green veg-etables, and is expecting 15 to 20per cent increase. However,unavoidable circumstances likestrikes, weather etc. may prove dev-astating and may hit exports also.
The Vapour Heat Treatment(VHT) plant for mango is going tobe installed in Karachi soon andthe installation for Multan willthen be planned as per the deci-sion at a recent ExportDevelopment Fund (EDF) meet-ing. This will also increase exports.Also, the option of airline linkageswould be advisable for Europe andthe US for the improvement ofexport, Waheed said.
He said Pakistani exporters aremaking every possible effort toincrease the volume of exportsboth in terms of quantity andvalue, but they are facing lack ofresearch and development (R&D)from the growing end. There is aneed to establish R&D depart-ments through EDF, and it shouldbe tasked with the educating thegrowers, facilitating them in skilldevelopment, enabling them tomanage proper pre- and post-har-vest protocols to increase yield andquality of fresh produce.
The Association has arrangedexporters’ participation in differ-ent leading fresh produce interna-tional events, exhibitions, eventsand seminars. Recently, severalexporters attended Fruit Logistica2013 through the Association’splatform and also privately.
Exporters are going to partici-pate in the World Food Moscowand Asia Fruit Logistica inSeptember this year. TheAssociation is also planning tomanage different delegations formango promotion in Jordan andLebanon, and more events are onthe anvil to explore further mar-kets for fresh produces.
At the Fruit Logistica 2013 inBerlin, over 2,500 exhibitors from78 countries presented the entire
value chain of fresh produce andrelated advancement of technology.Approximately 55,000 trade visitorsfrom 120 countries came to Berlin.
Over 15 Pakistani firms andaround 50 exhibitors participatedwith the aim of introducing thecountry’s fruits and vegetables tobuyers/importers from over 120countries gathered under one roof.
Pakistani fruit exporters foreseeexports worth around six millionEuro to the European Union (EU)and Asia in the next couple ofyears as Pakistani fresh fruits, veg-etables and value-added productare being liked and demanded inthe valued markets. The only issuein expanding mango trade in thefresh fruit sector is the lack ofrequired air links with most of theEU countries and the US.
As per USA demands, PlantProtection Quarantine protocols,specially for mangoes, are requiredto irradiate the mangoes on arrivalbasis only in Chicago, but due to nodirect flight from Pakistan toChicago, there is no possibility sofar to send export consignments tothe US. The Ministry of commerceshould also consider putting inplace irradiation facilities inPakistan.
Waheed claimed that the FruitLogistica proved a successful andencouraging event for Pakistaniexporters who received ordersworth millions of Euros. However,direct air links and other logisticalsupports are needed to be ensuredbefore the coming mango season inorder to tap the newly establishedmarkets and meet further demands.
The Ministry of Commerce andthe Trade Development Authorityof Pakistan (TDAP) should focus onresolving the logistical issues relat-ed to fruit exports as despite beingmuch liked in the western world,Pakistani products were not beingsent to the lucrative markets.
Referring to a leading Italiancompany, he said that the firm hadagreed to support Pakistani horti-culture industry through sharingtechnological expertise with localfirms and the growers to deal withpre-harvest and post harvest issuesto increase the crop and improvequality of fruits.
A deal has been finalised withthe foreign company in this regard.The high-ups of the foreign compa-ny would also visit Pakistan,besides giving training to localfirms about innovation and valueaddition of the fruits/vegetable.
Also Asquith and Dairies(ASDA), a British supermarketchain and now part of Americangiant Wal-Mart, has planned tovisit Pakistan for the forthcomingmango season to sign contract witha leading exporter. ■
The writer is a member of staff.
Price stability is criticalBy Aamir Shafaat Khan
IMBALANCE: While fruit exporters are trying to improve market access abroad, importers are bringing in stuffat the cost of the local produce.
Continued from Page 6
charges keep skyrocketing.Of late, problems of air-
borne diseases spreadingamong closely located shedshave also become regular andproblematic for the industry.The diseases have killedbirds in the thousands if theindustry is to be believed. Itis again creating bird flu likesituation because of closelocation.
There has been no bar ofdistance between two shedsand that has come back tohaunt the industry. Sincethese controlled sheds haveproper ventilation systems,they easily transmit andreceive air-borne bacteria,causing and spreading dis-eases.
In the last one year, theindustry has been shoutingfrom the rooftop about itslosses caused by the location
problems. It wants the gov-ernment to legalise certain(scientifically and medicallyproven) distance betweentwo sheds so that this repeat-ed crisis-like situation couldbe avoided.
But the industry shouldalso come forward, and investin internationally accepted
processing facilities. After all,it is to its own advantage tolook beyond the domesticmarket and increase its prof-it. As long as it would try toensure high profits from thedomestic market, it would notbe able to win consumers onits side.
Another failure of the
industry has been theabsence of any pricing mech-anism. For the last manyyears, it has been fluctuatingbetween two highly damag-ing extremes. As the repeat-ed patterns show, sometimesprices of poultry meat go sohigh that they go out of thefiscal range of even middleclass consumers, attractinghuge social and media criti-cism. Within the next fewmonths, they would fall so
low that industry would notonly lose profit, but suffergross losses. This has beenthe pattern for the last manyyears.
The industry needs to findsome solution to this crisisbecause it is mainly itself toblame for it. It is the industrythat keeps under-producingto run the market on shortsupply and high profit. Ittakes away the industry’sshock-absorbing capacity.
Any disease during the short-supply period takes theindustry down. Barring anydiseases, the industry needsto regulate its supplies to itsfull capacity.
By attaining a certain levelof technological and scientificadvancement, it may also betime for the industry to devel-op processing – hitherto a rel-atively neglected part with
Continued on Page 17
Poultry potential
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 201310
O NE cannot perceivegrowth and sustenance ofagriculture as an enter-prise without adequateavailability of water.
Whether sowing crops or nurturingand tending trees in an orchard,water becomes one of the mostessential ingredients in production.That agricultural outputs, mainlyfood crops, are the universally con-sumed commodities, make them allthe more important to be properlymanaged across the globe.
In developing countries such asPakistan with a complex socio-political context, this task becomesmost challenging due to multipleimpediments experienced in theway of agro-water supply to farmsand other production locations ofvarious topographies.
Several issues are of vital consid-eration in relation to water andagriculture in Pakistan. Waterscarcity, distribution technologyand mechanisms, on-farm manage-ment of water, salinity and waterlogging, interface and applicationof research on waterborne prob-lems, inter-provincial conflicts,monitoring of water flows and dis-charges, disasters such as inunda-tion, strategic projects to facilitatewater availability for irrigationand other uses, human resourcesand institutional arrangementspertinent to water are some of thecore matters that merit a broad-based informed discussion.
Besides, emerging issues such asestablishing water apportionmentbetween agricultural and non-agri-cultural uses, perceptions andinterest of various stakeholders,innovation in water affairs and cor-responding implementation aresome current matters that requireopen and candid discourse toaddress differences and clandes-tine concerns prevailing in thesociety.
Ever since Pakistan came intobeing in 1947, the precarious avail-ability of water for agriculturebecame a pressing problem thatcame back to haunt us on a contin-uous basis. India severed the life-line to agriculture to compound
the woes faced by the new nation.Whereas Indus Water Treaty in1960 brought some stability in thescenario, the slow and delayedactions on the part of Pakistaniadministration to fully utilise thepotential of its allocated water trib-utaries were labelled as a majorcause for water woes in the agricul-tural heartlands of the country.
At the same instance, India hasbeen fast-tracking the spread outprojects of multi-purpose reservoirbuilding pursuits in territoriesunder its control. Kishengangadam, Tulbul dam (Wullar barrage),Uri II project (on Jhelum River),Baglihar, Sadal and several otherinitiatives by India caused graveconcern to the eyes and minds ofPakistani establishment in general,and the farming community in par-ticular.
The matters were raised on vari-ous platforms of international sig-nificance, including theInternational Court of Justice, butlittle respite was achieved. Evenan ordinary folk understands thatdriven by its own national interestand populist sentiment, India willcontinue to encroach upon theriver waters and allied potentialwhenever it gets a chance.
It is for the policy-makers,bureaucrats and technocrats toconsider this hegemonic attitude ofour neighbour and internalise thesame in preparing a rational policyframework for the benefit of ourpeople. Intelligently maintaining
diplomatic pressure on India andtaking possible remedial steps withrespect to enhancing our waterstorage and management capaci-ties by resorting to the most suit-able technocratic choices seem tobe useful options.
While some hardliners wouldargue to take a stiff stand on thiscount, it shall be wise to learnlessons from the history wherewars, conflict and stand-offs left uswith nothing except widespreaddespair and turmoil.
Many reports prepared by irriga-tion and water resource expertsinform that level of water stress inPakistan is rising. As found in his-torical data, per capita water avail-ability in the country was 5030cubic metres in 1951 which hasnow shrunk to 850 cubic metres in2013. Among the various factors,population growth is a dominantconsideration.
As found in a report on waterconcerns in Pakistan by Dr Noor ulHaq, an eminent public policyexpert, the doubling of irrigatedfarmland from 9.2 million hectaresin 1950-53 to 18.02 million hectaresin 2000-03 is also a worth-notingfactor that enhanced the demandto a considerable extent.
Punjab accounts for more than11 million hectares of land thatwas irrigated by canal networks.Due to continuing uncertainties,the same tracts were badly affect-ed. As a remedial step, farmersresorted to installing tube-wells
which have now crossed the mil-lion mark. The farmers arebelieved to augment the irrigationwater supply with the draw-downfrom the ground space throughtube-wells. Apparently it is a hugedrag on the energy bill, thus rais-ing the cost of farm produce.
Besides, in a situation of acuteload-shedding during summers andbeyond, the working of tube-wellsis grossly affected which is a seri-ous issue and so is the absence of acapable and potent institutionalarrangement for ground waterresources. Landowners and cul-tivators often make theinappropriate choicesto sink tube-wellswhich generatesodic water, whichis next to poisonfor crops.
A proper techni-cal advice mecha-nism needs to beinstituted to helpappraise the existingtube-wells for appropri-ate location and water quality.Sources of alternative energy maybe installed to ensure smooth andcontinuous running of these vitalinstallations that account for about35 million acre feet of water distri-bution in Punjab alone.
River systems in Pakistan dis-tribute water for agriculture in thecountry through a well laid out sys-tem of canals. Whereas Pakistanhas one of the finest networks ofirrigations that is the heritage ofBritish colonial rule, it has severalchronic issues attached to it.
For instance, there is a wide-spread tendency to use flood irriga-tion approach in the fields whichcauses enormous wastage of waterand increases labour for farmworkers due to excess growth ofwild weeds. Besides, the majorityof irrigated terrains in Pakistanuse unlined distributary patternswhich causes water losses throughseepage and percolation. No scien-tific alternative in the form ofground piping system or construc-tion of intermittent field reservoirsare adopted.
Moreover, canal managers of theprovincial Irrigation Departments
and their extended staff have acontrolling influence in setting theschedule of water distribution. Inmany cases, the farmers becomeentirely hostage to the releases inthis format and resort to ratherinefficient choices of croppingaccordingly. Thus, the full poten-tial of the field, farming labour andother inputs is not generated.
And, finally, poor drainagemechanics in routine situation aswell as flooding seasons playshavoc with medium and small-scale cultivators. Not only the large
and influential land-owners fid-dle with canal flows and
cause targeted breach-es to safeguard their
fields, they alsoresort to tamperingwith water flowlevels which causeextraordinary mis-eries to less privi-
taries is seldom done. It is disap-pointing to note that while districtand tehsil or taluka administration,in collaboration with landlords,used to conduct these exercises ona regular basis during the BritishRaj and early days after indepen-dence, a very erroneous frequencyis now observed. Needless to say,poorly maintained and siltedwater works render irrigation effi-ciency to a fraction of its desirablemark.
Water management pertinent toagricultural enterprises is a sub-ject ripe with inter-provincial con-troversies of very complex nature.The provincial interest groups areoften found utterly sceptical of theintentions of other provinces. Coredisputes that continue to lingerinclude mistrust on the quantitiesand frequencies of releases as perthe Water Apportionment Accordof 1991. Lack of consensus onhydro-power projects, discord on acommonly monitored telemetrysystem, politicisation of technicaloptions in irrigation, and a com-mon greed on quantitative con-trols rather than a focus on strate-
gic level of supplies are alsoamong the key issues on thiscount.
The provinces of KhyberPakhtunkhwa and Punjab possessthe status of upper riparian, andSindh, in the same geographicalorder, remains at the lower ripari-an status. Balochistan becomes thelower riparian in respect to Sindhand other provinces. As found inmany countries across the world,dispute resolution process evolvesand firms up when confidence-building measures are promoted ina democratic setting. Whereas theobjectives of building a consensusformula and mechanism for waterallocation is achievable, it can onlyhappen when institutional arrange-ments are allowed to firm up with-out dictatorial commandments orclandestine influences of tradition-al landlords.
Sadly, the successive militaryregimes did not create the appro-priate thresholds where core dis-putes could be resolved through aninformed and rational decision-making process. Common peoplebecome captives in the hands ofquasi-anarchic and pseudo-nation-alistic political groups that oftenpossess no track record of electoralsuccess. Strange and often totallyunfounded scenarios cast shadowson the implementation of criticallyneeded projects.
Let us review the Sindh case asan example. The leadership lays arightful claim on the waters andresources of Indus. The provincehas benefited greatly with the con-struction of Sukkur, Kotri andGuddu Barrages in 1932, 1955 and1962. A total of 14 major and 109branch canals have been construct-ed around this elaborate watersupply system which irrigatesaround six million hectares of land.An integrated drainage network isa part and parcel of Sindh’s terrainwhich enables the ejection ofsaline water into the sea.
The precious micro ecosystemof Indus delta is also dependentupon the proper inflows ofIndus water to maintain balancefor the growth and survival of
Continued on Page 14
By Dr Noman Ahmed
Water management is a subject ripe withinter-provincial controversies. Interestgroups are often found utterly scepticalof the intentions of others. Core disputesinclude mistrust on the quantities andfrequencies of releases as per the WaterApportionment Accord of 1991.
WATER MUST KEEP FLOWING: The mandatory cleaning and maintenance of canals and distributaries is seldom done and that adds to the overall issue of water scarcity in the national agriculture sector.
Appraising water issues
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 11
W HILE the country isbeset with unemploy-ment, downsizing andretrenchment is con-tinuing unabated in
the corporate world, includingfinancial institutions, factories andfirms for economic reasons whichadding to the problems. The back-wardness of the agriculture sectoris considered to be the main reasonbehind unemployment in the coun-try.
Agriculture is the largest sectorof the economy that contributes20.9 per cent to gross domesticproduct (GDP) and 44 per centjobs to the populationdirectly or indirectly.
Some technicaladvancements, butin most cases inef-ficiencies, havetaken the sectorinto their grip,ruining the sourceof employment.Introduction of thelatest farm tools andtechnology like tractors,threshers, laser-levellingequipment, drip irrigation systemetc. have reduced the requirementof workforce in the sector. Butmostly it has been affected byreduced work due to water short-age, non-availability of seeds, fer-tiliser, insecticides and otherinputs on time leading to cut inacreage.
The devastating floods andincessant heavy rains in Sindh inthe recent past, inundating vastarea of land resulting in internaldisplacements and destruction tostanding crops and huge loss tolivestock, with its serious implica-
tions spread over a considerableperiod of time were also the rea-son behind economic backward-ness of the country, and, conse-quently, unemployment in this sec-tor during the past several years.Such situations keep arising inter-mittently making its impact almostevery now and then.
The country with a population of180 million with the largest num-ber of youth among its populace(65 per cent) and a growth rate ofaround 1.8 per cent per annum,can ill afford to add such a largenumber of unemployed to its work-force which would certainly provedetrimental to the social order.
Unemployment, though a persis-tent problem, spread the
most during the de-nationalisation of the
taken-over enter-prises, mainlyfinancial institu-tions and industri-al units. Suchinstitutions and
commercial con-glomerates in the
course of time haveweaned away a large
number of their employeesby compulsory retirement or a‘voluntary golden handshake’.
The industrial sector is the sec-ond largest sector of the country’seconomy which employs a largelabour force and contributes sub-stantially to the national income.But this sector too has been infest-ed with problems and is unable toabsorb the workforce it shouldactually have. In fact, it is sheddingthe load of existing employees.
Shortage of power and gas andlong hours of load-shedding havetogether crippled the industrialsector and many units have seized
to function, resulting in workforcelay-offs. Fertiliser and textile unitsare running at a far lower capacitythan they originally should havedue to shortage of gas, and the situ-ation is worsening with the passageof time.
Pakistan in recent years has beenin the grip of high inflation, whichhas adversely affected the econom-ic health of the country. Terrorismand the worsening law and ordersituation are hindering the flow offoreign direct investment (FDI).Foreign investors having lost theirconfidence in the political and eco-nomic systems of an unstable gov-ernment feel shy of investing inany new business venture.
The country witnessed a steepfall in foreign private investmentduring recent years. According tothe State Bank of Pakistan, foreignprivate investment fell to $239.4million during July-October periodof fiscal 2012 against $610 millionduring the same period last year; adecline of 60.8 per cent. Similarly,foreign direct investment fell tojust $340 million; a decline of 27.7per cent corresponding to the sameperiod last year.
At the same time, there arereports of shifting of industries toBangladesh and some other foreigncountries as a consequence of ter-rorism, law and order and powercrises. Due to all these factors, thenumber of job-seekers is rising con-sistently, adding to the woes ofthe country.
Youth, the majority of our popu-lation, is the backbone of thenation and its hope and strength.But lack of job opportunities, infla-tion, energy crisis and, above all,insecurity of life have exertedtremendous psychological pressureon them.
The authorities should take theseissues into consideration and takesteps to morally support the youth.Any negligence on their part wouldtake the youth to the abyss ofdepression with deep effects ontheir career and psyche. As jobopportunities in the private andpublic sectors are not keeping pacewith the fast-growing youth popula-tion in the country, it has necessi-tated the promotion of entrepre-neurship culture and creatingopportunities of self-employment.
However, to ease the problem ofunemployment, the governmenthas managed to export a largeworkforce abroad. Around 1.5 mil-
lion Pakistanis are working inSaudi Arabia alone. The UnitedStates of America and the UnitedArab Emirates are the other coun-tries with significant number ofPakistanis ranging between 1.2and one million people. In SaudiArabia, the workforce mostly com-prises illiterate and unskilleddoing odd jobs.
Overseas Pakistanis remitted anamount of $5.982 billion in the firstfive months of the current fiscalyear 2012-13, showing a growth of14.16 per cent, or $7.420 million,when compared with $5.240 billioninflux during the correspondingperiod of the previous fiscal year.
However, remittances alone can-not solve the acute unemploymentproblem. Some NGOs, taking theneed of the hour into considera-tion, have launched projects toinspire and equip young people tobecome agents of positive changethrough their involvement in civilmovements and economic develop-ment. The main objective of theprogramme is to provide socialentrepreneurship education to theyouth. The government needs tofacilitate the efforts of such NGOsto mitigate the problem of unem-ployment in the country. ■
The writer is a freelancer
Unemployment and agriculture
Continued from Page 1
have to be dismantled. Pakistan will have to develop aunified market linking the farms to retail outlets andcovering the complete supply chain, particularly inthe high-value commodities.
Investment in on-farm storage, refrigerated vansand specialised trucks, silos and warehousing, whole-sale chains supplying to the processors and openingup the highly inefficient and regulated marketingcompetition will eliminate the excessive rents earnedby those involved in the present arrangements. This‘unearned’ premium under a re-configured modernvalue chain bolstered by competitive forces will thenaccrue to the farmers and the consumers while actingas a restraint on food inflation.
The positive effects of marketing reforms should beconsidered against the backdrop of the water avail-ability particularly due to the changes in climatic con-ditions. Almost 18 million hectare land is irrigated outof the total cultivated are of 21 million hectare, but 55per cent of irrigated land is devoted to low-value high-water-consuming crops. The yield per cubic metre ofwater is only 0.4 tons of wheat compared to 0.9 tons inIndia and 2.5 tons in Argentina.
Water losses between canal heads and water cours-es account for one-third of the total amount drawnfrom the rim of the river tributaries. Another 25 percent is lost within the farms. Thus 76 MAF out of 135MAF average annual flows is lost due to poor trans-mission and seepage. Surface water is augmented byabout 55 MAF of ground water pumped out by 0.5 mil-lion tube-wells throughout the Basin. Ground waterthus provides half of all farm irrigation requirements.The actual water use in the four major crops is givenin the accompanying table.
It can be seen from the table that sugarcanerequires 6.8 times more water than wheat, 2.7 timesmore than cotton and 1.6 times more than rice. Butthe farmers pay flat charge of Rs.150 per hectare irre-spective of the amount of water they have used. Hadthere been volumetric pricing, the cropping patternwould have shifted away from water-intensive cropsand inefficiencies and waste would have been curbed.The challenge for Pakistan’s agriculture in the futureis how to maximise yields per cubic metre of water.System improvement through re-modelling, rehabili-tation and lining of canals and water courses and thenperiodic maintenance and effective management ofthe entire system will help.
The main reason for this disastrous situation is thatthe institutions responsible for managing irrigation sys-tem have become politicised. They are highly bureau-cratic and ridden with corrupt practices and misuse ofpower. There is hardly any accountability for theresults as those responsible for supervision of the fieldofficials are themselves complicit in these practices.
Modern agriculture depends on economic land hold-ings of a certain minimum size. Sub-division of landbecause of inheritance laws, on the other hand, hasled to declining farm sizes. A highly intrusive landbureaucracy characterised by the stranglehold of pat-waris and tehsildars has made land record keeping andmaintenance of ownership deeds and title extremelyopaque and susceptible to manipulation and tamper-ing. This legacy has not allowed a transparent landmarket to function and limited investment in on-farmimprovements, land consolidation and other relatedinfrastructure.
Under the unchanged scenario, the projected short-fall in water requirements for agriculture by 2030 isestimated between 25 to 30 per cent. There is over-whelming evidence and almost a consensus that car-bon dioxide emissions will raise the global tempera-ture by more than two degree Celsius. This will causemelting of glaciers in the Himalayan range, with sud-den floods followed by reduction in the flows in IndusRiver. These losses in water flow would reduce theavailability of irrigation water for crop. Althoughthere are no firm estimates, but the shortfall mayreach as high as 40-50 per cent if timely policy actionsare not taken.
Yields are, therefore, bound to decline from theircurrent levels at a time when population will be ris-ing. High-value crops and livestock products that willbe in high demand are more water-intensive willrequire more water inputs. For example, it will takethree to four times more water to produce one kilo-gramme of beef than one kilogramme of grains.
The use of water will, therefore, become the criticalconstraint for agricultural production. But, paradoxi-cally, both the surface and ground water are being at
present used inefficiently and inequitably. Israel has1.4 MAF of water producing $12 billion worth cropsannually. Pakistan has 135 MAF producing crops val-ued at $40 billion. The factors responsible for this inef-ficiency and inequity are manifold. Markets in waterare non-existent, regulatory framework is ineffectiveand mis-pricing and system losses are widespread.
Scarcity premium on dwindling water availability isnot reflected in the end-use price. Irrigation charges(Abiana or water user charges) that used to recoverthe operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the systemhave fallen to such low levels that they are able tocover one-tenth of the O&M costs. Irrigation cost atone time was as high as 45 per cent of the overall coststructure of typical rice-growing farmers. Today, it isless than one per cent. The incentive for waste andmisuse under such distorted price structure is natural-ly quite high.
In the absence of adequate budgetary allocations,repairs, periodic maintenance and strengthening ofthe system have been neglected, reducing the useful-ness of the asset. Instead of focussing on waterresource management that is able to deliver reliabletimely water to all the users with minimal losses,
there is a single-minded preoccupation with buildingnew dams, canals, barrages and other physical infra-structure works.
The estimated value of irrigation infrastructurebuilt in Punjab alone is about $20 billion.Maintenance and replacement require about $0.6 bil-lion annually. The actual expenditures are only $20million and the backlog of postponed maintenance iscausing serious risks to the system. The World Bank inits latest report has turned this phenomenon as“Build, Neglect and Rebuild”.
Poor Governance and corruption have made distrib-ution system highly inequitable. One-third of the totalflow in some areas is diverted by large and influentialfarmers from ‘direct outlets’ bypassing the varabandisystem of sharing. Small farmers and tail-enders get40-50 per cent less than those at the head-end. Head-Enders usually apply four to five irrigations per field,while the tail-enders may apply as few as one or two.As water is not available on time and in requiredquantities, small farmers and tail-enders are unable touse other complementary inputs such as fertilisers.Consequently, water stress damages a crop’s growth
cycle. The productivity gap in the same ecologicalzones between the progressive and large farmers andother farmers can be bridged by re-distribution ofwater currently used in excess by head-enders.
The latest agriculture census shows that about 70 percent of the total private-owned land belongs to farmerswith less than 20 hectares. The yield differencesbetween the average national yields and those of theprogressive farmers vary between 30 to 70 per cent.
Agriculture extension services of the provincial gov-ernments have been weak as they are infested withpeople with poor technical skills and subject matterknowledge, little accountability for results, and out-dated practices of dissemination and communication.Whatever limited resources are available with theAgriculture Departments are mainly deployed toserve the interests of large and politically connectedfarmers. Small farmers who need extension servicesget hardly served.
The above analysis shows that to meet the needs offood production and food security in an adverse cli-matic condition, agriculture sector reforms world haveto be implemented in a number of key areas. Thesereforms are briefly sketched below:
* Develop flexible rural factor markets – Land,Labour, Water, and Finance – and allow them to oper-ate in a competitive market structure.
* Establish clear land titles and land right security,computerised land records, web-based information onownership and tenancy arrangements. Simplifiedalienation, transfer and mutation procedures areneeded for efficient land markets to function. Theseland markets will lead to consolidation of holdingsand avoid increasing fragmentation. Land can then bepledged as collateral for bank borrowing and invest-ment. Leasing land by paying rentals can become asource of livelihood for landless and poor households,neutralising the detrimental effects of land purchaseand consolidation by efficient commercially-orientedfarmers.
* Water markets with alienable water rights alongwith alternative systems to conserve and save watersuch as drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation and appro-priate water pricing can bring about some improve-ment in the efficient utilisation of the scarce resource.Water charges from the users should be based on actu-al volumetric draw-down and the total annual collec-tion must at least equal the maintenance cost i.e. oneper cent of the value of irrigation infrastructure.
* Labour market in agriculture would face short-ages as educated young men and women migrate tolive in urban centres or overseas. Skill intensity andcapital intensity would have to be raised to substitutefor declining unskilled agriculture labour force.Sector-specific technical and vocational trainingwould have to be promoted and delivered.
* Remove the restrictions imposed on wholesaletransaction for agriculture commodities under theAgriculture Produce Markets Act 1939; discontinuegovernment procurement of wheat and issuing ofwheat at subsidised prices to the flour mills from gov-ernment stocks and limit the roles of FoodsDepartments, PASSCO and TCP in the purchase andtrading of agri-commodities.
* Agri-business sector should be facilitated to mod-ernise the whole value chain from the farm to retailoutlets. Input supplies, transport, storage and ware-housing, Cold Chains and refrigerated vans, process-ing and wholesale and retail marketing of agriculturecommodities should be in the hands of the private sec-tor. Government’s role should be limited to qualitycontrol, enforcement of standards, grading, consumerand farmer protection, and food security.
* Access to agriculture credit for production, distrib-ution and exchange is limited to a small proportion offarmers. Innovative schemes such as warehousereceipt system linked to a bank which can pledgestocks and advance loans should be introduced.
* Intensify efforts on research and development(R&D) and its linkages to extension with focus on sys-tem-based approach in place of commodity-specificresearch. Finding new strains that can survive andproduce high yields in water-stressed conditionsshould get priority. Allocations for agricultureresearch and development by the provincial govern-ments in partnership with universities and the privatesector should be stepped up. Transfer and dissemina-tion of technology and research findings can takeplace through strong partnership with private sectorand NGOs.
* Institutions such as WAPDA, IRSA, IrrigationDepartments, PIDAs, Area Water Boards and UsersAssociations have to be restructured and reorgan-ised. Their technical and organisational capacityshould be geared to manage the integrated waterresources system equitably and efficiently.Performance evaluation and annual incrementsshould be linked to key indicators of delivery of ser-vices and maintenance of the system. Their budgetsshould be based on the assessment and collection ofwater user charges. The responsibility for bulk watersupply from rivers and canals should remain withIrrigation Departments or other relevant authorities,but the distribution from minors and water coursesshould be assigned to farmers’ organisations and pri-vate service providers. ■
The writer is Director, IBA.
Vision 2030 is vital
By Mohammad Omair Saqib
HIGH-TECH: More than the farmer, it is the national farming sector that needs to be made high-tech.
QUESTION: Will she have a different fate ten years down the line? In the absence of right policies, she may not.
Water Utilisation in Major Crops
Water in Water in Hectares Cubic Cubic
Crops (Million) Metre Metre/ (Millions) Hectares
Rice 2.419 70.508 29.15
Cotton 2.955 51.427 17.40
Wheat 7.554 51.418 6.81
Sugarcane 1.059 48.882 46.16
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 201312
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 13
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 201314
Continued from Page 1
illiterate or semi-illiterate politi-cians in most cases heading thedepartments, secretariesassume crucial role in planningand execution. Thus, with onetransfer, entire focus of thedepartment shifts – for good orbad. Punjab needs to find solu-tion to this instability at the top.
At the lower level, it needs tocreate a setup, maybe at theunion council (UC) level, whichis responsible for executing allwhat has been decided at thetop. At present, the biggestproblem of the sector is thatprovincial plans seldom touchthe farmers and farming: theyare lost during their travelfrom top to the bottom.
There are around 3,200 unioncouncils in the Punjab that pro-vide ideal platform for the exe-cution of any decision. Witheach union council having fiveto six villages, if one officer isposted in each UC, it will takeonly 3,200 officers to cover theentire province. The currentstrength of such mechanism is35,000; more than 10 times.
These officers can beequipped with all informationtechnology (IT) gadgets, withreal time connectivity with therest of the province and havingcomplete data of the areaunder their jurisdiction. Theyshould be the ones overseeingthe entire range of agriculture(water, crop, livestock, horti-culture) and be made responsi-ble for achieving all targets ofcrops and animals.
Even the private sectorshould operate through theseofficers who must maintaintheir operational competence,independence and neutrality.
The province needs to havea clear hierarchy, planningand execution at both ends:from top to bottom and bottomto top. By integrating andrefining planning and execu-tion at the top and local levels,it would actually save hugelyon non-development expendi-tures, which can then bediverted to the developmentalside.
Once the central planningsecretariat is taken care of, onthe second plank, the provinceneeds to encourage farmers’pressure groups. Such groupsare considered necessary allover the world to link policy-makers to situation on theground. At present, there arehardly a few such groups. Eventhe ones which exist are politi-cally linked, and lose persuasivepower of their arguments –even in the most justified situa-tions.
They should not be state-sponsored or controlled organi-sations, but purely private ini-tiatives. Individual membersmay have their political affilia-tions, but these organisationsmust be kept apolitical. Suchgroups can play a key role inframing agricultural policies.
The province, being owner ofthe agriculture sector, mustpress the Centre to take it –farmers, industry, and otherstakeholders included – intoconfidence before agreeing toor signing any internationalagreement concerning agricul-
ture and rural life. There is along list of such agreements,the WTO for example, wherefarmers, industry and theprovinces were never taken onboard before singing and nowthey are the ones facing theconsequences. The debateabout granting the status ofmost favoured nation (MFN) toIndia is another example.
More than 86 per cent ofPunjab farmers are small ormarginal farmers and havevery little or no marketablesurplus. They should not be leftto the mercy of private tradersand greed of the free market. Itis, thus, necessary to provideproper market and price sup-port to them until marketsbecome efficient, regulatedand cartel-free.
At the same time, the privatesector should also be enabledand encouraged to participatein the disposal of farm surplus-es, with a view to ultimatelytaking over trade in farm pro-duce efficiently and cost-effec-tively. Their operation, howev-er, has to be kept transparentand regulated.
In order to save these small-er farmers and keep them rele-vant to market, Punjab has torenew its interest in the devel-opment of community farming(cooperatives). That is the onlyway to bring some kind ofeconomy of scale for new tech-
nologies for small farmers andmake them domestically andglobally relevant.
Agricultural inputs (fertilis-ers, pesticides, improved seedsand loans) can be routedthrough these societies. Thiswould not only help checkquality of these inputs, but alsodiversion of loans, which areaffecting the production effi-ciency of the farm sector.
Despite the deterioratinginternational scenario, withoutany help, without any protec-tion and with all the world’smost powerful actors against it,peasant agriculture has not dis-appeared during the last fewdecades. It is time to capitaliseon this resilience through poli-cy measures.
Punjab must move in thatdirection and hone all its policyinstruments to achieve this. Asa matter of policy, peasants,women and other vulnerablegroups in rural settings mustbe granted real access toresources to buy agriculturalmaterial, fertilisers and seedsto allow them to add value totheir products in a way thatwill allow them to live off theirwork with dignity.
One way for promoting agri-cultural diversification is clus-ter development. Luckily,Punjab already has such mod-els in mango, Kinnow, corn andpotato. More blocks for pre-
ferred crops should be devel-oped by providing incentives –infrastructure, road networkand communication facilitiesas well as financial support.Value addition and processingcan be promoted in theseblocks by creating a conductiveinvestment environment forthe private sector throughresponsive administration.
Irrational use of water mustbe stopped through a prohibi-tive legal environment andshifting water guzzling cropslike paddy to monsoon rainsrather than surviving on canaland ground water. Punjabshould also rationalise watercharges so that the farmershave some incentives for con-servation. It should also createmodel farms to demonstrate toits farmers that less water canalso work for crops.
For keeping agriculturalcommodities competitive in theinternational market, effortsneed to be made to keepdomestic cost of productionlow. It may not mean directsubsidies, but it certainlymeans addressing governanceissues – especially creating alegal framework for trans-parency in trade, and breakingcartelisation in input and out-put markets.
At present, legal lacunae andeven weaker implementationin terms of market regulation,
cartels are rigging them intheir own favour and hurtingfarming. It should alsostrengthen and moderniseinternational marketing intelli-gence system in the province.
Besides, for keeping the costof production down, researchshould be cast in a bigger roleto improve production technolo-gy and fining new combinationsof input usage that help min-imise cost of production. Thefarmers should be helped todraw up new cropping patternsto improve the quality of theproduce. Cost-effec-tiveness should bethe key word forresearch in agri-culture and allits sub-sector.
A marketstabilisationfund shouldalso be createdfor developinginfrastructure tohandle abnormal glutof various commodities. Itwould bring a sense of securityto the farmers for more invest-ment on land and crops, andincrease productivity.
One can go on pointing outmore areas, but the purpose isnot to mention or cover everypossible area, but to underlinethe basic need to help chart outa clear policy that is financiallyprotected and politicallybacked. Once things getrolling, more such areas canbecome part of the debate. ■
The writer is a member of staff
Punjab must lead the frontContined from Page 10
marine life. However, all is not well in respect to per-formance and outputs of this massive infrastructureand its level of service. Sindh accuses the federalauthorities for the poor design and management ofthe mega drains namely Right Bank Outfall Drain
(RBOD) and Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD).The provincial interest groups have beenable to cause suspension of Kalabagh Dam
which is seen as a scheme to deprive theprovince from its rightful share inapportioned water. It is also believedthat fractured water supply in Sindhhas resulted in wide-scale rural pover-ty on the one hand and depletion ofagricultural productivity on the other.
A compulsive rural-to-urban migrationhas made the province the most
urbanised in the overall national scheme.But a careful and objective appraisal
reveals some stark realities in the scenario.About half of Sindh is dependent on rain-fed agricul-ture which is precarious and depends upon the peri-odic rainfall that is scarce during critical time zones.
Poor management of forests and the ruthless cut-ting of trees have caused a dangerous environmentalpredicament. Over-concentrated supply of Induswater during the four-month period between Juneand September leaves very little space for optimumutilisation of farming potential.
Absolutely unscientific management of saline wateris continuously eroding soil fertility and alluvial advan-tage of the river and canal bank terrains. It may not bean exaggeration to believe that three-fourth of irrigat-ed Sindh faces rising level of brackish undergroundwater. And rise in sea water level along the coastal dis-tricts is a menace which is not silent anymore.
Poor and incompetent administration at the inter-nal level is perhaps more to blame than the otherprovinces or federal bodies. TransparencyInternational and other watchdog bodies have beenrepeatedly blowing the whistle on the rising level ofcorruption in irrigation affairs of the province.
With the exception of Chotiari reservoir, no worth-while storage facility exists in the province. It is ironicto find that political activists do not rally around thechronic irrigation issues such as progressive rise incultivable wasteland; poorly designed and managedfarm and terrain drainage; rights and privileges ofcoastal communities (that need a steady flow downinto the Arabian Sea); non-utilisation of flood waters;exponentially rising inefficiency of canal manage-ment; and inadequate supply to cities and linearurban settlements.
Accessing and controlling more water from irriga-tion networks or any other means may not resolve theagricultural issues. It is time for our politicians, tech-nocrats, landlords, farmers, labour communities,bureaucrats and managers to come up with objectiveappraisal of above cited core issues and identify thefactors impacting them. There is a wealth of knowl-edge already available in the form of successful trialschemes and pilot projects in the entire country,including Sindh.
For example, drip irrigation schemes have beentried and tested to generate high yields in manywater-deficient areas across the country. There is adire need to upscale these worthwhile initiatives to ahigher level and implement them at an extensivepace. Water and irrigation cooperatives can be found-ed to ensure the water availability in various talukasand tehsils and come up with integrated solutionsaround the local and regional scales. A capable anddemocratically elected local government can be a use-ful catalyst to facilitate this vital step in the appropri-ate direction.
While the political parties are busy unveiling grandideas and greater reform agendas, they will do well toinform the nation about the understanding they pos-sess about lifeline matters such as irrigation andwater management and their take on reviving localgovernments as managers of day-to-day affairs likewater and extend relief to common people.
It goes without saying that the advancing menacesof climate change, environmental disasters, loss offarm productivity, rising stress on river water sourcesand waterborne soil disorders will impact our dailylives and peace and tranquillity of our ordinary folks.Let us put our act together before worst happens. ■
The writer is a freelancer.
Appraisingwater issues
I N simple terms, Modified AtmospherePackaging (MAP) means an alteration tothe internal atmosphere of packaginggoods so that it is different to the compo-sition of the air that we breathe. It
includes vacuum packaging that consists of arange of low or non- permeable films (barrierfilms) or containers.
When food items are placed into the pack,the air is removed and the pack is hermeti-cally sealed under a vacuum. No other gasesare added to replace the space created bythe air removed. Vacuum packaging is prob-ably the most used form of modified atmos-phere packaging for food products.
Controlled Atmosphere Packaging (CAP)is another form of packaging widely used bythe industry. This system requires the main-tenance of certain atmospheric conditionsaround a product. This is mostly used for thebulk storage of perishable food like fresh pro-duce.
Fresh produce, when packed with MAP,reduces weight-loss/decay/incidence of jellyseed, lenticels spots and chilling injury, pre-serves firmness and smoothness, slowsbreakdown, prolongs storage life, reduceswaste in supply chain, and, most importantly,slows down ripening in the bag. This leads toreduced waste in the supply chain. It facili-tates stock management and assists marketexpansion while reducing the cost of freshproduce.
There are two processes in harvesting;pre-harvest and post-harvest. Both of themare neglected due to the fact there is a short-sighted interest of farmers, especially theowners who have a greater tendency to letthe farms at the disposal of contractors.Unless an educated middle managementtakes care of packaging and storage, thingswill continue to be on the slide.
Another factor of significant importance islogistics which is still ignored. In agriculture,
post-harvest important feature is the CoolChain Management (CCM) which is co-relat-ed to a variety of important factors. InPakistan, 90 per cent CCM exists under thetree alone, ignoring the fact that tempera-tures during, say, the mango season goes to45-50 degrees Celsius.
The awareness about wastages, escalat-ing high prices, inflationary impact on allclasses across Pakistan and alarming short-ages have made the farmers and distributionchannels to consider amending the existingpractices.
While talking about declining exports,the leaders and media talk of a large num-ber of issues, but ignore one key factor;nobody want to innovate or improve. Thereis a war going on among grocery retailers– the “freshness war”. Grocers are acutelyaware that the quality and selection of theirproduce, meat and dairy sections are thedeterminants of where the consumers maydecide to shop for the groceries.
Freshness has evolved to be the key factorin evolving consumer habits and lifestyles.In turn, it all boils down to packaging tohelp reduce spoilage and provide consis-tent freshness.
A trip from field to packaging house caninclude inland transportation, loading/unload-ing and potentially sorting at the origin anddestination ports, the overland travel, repack-ing at a distribution centre, and the ‘last mile’to the retail outlet. Speed precision and goodmonitoring are required for every leg through-out the chain to reduce losses and maximisefreshness and quality.
The most important factors today are post-harvest treatments, CCM and packaging.How to pack and make the presentationattractive are attributes that generate confi-dence appetite. The growers shall enjoy rateof return not through pricing, but by reducingspoilage. It’s time to modernise. ■
The writer is a packaging expert.
By Aziz ur Rahman Shaik
Time to modernise
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 15
Research: the Achilles’ heelA GRICULTURE research
has never been a priorityin Pakistan. At least thatis what makes out in viewof meagre budgetary allo-
cations, and the failure of thepoliticians to grasp its potentialand convert it into a policy andintegrate it with the overall politi-cal system.
This is despite the proven bene-fits and documentation of, howeverlimited, agriculture researchPakistan has carried out in the lastsix decades. During this period,research helped the state multiplyyield of almost all major crops;wheat by almost five times, cottonseven times and rice six times. Allthese crops today not only ensurefood security, but also drive andsustain the national economy.
Even the international communi-ty has documented its benefits tothe world economy. The WorldBank, in one of its studies, main-tained that better research hadbeen adding three per cent tointernational productivity since1971. Local scientists insist thatPakistan can benefit even more.With better research, it has poten-tial to agriculturally grow at six toeight per cent annually against thecurrent two to three per centand the world average ofthree per cent. It isbecause agriculturehas grossly beenunder-performingin Pakistan.
Most interna-tional scientistsand economistsalso agree that therate of economicreturns on agricultureresearch is the highestamong all other sectors ofhuman activity. They calculatethat investment in research has arate of return of 41 per cent. InPakistan, this rate would be evenhigher because of consistentunder-performance of the sector.As per local scientists, it should goas high as 80 per cent – returningthe entire investment withinaround 14 months – because ofpeculiar Pakistani realities.
Apart from these two factors,what makes agriculture researcheven ideal for investment forPakistan is the social range of ben-efits. A small breakthrough in anycrop can directly benefit over 70per cent population (farmers) andindirectly to the rest of the 30 percent (urban dwellers) throughprice reduction. This simple factshould make it the strongest candi-date for official money, attentionand planning.
Despite these proven benefits,Pakistan, to its misfortune, has nottaken that route so far. As thingsstand today, Pakistan invests only0.25 per cent of its agriculturalgross domestic product (GDP) onresearch. That money hardly meetsadministrative charges of these so-called organisations, leaving smallor no money for actual research.Other regional states spare muchmore: even India and Bangladeshnext door are spending 0.45(almost double; and massivemoney given the size of its agricul-ture economy) per cent and 0.35per cent respectively. The devel-oped world spares three to four per
cent for research. However, theseexamples have failed to inducePakistan into spending more onresearch.
In Pakistan, agriculture research(read innovation system), as scien-tists see it, has developed someinherent problems, which, mainlyare: little and inappropriate invest-ment on it, lack of coordinatedplanning, monitoring and evalua-tion systems, focus on routineresearch rather than being prob-lem-specific, and little commercial-isation of research outputs. As aresult, the rate of innovation hasslowed down in the sector over thelast few decades, leading toincreased cost of production andmarketing and turning the entiresector non-competitive both indomestic and international mar-kets.
These problems provide thebasic context for research plan-ning. To begin with, everyoneinvolved in agriculture planningmust realise that it can no more becompartmentalised, as has tradi-tionally been the case. The sheerspread of institutions – universi-ties, research organisations andofficial extension wings – privatebusinesses, commercial activityand industrialisation in the fieldhas brought it to a point where
each component has to cooper-ate and integrate with oth-
ers. That is the modelthat the world has
increasingly adopt-ed in the last fewdecades. Why notPakistan and itsfederating units?
In order toensure such inte-
gration, Pakistanneeds trained man-
power with an integratedvision, knowledge and train-
ing of the sector. It can only bedone by contextualising research:making it purpose-oriented andmaking it an integral part of educa-tion and extension services.
The world runs all three systemsin its educational institutions thatoperate under the Land GrantSystem – a system that gives aninstitution financial autonomy andintegrates in the sector three mostessential services; education,research and extension.
The province of Punjab hadbeen running its agriculture uni-versities on this system, as theworld has been doing for the last150 years, till 1961. Then, for rea-sons best known to the rulers, itbroke the system down to separateeducation from research andextension services, creating paral-lel and independent streams, andall of them went truly indepen-dent.
Since then, these three essen-tial services have lost sense ofpurpose. The academia lost touchwith the field, and went entirelytheoretical. Research has beenreduced to four walls of the edu-cational institutions and becameproject-based (money-making toolrather than problem-solving)instead of being practical andneed-based. The extension peoplehave been cut off from researchand academia and have becomeincreasingly ignorant of whatthey were supposed to extend tothe field. This is precisely wherethese services stand now and also
define the chaos in the sector.Under this system, an agriculture
university is granted a moderatechunk of land (2,000 acres, as hasbeen the case with the Universityof Agriculture, Faisalabad), asendowment, which it develops,sows and generates income from –even by commercial usage.
The Land Grant System allowsthe universities to link educationwith the field, allowing problem-based learning; education becomesapplied instead of isolated as hasbeen the case. Since the universitieshave huge infrastructure and arebetter equipped to institutionalisedifferent streams, everyone – soci-ety as well as community – benefits.
The students learn actual farm-ing where they are given a piece ofland to sow high-value crops andintensive farming to create ‘modellands and guidelines’ for others tofollow.
Under the system, as practisedthe world over, every teacher does
30 per cent extension work andevery extension officer gets backto the institution to teach 30 percent of his service time. Bothreport their experiments to theresearcher, who create new knowl-edge that is then taken back to thefield. The system thus creates apool of human resource that hasintegrated knowledge of field,research and extension, and thecapacity to lead agriculture in thecompetitive world of free markets.
At another level, research has tobe need-based, rather than an acad-emic exercise, as has been the caseso far. The world had problemswith certain cotton pests, and itfound the solution in BT genesthrough better research. It sufferedstagnation in yield, and inductedbio-technology in the seed sector.Pakistan has a different set of prob-lems with the crop, but it is still tofind answer to them.
In the last 20 years, Pakistan haslost over 50 million bales of cotton
to the cotton leave curl virus(CLCV), but still there is no nation-al initiative to check the menacethat costs almost two million balesa year.
During 2011-12, the countrywasted over Rs57 billion on fertilis-er subsidy, but no one asked thescientists to come up with anyalternative that could reducedependence on these fertilisers.These are the points where inte-gration is required. The researchwould only yield maximum resultsif it gets purpose-specific.
In the years to come, Pakistanwould have bigger challengesemerging for its agriculture. Thebiggest of all would be the climaticchange, which would need a totallynew set of technology, agronomy,planning and practices.
In a recent report, the FederalMinistry for Environment has doc-umented increased risks to theagriculture sector in the years tocome. The report – Vulnerability to
Climate Change Threats – was onlya latest addition to the voluminouscompendium that already exists onthe subject, but it is now official;conducted by a federal ministryand authored by its nominees, whohave reached the same conclusionsthat many international agencieshave already reached.
More than anything else, thereport warns of immense threats tofarming. Out of nine areas, wherethreat perception is increasing, sixhave direct agricultural conse-quences for Pakistan and its nativeagriculture.
The report claimed that the car-bonaceous filth has started mixinginto Indus water, pouring in fromthe glaciers, which would have haz-ardous consequences for life ofevery kind in the waterwaysthroughout the country. The activi-ty is taking place in all three moun-tain ranges – the Hindukush, theKarakoram and the Himalayas –that feed our rivers.
The agriculture-related threatsthat it listed include considerableincrease in frequency and intensityof extreme weather events; reces-sion of glaciers due to global warm-ing and carbon soot deposits fromtrans-boundary pollution; increasedsilt in dams caused by frequent,flash and intense floods; increasedtemperature resulting in enhancedheat- and water-stressed conditions,particularly in arid and semi-aridregions; intrusion of saline water inthe Indus delta threatening coastalagriculture and mangroves; andtension between upper and lowerriparian in water-stress periods.
All these factors point towardsone area: Pakistan needs to investmore in research if it wants to saveits agriculture, food security andindustry.
The writer is a member of staff
By A. K. Faraz
TIME TO INVEST MORE: Withclimatic changes putting pressureon rural life, it is time to investmore, not less, on agricultureresearch activities to ensure foodsafety for the future generations.
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 201316
T HE last thing the country, theprovince of Punjab, the textilesector and the seed industryshould think of is playing withthe future of the cotton. The
crop touches lives of millions of farm-ers. It is one of the biggest sources ofcash for the growers, and brings morethan 70 per cent of foreign exchangethat Pakistan earns through exports,and sustains an industry worth billionsof dollars within the country.
However, unfortunately, that is pre-cisely what every one seems to bedoing. All of them – the federal govern-ment, the textile and seed industriesand the Punjab government – seem tohave joined hands to jeopardise thefuture of the crop; the federal govern-ment through harmful policies, the tex-tile and seed industries through hyper-active profit-making, and the Punjabgovernment, which is the producer of amajor portion of the national produc-tion, simply by giving in to inertia.
As far as the federal government isconcerned, it is only ensuring that thereis only one buyer in the market and it isthe All Pakistan Textile MillsAssociation (APTMA). It discourageslocal exporters through policy measures(like double registration) against send-ing the crop out of the country. It doesnot facilitate foreign importers either.It is neither ready to induct the TradingCorporation of Pakistan (TCP) if domes-tic prices stumble nor announce anysupport price to stabilise prices aroundthe ever-increasing cost of production.And, to make matters worse, it keepsthe only buyer in the market totally un-regulated in the name of free marketeconomy.
On its part, the APTMA, being theonly player in the market, is ensuringthat prices remain as low as they possi-bly can, even at the cost of the farmers.Its success can be gauged from the factthat for the second consecutive year,the crop was traded in the market atless than its cost of production, till theinternational market came to some res-cue at a later stage of picking this year.According to official estimates, the costof production this year is Rs2,499 per40kg. The farmers, however, put the fig-ure at Rs2,800 per 40Kg. For most ofthe year, market prices ranged betweenRs2,300 and Rs2,400 per 40kg.
The Punjab government, now theexclusive owner of the agriculture sec-tor, has adopted a novel approach; inthe middle of season, it wrote to thefederal government to intervene in thecotton trade and stabilise prices. It wasa strange behaviour, to say the least;the owner of the sector inviting the for-mer owner to intervene and increaseprices!
The Punjab, on its part, did notexplain why it was not doing anythingitself? Why it was not creating an equiv-alent to the Trading Corporation ofPakistan (TCP) for price stabilisation ofdifferent commodities? In place of writ-ing to the federation, why is it not act-ing itself? It could, rather should, havecreated such an institution and help sta-bilise the prices.
As far as the seed industry is con-cerned, no one knows what it has beendoing. Recently, more than five institu-tions have analysed seeds being sold inthe market and the level of BT expres-sion. Their reports make damning read-ing.
The researchers from AgricultureUniversity, Faisalabad, were first toraise alarm. According to theirresearch, the farmers in Punjab aregrowing 52 transgenic cotton vari-eties – commonly know as BacillusThuringiensis (or BT). Out of 52,only nine are officially approved.Even out of those nine, four wereapproved provisionally (for a year in2010) and, technically speaking, arestill under official scrutiny.
Out of the collected samples from thefarmers’ fields and seed sellers, only 15per cent belonged to the officiallyapproved varieties; it also means 85 percent of them were of unknown parent-age and origin. The conclusion drawn inthe study further defines the depth ofcrisis when it maintains that “quantita-tive expression analysis” showed onlyone per cent of them had the requiredamount of toxin level. To make it evenworse, none of the officially (perma-nently and provisionally) approved ninevarieties had the lethal level of toxin –strong enough to kill the bollworms andbe categorised as part of the BT regime.
The study has only substantiatedwhat experts have been claiming forthe last more than one decade: the needto knock some sanity in the seed sectorof the cotton crop. The study only point-ed out the extent of the problem, butstopped short of blaming anyonebecause it was not its mandate. Itrestricted itself to asking the gov-ernment to chip in with moreplanning, regulation andexecution to better regu-late the sector.
Four official institu-tions were next to doc-ument what is calledthe cotton chaos. Theauthors of the latestreport include respectedinstitutions likeAgriculture BiotechnologyResearch Institute (ABRI) andNational Institute forBiotechnology and Genetic Engineering(NIBGE), National Institute forGenomics and Advanced Biotechnology(NIGAB) and the Centre for Excellencein Molecular Biology (CEMB).
In their joint testing report of 71 BTvarieties, which are being sold and sownin the country, they found that none ofthem had the required toxin level –enough to kill the spotted bollwormsand prevent them from developingimmunity against this particular poison.
The report has categorised these 71varieties in four groups: very lowexpression of BT gene, low level, medi-um and high level. There are eight vari-eties in the first category, and theirtoxin level is found to be below 0.05gram per leaf – against the USDepartment of Agriculture recommend-ed doze of 1.5 gram. The ‘low group’ hasaround 15 varieties, with toxin levelranging from 0.2 gram per leaf to 0.3
gram. The largest numbers of varieties(36) fall in the medium category, with agene expression of 0.4 to 0.6 gram. Eventhose 13 varieties that have the highesttoxin level, possess only 0.7 to 0.8 gramtoxicity.
All these factors only point towardsthe need to bring some regulation inthe cotton seed market. The ExpertCommittee on Cotton of the Punjabgovernment recently noted that over600 companies were active in the mar-ket. The experts also believe that mostof the seed varieties being sold in themarket have outlived their utility, butare still being sold on the basis of sheermarketing by the private sector.
It is largely because once registered,there is no practical mechanism for de-registering a seed variety even if itbecomes totally redundant. The regis-tration process has its own flaws and isa huge story of corruption. Seeds withgermination potential as low as 50 per
cent got through the registrationprocess and doubled the seed
cost for farmers. But theyare still being sold to rob
the crop of any sustain-ability in the yield.
Encouraged by theimpervious behaviourof the government,most of the official mon-
itors and researchershave become part of the
problem. The monitors arenow marketing seeds on
behalf of private companies, andresearchers are selling their own un-registered and untested seeds. To makematters worse, the agriculture bureau-cracy is aware of the problem butunwilling to move. That is where thingsstand today.
Pakistan still lacked proper monitoringsystem of traditional varieties when itapproved nine BT seeds and compound-ed the problem for itself and the farmers.If these BT seeds also go the way tradi-tional varieties have gone, Pakistan’s cot-ton may be in for big trouble.
So, it is time to set things right. Theworld has moved to BT and hybrid vari-eties, and they are coming thick andfast – every year, the companies intro-duce newer and better yielding seedsand reap the benefit. Pakistanapproved these eight varieties on thebasis of two crop data, which wouldactually mean that a variety would takefour to five years to get final approval.
It is very likely, given the pace at whichnew varieties are hitting the world mar-ket, that by the time a variety is finallyapproved in Pakistan after four to fiveyears, it may have already outlived itsutility for the world.
The current process of cotton plan-ning also has some inherent flaws thatneed to be removed. With the axing ofthe Federal Committee on Agriculture(FCA) after the 18th Amendment, theplanning part was devolved to theprovinces. The FCA had a wide-rangingrole in crop planning, which only thefederation could perform.
It was the FCA that used to plan theentire agricultural spectrum every sea-son; twice a year. The FCA used to cal-culate how much food country requirednext year and how much cash crops(cane and cotton) the industry needed?Which province can produce what?Which province would need what toproduce, which it has been assigned to.
It was at this forum where allprovinces used to furnish theirdemands for inputs. Apart from theplanning part, the FCA used to coordi-nate among different ministries fortimely placements of import orders (fer-tilisers, pesticides etc.), arranging (fed-eral) finance for them and on-time in-land distribution once they land in thecountry.
In its absence, the duty has fallen onthe Crop Assessment Committee, whichis working under the Ministry ofTextile. As suggested by its name and,indeed, the working environment, thecommittee only assesses the crop whenit is already in the field.
To confound the matter for the farm-ers and by virtue of it working underthe Textile Ministry, the committeegenerates figures for the industry. Howmuch crop the industry should expect,and how much would it need to importto meet the deficit? Thus, the mecha-nism, as currently working, is essential-ly crop reporting for the industry ratherthan planning for the country.
The future of cotton crop in Pakistandepends on relevant answers to thesequestions. All these players – the indus-tries (textile and seed), the govern-ments (production and export-importregime) and the farmers (being moreaware of what they sow and harvest) –have crucial roles to save the crop forthemselves and the country. ■
The writer is a member of staff.
Continued from Page 8
investors is comparatively more than those of conven-tional farmers, said a small dairy farm owner ofTando Allahyar who lives in Karachi.
Sensing that dairy farming is a lucrative business, alot of seasoned and would-be entrepreneurs of thecountry have jumped onto the dairy bandwagon andmany more are contemplating to do so and, thus, thesector is drawing investment.
The milk business in Pakistan has begun to seemore corporate players enter the field. The corporategiants have started their dairy business during thelast decade-and-a-half, focussing on dairy and expand-ing their drive to efficiently collect, package and mar-ket more milk.
Unlike the West, where livestock is neatly organ-ised in high-tech farms for maximum efficiency, thedairy industry of Pakistan is fragmented. The majori-ty of suppliers happen to be individual farmers withfewer milch animals in the herd and are thinly spreadacross thousands of square kilometres in remote vil-lages along dilapidated roads. There is no organisedmarketing system, and it is up to the farmers to find abuyer for their meagre yield.
According to a survey report, out of the total milkproduced, 97 per cent is marketed in the informal sec-tor – that consumed in the villages or sold in the citiesthrough vendors (Gowalas) in unhygienic conditionsand without any quality standards.
Since over 90 per cent milk is produced by smallholders, its collection and processing by the corporateworld represents a substantial challenge. The majorobstacle in this regard is collection of good qualitymilk. The overall animal herd is thinly spread acrossthousands of square kilometres with an average of 3-5animals per household and more than 40 million peo-ple in the rural areas engaged in livestock at variousscales.
The recent setting up of milk collection centres inthe milk pockets with chillers offer a good investmentopportunity. With keen competition on, and new gad-gets used in the process of milk collection, it is certainthat the quantity and quality of milk procured wouldimprove. One of the major brands has installed a vastnumber of industrial-size chillers and is still adding toits number wherever needed to strengthen its collec-tion points across the country as cold storage chain isnecessary for a modern dairy industry and give thefarmers a stable market for their milk. Even then,many farmers fail to find buyers to sell their milk andmany are left with their produce unsold.
“The potential is massive, but it will only succeed ifwe cannot develop milk of export quality because weneed to be able to trade in the commodity export mar-ket,” said New Zealand’s Bill Stevenson, who headsthe milk collection and dairy development for one ofthe multinational giants in the field.
The leading local brand is also establishing milkprocurement infrastructure in deep rural areas ofthe country. The company is modernising its pro-curement system. The company has more than 1,000locations where farmers can walk in and bring theirmilk to sell, and is thus collecting almost 89 per centof the company’s total milk. With the expansion pro-gramme, the company expects to significantlyincrease the milk-collection infrastructure to sustainfuture growth. With the milk-collection network pre-sent right at the farmers’ doorstep and on-farm train-ing and technical guidance on farming and milk pro-duction, the company is encouraging small-holdingfarmers to move to the commercial level.
The firm has invested heavily in dairy developmentinitiatives, cold chain infrastructure, enhancing capa-bilities of dairy farmers across the country throughinnovative breakthroughs that had re-defined the milkcollection standards and benchmarks in the dairyindustry. The company is collaborating with a numberof universities and research centres to improve thecondition of the most economically backward segmentof the community through improved payments cycles,guaranteed collection and better margins.
However, the major problem with the country’sdairy farming and shortfall in yield is the result of lackof appropriate planning of farm workers and govern-ment’s apathy toward the sector. The country needs toinduct best brains in the dairy field, train them inmanagement techniques and produce quality man-power with the acumen to manage the sector properlyand efficiently and achieve the required goal. ■
The writer is a freelancer
The dairy bandwagon
By Ahmad Fraz Khan
WHAT NEXT? An industry worth billions of dollars is dependent on activity in the fields ... and there are problems there.
The cotton chaos
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 17
Continued from Page 9
only two per cent of the totalproduction taking that route.
The processing would notonly increase the margin ofmanoeuvring for the sector,but also ensure regular prof-its. Without it, the industrywould neither be able tobring stability in domesticbusiness nor can export poul-try products to foreign mar-kets; both of them are neces-sary to ensure its profitablelong-term survival.
The world, after the bird fluscare, accepts only hygienical-
ly processed meat. Thus, theindustry now has to move toinvest in processing and value-addition facilities. It is for thisreason that the poultry indus-try, which has technologicalwherewithal to compete in theinternational market, has notbeen able to increase exportbusiness.
The industry blames thegovernment for its failure toincentivise exports or even gofor necessary bilateral andmulti-lateral agreements toprovide it with an enablingenvironment. It wants thegovernment to get Pakistan
approved for exporting halalfood in the markets that havesensitivity for that kind offood. There is a long list andmassive potential for suchmarkets, and they include theEuropean Union, the GulfCooperation Council (GCC)countries and North America.The international trade inhalal meat is estimated to beworth $300 billion, withPakistan having almost noshare in it.
The government, on itsparts, maintains that it is acompletely private concern,and the industry should findits way to international con-sumers rather than lookingfor official help. Though itpromises to keep a high andstrict duty regime to protectthe local industry, it alsoexpresses helplessness as ithas to keep lowering dutyon the insistence of thelenders and under multi-lat-
eral trade agreements.Surely, the industry cannot
itself go for bilateral andmulti-lateral agreements forallowing imports in otherscountries and the federal gov-ernment must create such alegal platform for the indus-try.
The federation can also takea cue from Punjab, whichrecently launched a multi-bil-lion rupee programme tomake 15 agriculture and live-stock products acceptable inthe world market.
Under the supply chainmanagement programme,
thousands of agriculture andlivestock farmers will betrained and their farmers cer-tified for export. The federa-tion must start such elaborateplans for other products aswell, poultry included.
Between July 2007 andMarch 2011, the industryhelped the government to putup 10 well equipped labs, 40regional surveillance centresand 66 rapid response units toensure that Pakistan retainsits bird flu-free status. Itneeds to initiate the secondpart of the initiative and gofor having processing facili-
ties in the same spirit. The poultry industry, with
the help of the government orindependently, should put upan elaborate plan and mecha-nism for supply chain improve-ment, certifications and trace-ability – a latest license forexport to the world market.
In order to do that, the indus-try now has to adopt a strictregime of food safety. Theentire supply chain has toweave in demonstrable safetymeasure and get the requiredcertifications for the purpose. ■
The writer is a member of staff
I T is an old maxim thatPakistan is rural and rural isagriculture. Beyond doubt,agriculture has remained themainstay of the national econ-
omy since independence, with thesector contributing handsomely tothe national gross domestic prod-uct (GDP).
However, the share has fallencompared to the early years whenit was considerably high. The shareof employment in agriculture hasalso declined from more than 65per cent of the labour force in 1950to about 48 per cent today. Thegrowth rate stood at 3.1 per cent in2012 against 2.4 per cent in 2011.All crops had accelerated growthof 3.2 per cent compared to a nega-tive growth of 0.2 per cent lastyear.
Major crops like cotton, sugar-cane and rice achieved growth inproduction of 18.6 per cent, 4.9per cent and 27.7 per cent respec-tively. However, estimates ofwheat production showed a nega-tive growth due to the late reced-ing of flood waters in lower Sindhhampering the timely cultivationof the crop during the year 2011-12.
Agriculture being the lynchpinof the economy continues to be thesingle largest force for the growthand development of the nationaleconomy, supporting 50 per cent ofthe population for their livelihood,contributing one-fourth of the GDPand meeting food requirements ofthe ever increasing population andproviding raw material to agro-based manufacturing units, such astextile, sugar, tobacco, wood, cook-ing oil and food and fruit process-ing. Together, it enhances foreignexchange reserves throughexports.
Having such an important placein the national economy, it isregrettable that no proper atten-tion could be attached to it. In fact,the sector was neglected whichresulted in ill effects on the pro-ductivity of the sector and, conse-quently, recurring food shortagesin the 1950s and thereafter.
For the first time, Pakistanimported over 8,000 tons of wheatin 1952-53, putting heavy burdenon the economy which subsequent-ly went on to import food itemsworth a million ton per year.
After the 1950s, the governmentassigned priority to efforts thatwere being made to boost the pro-duction of agriculture and throughthe national Five-Year Plans in theearly 1960s, essential inputs likeimproved seeds, fertilisers and pes-
ticides were provided to the farm-ers.
The high-yielding seed varietiesknown as Max-Pak of wheat andrice were popularised amongst thefarming community. All inputs,including machinery like tractorand plant protection equipment,were subsidised. Various expertshave observed that the policies ini-tiated in the beginning of the1960s, started yielding convincingresults in the late 1960s. Thus, thephenomenon was rightly referredto as the Green Revolution. Theremarkable achievement of therevolution also encouraged theprocess of mechanisation in thecountry.
Despite the substantial progressmade in the agricultural sector,crop yields per hectare of land inPakistan have still remained lowerthan many other developing coun-tries. The majority of the popula-tion engaged in cultivation of cropscannot produce adequate supply offood and fibre at reasonable pricesfor the small segment of peopleworking in other sectors. The catindicates a low level of productivi-ty in crop and livestock production.
Comparing the per-hectare yieldof major crops in Pakistan withcorresponding data of other devel-oping countries do not make forimpressive reading.
Even a cursory comparison isenough to establish that Pakistan
is producing one-third of the wheatyield per hectare compared toEgypt and less than two-third ofChina’s. Pakistan’s rice yield isone-third of Egypt’s and nearlyhalf of China. Indian andIndonesian yield of maize perhectare is much more than that ofPakistan’s, while the sugarcane’syield of Egypt, India and Ecuadoris higher than that of Pakistan.
The need of agriculturalmechanisation of farmsmeans the use ofmachines for con-ducting agriculturaloperations, replac-ing the traditionalmethods whichinvolve human andanimal labour. It isone of the packagesof Green Revolutiontechnology. It impliesthe use of mechanicaltechnology in various farmingoperations like sowing, harvesting,thrashing, levelling, watering,spraying, weeding etc. It includeschemical technology or plant pro-tection measures, hydrologicaltechnology or tube-wells andmechanical technology or tractors,thrashers, bulldozers etc.
Arguments in favour of farmmechanisation are many. Forinstance, it helps in increasing thevolume of agricultural production;encourages multiple cropping
which was not possible under tra-ditional farming; reduces depen-dence upon animal power which iscostly and also slow in operation;makes it possible to divert theland used for growing fodder foranimal power and the same landcan be brought under cultivationof growing food and non-foodcrops; saves labour, makes the jobof levelling and preparation of
land easy and helps in bringingmore land under cultiva-
tion; increases self-suf-ficiency of farmers
and raises the out-put per worker;ensures timelyavailability ofwater supply fromthe tube-wells;
reduces the cost ofproduction of vari-
ous crops; helps inincreasing income of the
farmers by minimising pre-and post-harvest losses; providesoff-the-farm employment to thepopulation living in rural areas;and, finally, helps in achievingself-sufficiency and surpluses infood and other crops.
In 1951, the Agricultural InquiryCommittee appointed by govern-ment pointed out that althoughmechanisation is labour-saving, thepower constraint of the agricultur-al sector could be overcome withthe use of tractors.
The Committee noted that theavailability of power for agricultur-al purpose is about 0.1 horse power(HP) per acre as against a recom-mended minimum of 0.2 HP peracre. The tractor may be a laboursubstitute or complement.Therefore, the use of tractorshould be appreciated if it increas-es productivity which would neu-tralise the adverse effects oflabour displacement.
In favour of mechanisation,there are two views. One is the sub-stitution view. Between two differ-ent sources of power tractor anddrought animals, tractors can be animportant engine of growth, beingcheaper relative to animal labour,and, therefore, has a negativeimpact on employment.
Secondly, the net contributionview argues that tractor, throughdeeper tillage, timely operationand reclamation of land, wouldlead to higher yields, both directlyand through more extensive dou-ble cropping which will bring high-er level of outputs requiring morelabour in those operations that arenot performed by the tractor andthis will contribute to increasedproductivity without displacinglabour and without having anyadverse effects on employmentobjectives.
The danger of unemployment onaccount of the use of mechanisa-tion has been averted by many
researchers and scholars in theirstudies that have been conductedfrom time to time, pointing outthat mechanisation would be ofgreat help to get the maximumbenefits in terms of higher outputand employment.
Some scholars point out thatmechanisation in Punjab andPakistan has increased the labourrequirements rather than displac-ing them. The rice yield of mecha-nised farms is nearly 40 per centhigher than that of the traditionalfarms, giving an over all increaseof 13 per cent in the labourrequirements.
Now that the use of agriculturalmachinery in Pakistan has provedbeneficial, it is only understand-able that its usage has increasedwith every passing year.
It is clear that agriculturalmachinery is being used extensive-ly in Pakistan and in the future itwill be surely used even morebecause of its benefits for theincreasing population to meet theshortage of food items and face thechallenge of poverty in the comingyears.
According to a study conductedat Peshawar University, it hasbeen concluded that both mecha-nised and traditional methods areapplied for the cultivation of majorcrops. There are significant differ-ences between mechanised andtraditional farms in terms of manu-al labour requirements, bullocklabour use, family size, croppingintensity, land fragmentation, live-stock holdings, input use and out-put etc.
Within each farming system,there are significant differencesbetween farm sizes and tenancies.The marginal productivity ofmachinery is higher on large farmsand owner cultivations which showthat these categories have compar-atively received more benefitsfrom mechanisation.
It has, therefore, been recom-mended that as agriculture is thelargest sector of the economy, moreattention is to be given to this sec-tor by fulfilling the agriculturalinput requirements of the farmingcommunity at reasonable prices.
Both the mechanised and tradi-tional farms have shown a back-ward slide. However, performanceof the mechanised farms is betterthan that of the traditional farms.The farming community canimprove its performance if theinputs are optimally utilised. ■
The author is Ex-Deputy Governor,State of Pakistan, and is at presentDean of Faculty at a private univer-sity in Karachi
Mechanisation on the riseBy Dr. Ali Akbar M. Dhakan
PAINFULLY SLOW: With rustic hand-pumps still in vogue in Rural Pakistan, the pace of mechanisation in agriculture has remained slow.
Poultry potential
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 201318
F ERTILISER manufacturingand marketing is a riddlethat the policymakers inPakistan are either unableor unwilling to solve. Torn
between two extreme views –industrial and official – the policieshave turned out to be disastrousfor both the farmers and the farm-ing.
The fertiliser industry keepscomplaining about gas shortages,its declining profits and productionand the resultant inability to sus-tain itself. The government, on itspart, instead of making long-termpolicy to regulate gas supplies andthe industry, keeps accusing it ofcartelisation, extortion and dam-age to national agriculture beyondredemption.
Both the government and theindustry seem to have their priori-ties wrong. The government is notready to realise two basic factsabout the fertiliser market. Firstly,ensuring urea supply and price isone-third of the management plan,not all of it. There are two othervarieties of fertiliser – phospho-rous and potash – that need equalattention of the planners, but havebeen falling well short of it.Secondly, fertiliser planning theworld over is carried out accordingto the soil requirements, not as perpolitical preferences of the incum-bent governments. Successive gov-ernments seem guilty on bothcounts if current fertiliser manage-ment is something to go by.
The industry, on its part, keepsissuing figures, proving how it islosing production by the daybecause of the shortage of naturalgas, which is the basic raw materialof production. For example, it onesuch release it claimed that in firstsix months (January to June) of2012, four plants (Agritech, DHFertilizers, Pakarab and one ofEngro’s two plants) on the SuiNorthern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL)system faced a collective revenueloss of Rs5.5 billion. Their totalsales dropped to 150,000 tonsagainst 316, 000 tons during the
corresponding period last year –representing 52 per cent decline interms of sale.
The total urea production by theSNGPL-based plants in the firsthalf of 2011 stood at 297,000 tonswhich declined by 33 per cent(198,000 tons) till June 2012 asthese plants operated at 18 percent of total capacity against 25per cent last year. The industry, asalways, remains selective in theissuance of figures: releasing thosethat prove its point and hidingthose which can spoil its case.
What industry does to compen-sate itself against these so-calledlosses is to increase prices as perits own calculations, a processwhich is not always transparent.This prompted the CompetitionCommission of Pakistan (CCP) in2012 to launch an inquiry into thisprice escalation, and it came upwith damning evidence of how theindustry manipulated urea prices
to multiply its profits – hidingbehind the gas crisis, of course.The two-member CCP committeeasked the commission to “initiateproceedings against urea produc-ers for abusing their position tounreasonably and unjustifi-ably increase ureaprices”.
The committeewas formed to lookinto the unprece-dented 86 percent (from Rs850to Rs1,580 perbag) hike by allthe manufacturers,citing gas shortagesin 2011 and its finan-cial impact on the indus-try. However, according to thereport, gas curtailment hadimpacted only 27 per cent totalurea manufacturing capacity inthe country during that period.The remaining 73 per cent was un-
affected and had no apparent jus-tification for such an unreason-able increase in price. But still,they followed, what they called“market trend”, and increased theprices to a level that had no paral-
lel in the history of thecountry.
The report notedthat the manufactur-ers not onlyincreased theprices at will, butalso refused topass on the benefitof government sub-
sidies to the farmers.On the basis of this
increase, as proven bythe profitability analysis,
profits of manufactures went sig-nificantly higher compared notonly to their own profits in previ-ous years, but also compared withaverage in other industries operat-ing in the country. In particular,both plants of Fauji Fertilisers,which were not significantlyimpacted by gas curtailment, regis-tered profits before tax of overRs49 billion in 2011 (Rs33 billionfor FFC and Rs16 billion forFFBL). This amounts to twice theprofit for these undertakings in theimmediate preceding year (2010).
While Engro’s old plant was abeneficiary of price hike due toinsignificant impact of gas curtail-ment, its new plant was impacted.The profit during the year 2011was Rs6.9 billion as against Rs5.2billion of 2010 in spite of the factthat financial costs and deprecia-tion charges for the new plantamounted to over Rs10 billion in2011 as against Rs2 billion in 2010,said the report.
The report also noted that bene-fits of subsidies were not passed onto the consumers. The governmenthad given subsidies worth morethan Rs77 billion to the manufac-turers in the last 3 years (2008-11)in the form of reduced price offeed stock gas as against the priceof fuel gas. Despite the fact thatthis concession was granted specifi-cally to ensure urea availability forthe growers at cheaper rates, therewere no sign of the growers bene-fiting from this amidst regular andvery high price hikes.
The urea producers reportedthat the amount of subsidy on feedstock gas per bag of 50kg is Rs325.However, as per the finding of theenquiry committee, if feed gas is
considered at the rate at whichfuel gas is provided to the fertiliserindustry, the subsidy worked out tobe Rs424 per bag of 50kg. If sub-sidy is calculated considering therate at which gas is supplied toother customers, the subsidy perbag would be over Rs500 per bagof 50kg. With the amount of profitsbeing made by the fertiliser manu-facturers, the subsidy, if at all ithas to be offered, should rather beoffered directly and in a targetedmanner.
Taking all the above factors intoaccount, it appears that the priceincrease of such a magnitude by allthe manufacturers at the sametime was unjustified and unreason-able and prima facie makes out acase of individual and collectiveabuse of dominance on the part ofeach urea manufacturer. Wherefactors such as economies of scale,operation efficiency, innovationand impact of gas curtailment var-ied from one urea producer to theother, they increased prices at thesame level and at the same time.This increase is unmatched in anyother period of Pakistan’s history,the report maintained.
However, in this accusatorydebate, the farmers and farminghappen to be the worst sufferersbecause fertiliser prices keep sky-rocketing to a level where theirapplication has a prohibitive costfor most of the farmers. Neitherthe government is ready to mendits ways nor is the industry readyto learn from its mistakes. Thedebate is thus leading nowhere.
The claims of the industry andthe government both have somemeasure of truth in them. The
problem with the sector is that thegovernment gas policy has createda situation where the entire manu-facturing has gone into a tailspin.National distribution of gas wassettled by the 2005 GasDistribution Policy, which, by andlarge, managed the increasingshortages in the country. But thePPP government, under pressurefrom powerful lobbies, re-openedthe issue in the last two years andfailed to manage the fallout for tworeasons: increasing shortages andpowerful lobbies hijacking theentire decision-making process.
When the present governmenttook over in 2008, everyone knewthe causes and the extent of gasshortages that were going to gripPakistan with the passage of time;drying up existing wells and stalledexploration never augured well for
the country. But still, the govern-ment re-opened the entire distribu-tion issue and that too right in themiddle of the crisis period. It, natu-rally, had its own complications,which the government was leastexpected to resolve given the levelof its competence and commit-ment.
The second layer was added tothe crisis by the manner in which itre-opened the issue. It altered the2005 gas distribution policy underpressure from business lobbies. Allthe claimants of national gasformed lobbies to either save orexpand their share of the pie. Theselobbies had money, manpower andthe right kind of political connec-tion, and used all of them brutallyto pressurise the government intofavourable decision-making.
The government, instead offinding a solution, deepened thecrisis when influential politiciansdecided to draw political andfinancial mileage out of the chaos.One of its allies exhibited specialinterest in import and distributionof urea. Comprising imports worthmillions of dollars subsidies worthbillions of rupees, it has turnedout to be a Godsend for the partyconcerned.
During the last year, the federa-tion was forced to import 553,000tons of urea despite a healthydomestic inventory. The govern-ment spent $247 million on theseimports and paid Rs15 billion insubsidies to the keep the pricesdown. This money was in additionto Rs30 billion subsidies that it pro-vided the previous year. Whichparty, or individual, would not liketo be part of the urea trade? Who
would want to stop import, regard-less of the domestic inventory?And, if domestic gas distributioncan be manipulated to create short-ages and justify imports, whoshould not avail of the opportunity?
These three factors have createdand worsened the crisis in the lasttwo years and it is not likely to beresolved unless these powerfulinterests persist and can influencethe gas distribution policy. For con-taining these interests, one, andperhaps the most viable, option is toreturn to the Gas DistributionPolicy, 2005, which set the prioritiesin descending order; domestic, fer-tiliser, power sector and industry. ■
The writer is a member of staff
By Ahmad F. Khan
While the accusatory debate continuesbetween urea producers and thegovernment, farmers happen to be theworst sufferers because fertiliser priceskeep skyrocketing to a level where theirusage becomes prohibitive for many.Neither the government is ready to mendits ways nor is the industry ready to learnfrom its mistakes.
WELL-STOCKED: While the domestic inventory remains substantial, there were factors that forced the countryto import half-a-ton of urea, costing around $250 million.
The fertiliser riddle
Photographs by Fahim Siddiqi / White Star
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 19
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 201320
Fatima Group
AGRICULTURE sector achieved a growth rate of3.1% against targeted 3.4% for the year 2011-12. Majorcrops performance was satisfactory despite poor contri-bution by wheat. Good crop harvest of cotton, sugar-cane, rice and maize, however, compensated wheat pro-duction loss. The performance of livestock was alsorecorded up to the mark. There was negative growth inminor crops that probably became the major reason formissing targets in agriculture. The fisheries and forestrysectors also could not achieve their set targets. Keepingin view the present pace of growth and development ofthe sector, a growth rate of 4.1% has been fixed for theyear 2012-13.
To keep the system sustainable for future genera-tions, agriculture system resources, such as soil, waterand air, need to be prevented from degradations bydeveloping and utilising resource conservation tech-nologies. The biotic and a-biotic stresses have to bemanaged effectively. This will not only improve thefarm profitability, but also increase resource availabili-ty and efficiency on a sustainable basis.
The achievements of agriculture sector may be con-sidered satisfactory in the situation of natural calami-ties causing high losses to agriculture production duringoutgoing year. Heavy downpours of 2011 monsoon inun-dated country’s arable belt for a second consecutiveyear particularly in Sindh by damaging crops, livestockand infrastructure. The intensity of the damages washigh in lower Sindh. More than half of the total areaunder cultivation was damaged.
The contribution of agriculture towards GDP hasbeen worked out at 21.1%. Within this, Crop sector con-tributes 41.7% and Livestock 54.9%. The share of fish-eries and forestry remains 1.8% and 1.1% respectively.Along with structural transformation of economy, therelative contribution within agriculture is tiltingtowards livestock because of its resilience againstvagaries of the weather and being source of livelihoodfor large landless rural peasantry. Sector-wise perfor-mance and future prospects of agriculture are discussedbelow:
The major crops of Pakistan include wheat, rice, sugar-cane and cotton. In Pakistan there are two major cropgrowing seasons, Kharif and Rabi. Rice, sugarcane, andcotton are important Kharif crops, while wheat is theonly major crop of the Rabi season. Maize is grown inboth seasons.
Wheat, being the staple diet of population, occupies acentral position in agricultural policies of the govern-ment. Wheat accounts for two-third of national cerealproduction, and is the most important contributor tooverall food security, providing 60% of the carbohy-drate and protein requirement to an average Pakistani.The production of wheat crop for the year 2011-12 was23,517,000 tonnes – 5.9% less than the target of25,000,000 tonnes and 6.7% less than previous year’sproduction of 25,214,000 tonnes. The wheat outlookappears comfortable from the food security point ofview as the domestic demand has been around 24.3 mil-lion tonnes. It provides sufficient exportable surplusstock to explore any international market includingwheat-deficit neighbouring countries like Iran.
Rice is an essential food commodity for masses inPakistan after wheat. It is also a valuable source of for-eign exchange earnings for the country. During 2011-12the production of rice was recorded as 6,160,000 tonnescompared to 4,823,000 tonnes for the year 2010-11. Thisbetter performance may be attributed to 8.7% increasein area, favourable weather conditions, and better seedavailability. Pakistan usually exports 2/3rd of its produc-tion. According to Rice Exporters Association ofPakistan, 3.025 million tonnes (0.7 million tonnesBasmati and 2.3 million tonnes coarse rice) has beenexported from July 2011 to March 2012 against the tar-get of 4.0 million tonnes in year 2011-12. It is expectedthat the target will be achieved with estimated foreignexchange earnings of US$3 billion. For the coming year,a production target of 6.9 million tonnes has been fixed.
Sugarcane crop occupies an important place innational economy for driving the large sugar industry.Besides food products it provides raw materials forchipboard, paper and ethanol. The production of sugar-cane for the year 2011-12 was around 58,038,000 tonnes,0.8% high compared to the target of 57,580,000 tonnes.It surpassed last year’s production of 55,309,000 tonnesby 4.9% mainly because of 5.2% increase in area sown.From this crop size, a production of about 4.67 milliontonnes white sugar have been estimated by the Ministryof Industries. Keeping in view the domestic demand ofabout 4.5 million tonnes, production and stocks, a bettersupply is expected. It is generally reviewed from theoutgoing crushing season that the sugar mills should bepursued to initiate timely sugarcane crushing and pay-ment to the farmers, so as to promote more cultivationfor the next season and achieve sugarcane productionof 59 million tonnes.
The economy of Pakistan depends heavily on cottonproduction. Despite damages to cotton crop by rainsand floods in Sindh during 2011, the production of cot-ton crop surpassed the target for the year 2011-12 dueto better crop from Punjab. The production of 13.6 mil-lion bales against the target of 12.8 million bales result-ed in increase of 6.3 % against the target. The majorreasons for good crop performance were correspondingincrease in the area (5.2%) in the back drop of unprece-dented high lint prices in 2010-11, favourable weatherconditions in Punjab, comparatively less attack of cot-ton leaf curl virus and cotton mealy bug, avoidance ofother pests by early sowing, increasing share of BT-cot-ton, favourable weather and better management prac-tices. Due to good harvest of cotton, issues of low pric-ing in local market emerged which were dispelled soondue to continuation of free market policy by the govern-ment.
With the output of 13.6 million bales, it is expectedthat textile industry will not only meet its requirementsbut also export over a million bales of raw cotton ininternational market. Keeping in view the impact ofhigh-tech BT technology, a production of 14.5 millionbales of cotton can be anticipated in year 2012-13 sub-ject to escape from any natural calamity.
Maize, one of the important major crops, performedextraordinarily better with the production of 4,271,000tonnes against the target of 3,656,000 tonnes and previ-ous year’s production of 3,707,000 tonnes. The achieve-ment may be attributed to increase in area sown (11.2%),use of high-quality hybrids and improved productiontechnologies. Since this production was unusually high,so target for 2012-13 has been increased too much andfixed at 4.3 million tonnes.
Fertiliser is Pakistan’s most important input in agricul-tural production. The contribution of balanced fertiliseruse towards increased yield varies from 30 to 60 per centin different crop production areas of the country. One kgof fertiliser nutrient produces about 8kg of cereals(wheat, maize and rice), 2.5kg of cotton and 114kg ofstripped sugarcane.
All of Pakistan’s soils are deficient in nitrogen (N), 80
to 90 per cent are deficient in phosphorus (P), and 30 percent are lacking in potassium (K). The deficiency ofmicronutrients is also appearing in different areas. Landsused for single crops are depleting soil fertility becauselands are using only certain essential plant nutrients andare intensely cultivated. When these soils go withoutbeing replenished, future crops are threatened from lossof micronutrients and other essential plant nutrients. Thecurrent installed capacity in Pakistan is sufficient tomeet domestic urea demand. The present urea capacityof 6.9 million tons is world’s 7th largest.
Soil fertility is continuously depleting due to mining ofthe essential plant nutrients from the soils under inten-sive cultivation and imbalanced use of fertilisers. During2011-12, the off-take of nitrogen decreased by 0.1%,while the use of phosphate and potash declined by 19%and 31.3%, respectively compared with 2010-11. Thistrend further widened the already existing gap in bal-anced nutrient application which has been recorded interms of N-P ratio at 5:1 against desirable 2:1. Overall,the fertiliser off-take in 2011-12 was 4.1% less comparedto 2010-11 achievements and 7.5% less against the target.The decrease in use of P and K may be attributed to theirhigh prices and less farm profitability due to low com-modity prices in the local market.
Pakistan has sufficient capacity for urea production.However due to energy crisis, less supply of gas wasavailable to the urea plants resulting in underutilisationof plant capacity and less production. To fill the supply-demand gap, about 1.5 million tonnes of urea was import-ed during 2011-12. The price of urea in international mar-ket was almost two times that in Pakistan because of pro-vision of heavy subsidy. Subsidy on imported urea wasaround Rs51 billion in 2011-12. Almost an equal amountwas calculated on subsidised gas supplies to fertilisermanufacturing plant in that period. Energy situation isstill not satisfactory indicating need of continuous importof urea in 2012-13. It has been proposed to import 0.6 mil-lion tonnes urea for 2012-13 and half of this quantity hasalready been agreed upon. A target of 4,174,000 nutrienttonnes off-take is projected for year 2012-13 to achievethe crop production target.
Total agriculture credit requirements for 2011-12 havebeen estimated at Rs750 billion, which has worked out tobe 60% of the total financial requirements for agricul-ture sector of the country. Farm sector would need Rs642billion (86%) while the requirements of non-farm sectorare Rs108 billion (14%). To streamline microfinancelending to agriculture activities and particularly to smalland marginalised farmers, five major MFBs namelyKhushhali, NRSP, Tameer, Pak Oman and FirstMicrofinance, have been included in the existing systemof allocation of indicative target and has been given anindicative target of Rs12.2 billion.
All financial institutions involved in agriculture loan-ing are actively pursuing the SBP priority for agriculturesector supported by various SBP initiatives. Recent cli-mate change and resulting floods in the region havespurred the need for banks to develop a comprehensiveagricultural finance policy for settlement, reschedulingand restructuring of loans of affected borrowers in addi-tion to provision of fresh credits for rehabilitation andrevival of economic activities in affected areas.Responding to it, the SBP has launched a RefinanceScheme at discounted rates of 8% coupled with CreditGuarantee Scheme for loss sharing of banks up to 40%.
Agriculture research system is the main source ofadvanced high yielding crop varieties in Pakistan. Thesystem contributions are praiseworthy; however, thereplenishment of genetic material did not appear to keepthe pace at previous level because of variety of reasonsin recent past. Improved seed requirement is increasingconsistently. Despite presence of over 700 seed compa-nies in business, the requirement of seed remainedunmet over the years. Efforts had been made at variouslevels to attract foreign investment and technology inseed business but outcomes remained largely unfruitfulbecause of non-existence of direly needed legislationsand regulatory framework. The high use of improved cot-ton seed may be attributed to high cotton prices duringlast season (2010-11). Rice seed distribution during 2011-12 remained around 28,895 tonnes against 22,257 tonnesof the previous year. About 17.9% of rice seed wasimported hybrid. The cotton and rice seed distributionhave been increasing, but still less than the requirement.
Being the lifeline of all agricultural activities, water isvery crucial to achieve the agricultural growth targets.Despite strenuous efforts the water availability is eitherstagnant or dwindling. Although several water storageprojects are under way, but owing to their gestation peri-od, no significant addition has been made in water avail-ability in the country which is widening the supply-demand gap. During 2011-12 an amount of 137.1 MAFbecame available by the contributions of both watersources i.e. surface water 86.9 MAF and ground water50.2 MAF against estimated availability of 140.5 MAF.The main reason of the low availability was decrease incontribution by ground water because of high diesel andelectricity prices. Below normal temperature in April andMay 2012 slowed down the glacier melt process thus fur-ther squeezing the surface water supply for Kharif sea-son crops of 2012.
Keeping in view the developments in the water sector,around 142 MAF water would become available in 2012-13 for agriculture use. The agriculture sector is a majorconsumer of energy in Pakistan, particularly for theextensive tube well network across the country. Aboutone-fourth of the existing tube-wells use electricity foroperation, whereas remaining three-fourth are diesel fueloperated. In both categories it is becoming increasinglyexpensive to keep them functional as most of the pumpsoperate at only 30 per cent efficiency. Frequent increasesin electric power tariff and price of imported diesel areaugmenting the cost of crop production. There is a needto invest in alternative energy sources and high efficien-cy irrigation system to sustain the irrigated agriculture ofthe country.
Indiscriminate use of pesticides resulted in problemslike the disturbance of the agro-ecosystem, developmentof resistance by the pests, emergence of new pest species,human and animal health issues, as well as environmen-tal degradation and contamination of water supplies. InPakistan, cotton is a main crop which is used to hit byvarious types of pests. In 2011-12 the size of cotton out-put, despite heavy losses in Sindh province, had shownthat pest flare up remained under control. The fieldinformation suggested that due to increase in BT cottoncultivation, the issue of bollworms (American, Pink andSpotted) has come under control shifting issue to suckingpests like whitefly, jassids, thrips, mealy bug and mites. Inthat situation, the use of pesticides effective against suck-ing pest has increased compared to bollworms. The cot-ton leaf curl virus remained a concurrent issue and shallcontinue to be the most pursued topic for research in var-ious cotton research institutions in years to come.
Tractor production in the country has been sufferingbadly because of the energy constraints. Around 20,621tractor units have been produced during July-Feb in2011- 12 against 70,855 during 2010-11. GenerallyPakistan agriculture mechanisation is confined to tractoras majority of tractor-owning farmers have only cultiva-tors and don’t possess modern farm implements like DiscPlough, Rootavator and Laser Land Leveller. This ismainly because of affordability and information issue.There are quality concerns with regard to locally manu-factured machinery while high price for imported oneshas restricted its use. Concerted efforts would berequired, from both public as well privet sector, to popu-larize the agricultural machinery in Pakistan.
The economy is now showing signs of modest recovery.GDP growth for 2011-12 has been estimated 3.7 per centas compared to 3.0 per cent in the previous fiscal year2011. The Agriculture sector recorded a growth of 3.1 percent against 2.4 per cent last year. The Large ScaleManufacturing (LSM) growth is 1.1 per cent during July-March 2011-12 against 1.0 per cent last year. Overall, thecommodity producing sectors and especially theAgriculture sector have performed better. The Servicessector recorded growth of 4.0 per cent in 2011-12.
Economy is recovering from the floods and exogenousshocks and real GDP growth is estimated at around 3.7 percent on the back of pickup in agriculture and LSM growthcompared to 3 per cent last year.
The agriculture sector continues to play a crucial role inPakistan’s economy. Currently it contributes 21 per centto GDP, and provides employment to 45 per cent of thecountry’s labour force, while 60 per cent of the rural popu-lation derives its livelihoods from this sector. Despite thefloods of 2011, the sector recorded a growth of 3.1 percent in 2011-12. The profitability of agriculture sector dur-ing 2011-12 remained high because the farmers receivedgood prices for rice, cotton and sugarcane, which allowedfor greater financial resources passed on to the rural econ-omy.
Recognising the vital role the sector plays in ensuringfood security, generating overall economic growth,reducing poverty and the transforming towards industri-alisation, the government remained determined to sup-port the sector by promulgating policies that will contin-ue to make agriculture an efficient, productive and prof-itable sector of the economy. In spite of the strengths,the agricultural sector is facing some problems.Following are the major changes required to furtherboost agricultural growth or development in Pakistan:
* Unattended fertile lands in all provinces should beallotted to poor farmers with proper arrangements ofelectricity and irrigation. This will enhance the produc-tivity and per acre yield of all the crops in Pakistan.
* Taxes should be levied on Agricultural income butnot without devising limit of land holding. Otherwise itwould directly affect the poor farmers.
* Seeds should be banned which can create anyunknown pest infestation in the near future. These seedsare of cotton mainly as international seed makers are pro-viding those seeds which are not successful in our countryas these seeds are not tested on our soil.
* Cooperative farming may be introduced throughnational and multinational companies that should helpagricultural community that own a small area of fertileland but can’t manage it properly.
* Surplus vegetables and fruits must be exported.Agro export processing zone for fruits, vegetables andflowers should be developed. This will also help in com-mercialising agriculture and farmers will be able to earnmore revenue.
* Latest machinery should be provided to the farmersto increase the per acre yield. This provision should beon easy instalments so that the farmers can avoid theburden of loans. If possible, subsidy should be given bythe government of modern machinery.
* Modern techniques of irrigation can solve the prob-lems of irrigation in Pakistan. This includes drip irriga-tion and sprinkle irrigation methods. By using this tech-nique the farmers can save a huge sum of money whichhe pays for irrigation through tube wells and tractors.
* More dams should be constructed on Indus, Jehlumand Chenab rivers. This will enhance the storage capaci-ty of water and reduce the per acre cost of all the crops.This step will also reduce the salinity chances of thelands as less tube well water will be flooded to the landswhich cause salinity.
* Education and training programmes on selection ofright type and quantity of fertiliser and balanced use ofnutrients at critical growth stages of crop is highlyrequired to bridge the crops yield gap in Pakistan withcompared to adjacent countries of South Asian region.
Fatima Group is doing its best to contribute to thenational agriculture s3ector. Its Sarsabz Fertiliser is pro-viding specialised nutrients having unique chemistry,like Nitrophosphate and Calcium Ammonium Nitrate,which are most suited to Pakistan’s all soils, all cropsand all seasons.
An extensive network of Business Associates is active-ly working to make Sarsabz brands available at farmer’sdoorstep all over the country. Moreover, SarsabzTechnical Teams, which are fertiliser industry’s largest,are offering various opportunities to farmers in all eco-logical zones of Pakistan to learn how to maximise peracre yield of crops through different interactive sessionsand field demonstrations.
AusAID
THIS is a story of a village farmer, Mrs. Sajida Rafique,from a far-off village in District Bhakar. The story has itsuccess mainly due to AusAID-funded Pakistan’sAgriculture Support Linkages Programme (ASLP) whichhelps poor farmers to keep health dairy animals.
“I am not a registered farmer of the ASLP dairy pro-ject. However, I am regularly attending the monthlyfemale meetings since the beginning of project. I havelearnt and adopted many improved farm practicesthrough these trainings. Before becoming the member ofproject, the major issues with my animals were variousdisease outbreaks especially foot-and-mouth disease(FMD). Now by adopting a proper vaccination schedulemy animals are free from such risks. Spending smallamount of money on quality vaccination reduced myworries regarding disease outbreaks,” she says.
Sajida Rafique is not our registered farmer of the pro-gramme. She came to know about the project by one ofour vibrant registered female farmers in that village.Her keenness is evident that she attended our meetingon a regular basis. Her family livelihood is dependingupon their dairy animals and production from agricul-tural land.
Healthy and productive animals are the guarantee ofany profitable farm. A huge number of animals dieevery year due to various infectious diseases likeHaemorrhagic Septicaemia, Black Quarter and FMD.
Even animals that recover from these diseases cannotexploit their full productive potential which results inhuge economic losses to the dairy farmer.
There was an outbreak of FMD on Sajida’s farmbefore the start of project. Two buffalos and one cowwere badly affected. Milk production dropped from 20to 4 litres/day and one buffalo aborted. Buffaloes wereunable to eat and showed signs of lameness. She wasvery upset with this ongoing situation at her farm. Shetreated affected animals with commonly used home-made remedies like hot millet bread, brown sugar, but-ter and turmeric powder, but the animals did not recov-er. After that she consulted a local veterinarian for treat-ment.
The dairy team of ASLP delivered a health module tothe farmers during the month of April, 2012. She wasvery excited to learn about the preventive measures tocontrol infectious diseases. After getting training sheinsisted that her husband vaccinate their animalsagainst FMD. In this way, she protected her animals byspending a small amount of money on quality vaccina-tion and reduced her worries regarding FMD outbreaks.
National ICT R&D Fund
OUR vision is to transform Pakistan’s economy into aknowledge-based economy by promoting efficient, sus-tainable and effective ICT initiatives through synergicdevelopment of industrial and academic resources.
The company was established in 2006 by the FederalGovernment, under Section 42 of Companies Ordinance.National ICT R&D Fund has taken up a challenging taskof capacity building in the arena of ICT and nurturing ittowards sustained development of an R&D culture inPakistan. Joint industry-academia research is one of thekey vehicles used to promote innovation in the ICTindustry and to promote a research culture in the acade-mic institutions of Pakistan.
National ICT R&D Fund has the mandate to fundsound technical R&D proposals. The company encour-ages concrete proposals in the field of Information andCommunication Technology. The organisation believesin an accurate mobilisation of its resources whereemphasis is given to achieve technical excellence, inno-vation and its diffusion and positive impact on the eco-nomic growth of the country and for the benefit of soci-ety at large.
Certain R&D themes have been approved by theBoard of Directors of National ICT R&D Fund. Thesethemes help demarcate priority segments for harnessingthe efforts of the company and help generate an innova-tion centric ecosystem through advancements inInformation and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Itmay be noted that the funding is not limited to theseareas only.
The approved themes are: Design and development ofinnovative services and management systems for next-generation telecom networks; leverage ICT to developscalable and sustainable solutions to deliver internation-al-quality education; to enhance security for all citizens;to improve productivity and quality of products in SMEsector; to improve productivity and quality of productsin agriculture; to develop scalable and sustainable solu-tions to deliver a minimum level of healthcare to all citi-zens; and to design and develop cost-effective and sus-tainable energy production and distribution systems.
The National ICT R&D Fund has recently funded twoagriculture-specific projects using ICTs; namely,Dielectric Characterisation for Agricultural andPharmaceutical Applications using MicrowaveTechniques by COMSATS Institute of InformationTechnology, Islamabad; and the Crop Estimation andGeographic Mapping System (CEGMaS) by theUniversity of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar’sMardan Campus.
The aim of the first project is to address one of the keychallenges of dielectric characterisation of solvents andbiological materials within the pharmaceutical and agri-cultural industries. The main focus is to study and applya novel class of miniature, compact and highly sensitivesensors to perform measurements on a range of materi-als. The key objectives of the project are to investigateand design novel microwave resonant sensors for accu-rate characterisation of dielectric properties of materials;to perform electromagnetic simulations of the proposednovel structures and study their feasibility for use in agri-cultural and pharmaceutical applications; to fabricatemicrowave sensors and employ them for characterizingdielectric properties of common organic and inorganiclaboratory solvents such as ethanol, methanol, iso-propanol, ethanediol, butanol, dimethylsulphoxide, acetoneand their mixtures; to employ sensors for measurement ofmoisture content of grain seeds such as barley and wheatand develop calibration standards for various environmen-tal conditions; and to develop microwave calibration stan-dards to take into account for changing environmental con-ditions such as humidity levels and temperature.
The second project aims at designing and developing acustomised version of internationally used state of the artcrop yield estimation and classification system forPakistan. The key objectives of the project are to designand develop efficient pre-processing schemes for thehyper-spectral imagery; to investigate and optimise exist-ing/novel techniques for enhancing pattern matchingschemes; to design and develop procedures for generalis-ing the crop-estimation techniques; to design and developefficient ground/field survey mechanisms which are assist-ed by latest technological tools and services so as to pro-vide a high degree of accuracy; to investigate, conceiveand develop a Geographic Information System (GIS)according to the specifications of Open GeospatialConsortium (OGC) that incorporates the requirements ofvarious end-users in Pakistan.
There are 77 high-quality technical R&D projects worthabout Rs1,175 million that have been funded since 2006 bythe company. The broad categories within which these pro-jects reside are telecom network management systems,telecom network components, intelligent mobile devices,innovative services for telecom networks, agriculture, SMEproductivity enhancement, e-learning, citizen security, e-health, network security and micro systems. Details of theprojects are available at the website www.ictrdf.org.pk.
The company attaches great importance to HR capacitybuilding. Taking into account the socio-economic and tech-nological landscape of the country; efforts are required to
Partners in progress
DAWN THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013 21
be made for equitable access to scientific and technologicalprogression and utilisation of ICTs to bring about a socio-economic uplift of the relatively underprivileged and mar-ginalised areas of the country. At the same time, it is impor-tant to provide opportunities to the young ICT graduates tosettle into proper careers in the industry.
Some key HR development initiatives of the companyare as under:
* Since 2007, National ICT R&D Fund has been success-fully executing Prime Minister’s National ICT ScholarshipProgramme across Pakistan, including FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan. More than 3,300 fully-funded four-year ICT-relat-ed undergraduate degree scholarships have been offered totalented and deserving students of Pakistan under this pro-gramme in top universities of the country. The programalso includes the Training of Teachers, Principal’sOrientation Workshop and Foundation TrainingProgramme components, through which teachers are pro-vided refresher training in their respective subjects and inturn students are trained in the techniques to effectivelysolve MCQ-based university entrance exams, thereby giv-ing them a level playing field with students belonging tometropolitan areas.
This year, the Fund is planning to offer 500 scholarshipsto the talented and deserving youth of Pakistan (includingAzad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), FATA and Giligit-Baltistan).
* Another project was approved to fill the educationalgap between urban and rural areas by establishing VirtualUniversity (VU) campuses in remote areas of Pakistan.This project will have great socio-economic benefit by cre-ating a pool of qualified professionals, especially IT profes-sionals, in under-served areas of the country, which is anational need. The project is under execution and campus-es have been established and made operational in Jalalpur-Pirwala, Makhdoom Rashid, Qadirpur-Raan andBahawalnagar.
More remote campuses are also planned to be estab-lished by Virtual University and such locations includeUmerkot, Layyah, Swat, Rajanpur, Skardu, Bagh, Alipur,Jhal Magsi, Qalat, Khuzdar, Gujar Khan, Rahimyar Khan,Jaranwala and Chakwal city.
* Establishment of ICT blocks in pre-existing universi-ties/institutions was approved for the benefit of the stu-dents and faculty of the respective universities/institutionsthrough crowd-sourcing and related ICT activities thatwould ultimately enable them to develop and enhance theICT knowledge to become active resource for the R&D ini-tiatives in the country. The establishment of ICT blocks hasbeen started at Lahore College for Women University,Lahore, the Islamia University, Bahawalpur, and AitchisonCollege, Lahore.
In addition, ICT blocks have also been approved andwork is expected to start soon at Kinnaird College, Lahore,Viqar-un-Nisa College, Rawalpindi, and BahauddinZakariya University, DG Khan Campus.
* National Grassroots ICT Research Initiative (NGIRI) isaimed at assisting those undergraduate students of publicand private sector universities who are enrolled in degreeprogrammes related to ICT disciplines and have initiatedtheir Final Year Projects (FYPs). The financial assistanceunder the programme enables students undertaking FYPsfor building prototypes and working models in order toincrease their creativity, innovation and hands-on engineer-ing and development skills. Under this initiative, a total of690 FYPs of 78 universities/institutions across the countryhave been funded/approved.
* National ICT Research Outreach Programme (NIROP)aims at creating an enabling research environment withinuniversities in un-served areas of the country that are notcurrently benefiting from Fund’s assistance associated withtechnical R&D projects. The main focus of the programmeis to ideally latch one faculty member and two researchassistants of those universities with the company’s on-goingresearch projects so that they learn the tools and tech-niques of R&D in ICT.
* PSEB Incubator Programme aims at contributingtowards increasing the pace of innovation in the countryand helping create new companies that can employ hun-dreds and someday thousands of individuals in high payingjobs. The programme will also prepare a corps of entrepre-neurs who will adopt formation of companies as careerpath. The starting teams inducted under the programmewill be groomed and nurtured during the incubation periodwith the help of two advisors – technical and business).PSEB had invited proposals from various start-up groups,and the process of selection is under way.
* National ICT Internship Programme is to be executedby PSEB. Under this programme, a total of 800 interns willbe hired from all over Pakistan according to the specifiedprovincial quota. These interns will be placed in ICT com-panies for a period of at least four months. At least 200 ofthese interns will be given training in emerging ICT areas.
USAID
HELPING the Pakistani people and government toincrease jobs, incomes, and trade in the agricultural sec-tor is one of the priority areas of the US Government’scivilian assistance to Pakistan. The largest share of thisassistance is provided by the US Agency forInternational Development (USAID).
USAID’s goal is to increase employment and incomesfor 1.14 million rural families (representing about 7.25million Pakistanis) by 2017 by irrigating one millionacres of land, improving agricultural technology, andconnecting small farmers to major agribusinesses.
USAID implements a number of multi-year projectstoward that goal. Assistance includes providing techni-cal advice to businesses and individuals; training special-ists to improve productivity, quality, marketing, andbusiness operations; funding equipment, facilityupgrades, and research; and facilitating efforts to findbetter-paying markets, both within the country andinternationally, for agricultural goods. USAID also fundsconstruction of irrigation systems and supportsGovernment of Pakistan’s efforts to reform and mod-ernise the agricultural sector, its practices and policies.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is anotherUS Government agency working to facilitate the devel-opment of Pakistan’s agricultural sector. USDA is work-ing with Pakistani institutions to control the spread ofplant and animal diseases that cause significant econom-ic damage to Pakistani farmers. Specifically, USDA isfocusing on the development of disease-resistant wheatand cotton seeds, control and prevention of foot andmouth disease, watershed management, aquaculture,storage facilities for agricultural produce, data collec-tion and analysis, and technical exchanges.
Key accomplishments over the past three years are:Since October 2009, over 800,000 farmer families have
increased their incomes through the US-Pakistan coop-eration.
By far the most farmers have benefited from US-fund-ed efforts to restore livelihoods after the 2010 floods.More than 640,000 farmers throughout the countryreceived high-quality wheat or sunflower seed, fertiliser,livestock or tools and have significantly increased yieldsand incomes.
Through other US-funded efforts, 12,000 farmers inBalochistan have increased their incomes by 40 per centby upgrading their farming practices and increasingsales. Additionally, 31,000 people in Punjab and Sindhhave received training in dairy-related operations and
have adopted income-increasing practices.In terms of current projects, USAID funds several pro-
jects that work directly with farmers to improve theirincomes and employment. They include:
The Balochistan Agriculture Project (January 2009-December 2015) works with 700 poorer communitiesalong the Afghanistan border. The project offers train-ing and advice to help farmers increase crop and live-stock production and find more profitable markets. Thisproject is implemented by the UN Food and AgricultureOrganisation.
The Dairy Project (July 2011-July 2014), implementedby the Dairy and Rural Development Foundation, aPakistani NGO, works with small dairy farmers andextension workers in southern Punjab. The projectoffers basic equipment and training in modern dairyfarming techniques. This project plans to train 16,000people and inform two million additional farmers aboutdairy-related practices through outreach campaigns.
The Entrepreneurs Project (June 2009-June 2014),implemented by Mennonite Economic Development
Associates, aims at increasing incomes and employmentfor 75,000 women working in the sectors of dairy,embellished fabrics, bee-keeping, and medicinal andaromatic plants. In cooperation with local private sectorentities, government agencies, and NGOs, the project ishelping women across the country to learn new skills,develop better products, and access new markets.
The two-year Wheat Productivity EnhancementProject has introduced a wheat seed variety that is resis-tant to Ug99 – a stem rust disease that can damage anentire crop if left unchecked. The new seed will be avail-able for commercial sales in October 2013.
Under the Animal Disease control Programme, USDA,in collaboration with the UN Food and AgricultureOrganisation and several provincial and federal govern-ment authorities, vaccinated over 200,000 cows, upgrad-ed seven veterinary laboratories, and are scheduled todo two more later this year.
Additionally, USAID funds projects that focus on thedevelopment of farmer groups and small and medium-sized enterprises. These include:
The Firms Project (May 2009–December 2014), imple-mented by Chemonics, aims at helping 4,000 small andmedium-sized enterprises improve production, access tofinance, and marketing of commodities. This project pro-vides assistance to SMEs operating in the sectors of fish-eries, livestock, minerals, garments, and tourism. Theproject also builds business development institutionsand helps remove policy constraints to private sector-ledgrowth.
The Agribusiness Project (November 2011-November2016), implemented by the Agribusiness Support Fund,another Pakistani NGO, supports businesses working inthe horticulture and livestock sub-sectors, includingdairy, meat and fisheries. The project works to improveproductivity, processing, packaging, storage, sales, tech-nology, and product diversification. The project alsoseeks to increase investment in the agribusiness sector.More than 100,000 farmers will receive training andother support through this project.
Three other projects focus on sector-wide efforts.These are:
The Agriculture Policy Project (July 2011-July 2015),implemented by the International Food PolicyResearch Institute, supports national and provincialpolicy reform related to agricultural production, watermanagement and irrigation, macroeconomics, marketsand trade, poverty alleviation, and social safety. Theproject also funds research, sponsors a national ruralhousehold survey, and provides modelling tools to poli-cy-makers.
The recently-launched four-year AgriculturalInnovation Project will sponsor research to encourageadoption of new technologies in agriculture, such aslaser land levelling, zero tillage, residue management,and introducing short-duration legumes into rice-wheatcropping systems. The project is implemented by theInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre,other international agricultural research centres, andthe Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.
The Grain Storage Program (April 2011-June 2013),implemented by the International Finance Corporation,provides advisory services to the Government ofPakistan to help establish public-private partnershipsfor managing, handling, and storing strategic grainreserves in Punjab and Sindh.
Finally, several projects work to expand irrigation sys-tems, so that local farmers can grow better harvests andincrease incomes. These include:
The Gomal Zam Irrigation Project (October 2011-September 2013), implemented by WAPDA, is construct-ing irrigation canals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Once com-pleted, this project will irrigate 191,000 acres of land for30,000 families.
The Satpara Development Project (March 2012-March2017), implemented by Aga Khan Foundation, is con-structing on-farm irrigation systems on 15, 500 acres ofland in Gilgit-Baltistan. The project will also developprocessing facilities to reduce waste of produce and willlink producers and processors to better-paying markets.Ultimately, the project aims at supporting 30,000 fami-lies in the region.
Another 415,000 acres will be irrigated upon renova-tion of Amandara and Munda head works (structuresused to divert rivers to canals) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.More than 90 per cent of this work has already beencompleted.
These efforts will not only increase employment,incomes and livelihoods for the rural populationthroughout Pakistan, but also enhance national foodsecurity, increase economic growth, and earn more for-
eign exchange for the country through exports of agri-cultural produce.
Alpha Penta (Pvt.) Ltd
WE are currently engaged in the sale of completeplants machines, equipments and process technologiesfor various sectors of agriculture, foods, beverages, poul-try, livestock and dairy industries.
We offer through our reputable partners, solutions invarious agri, food, beverage, juice, dairy, poultry, meatand meat processing sectors. We feel that qualitymachines and equipments and processes can significant-ly add value to the products being manufactured by wellreputed concerns.
Our goal is to help and support our customers with notonly quality products, but to develop a relationship ofmutual benefit which in turn helps their brand and themarket in general. We strongly believe that be it ingre-dients or machine and equipments, the real value isderived from a customer-focused philosophy which in
turn is a constant effort to develop, innovate and build atrustworthy exchange of ideas.
We specialise in pharmaceutical and chemical sectors;dairy and dairy by-products; juice and other beverages;fresh fruits, vegetables and dry fruit processing solu-tions; farming solutions for livestock, chicken, quail andostrich; abattoir solutions for livestock and poultry;slaughterhouse for poultry; solutions for meat, poultryand seafood processing.
Our current activities involve representation of highlyreputed suppliers for the above-mentioned industrialsectors. We provide project planning, sales and after-sales service for the companies we represent.
Ittehad Chemicals Ltd.
ITTEHAD Chemicals Limited has been pioneer in pro-ducing caustic soda and other allied chemicals i.e. chlo-rine, hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite, bleachingearth, zinc sulphate, chlorinated paraffin etc. in thecountry. It has been into dynamism since 1964 and gotnationalised in 1972 after which it began journeying forautonomy, finally getting privatised in 1995.
Ittehad takes its customers as its focal point since ithas successfully grounded itself through dedicated clien-tele thus comfortably catering to customers’ demandswhile sustaining its capacity.
Authorities at ICL have been adding to the nationaleconomy by focussing on further investment and expan-sion. They have been channelising considerable charityto several schools, dispensaries and a number of welfareand rehabilitation bodies like the Red Crescent. ICLacquired certifications like ISO 9001 and 14001 fromrenowned certification bodies which testify to the com-pany’s commitment to quality in terms of its mainte-nance and preservation.
ICL is ambitious about diversification and endeavourin the fields of bio-life sciences, including human health,animal health and plant health sciences, which will con-tribute sufficiently to the national economy in particular.
Ned-Pak Technical Packaging & Instruments
DUTCH, as a nation, are known for their shippinginterest historically. In the mid-80s they excelled in ship-ping transportation and logistics because of their famousport Rotterdam. Since the 90s, they have excelled infresh produce transportation/logistics.
NEDNGLISH was established in 1991 in a small towninternationally known for flowers trade, Aalsmeer. Theybecame a major contributor for long-distance packagingand logistics of fresh produce by reefers from SouthAmerica to Netherlands.
Ned-Pak was established in 2011 to export fresh pro-duce by sea instead of going by air from Pakistan overlong distance. In addition, services started in 2012 forthe Post Harvest Technology and Solutions in order tosupport the fresh produce exports for extending theshelf life, as well as to improve the cool chain manage-ment and packaging. Products supporting the extensionof shelf life specialised bags and cartons are produced inEU. Supporting materials, like temperature data loggersand anti-sprouting (ethylene) are inducted to supportpotato, apples etc. Web shop has become a very impor-tant feature providing instruments which are not easilyavailable in Pakistan at one platform.
Successful results on Kinnow have proven shelf-lifeextension for two months in ambient temperature, so thepackaging in MAP bags will bring a saving in 2013-14electricity bill over US$20 million. It will make Kinnowmore competitive in international markets. Common peo-ple in domestic market will find 20% lower prices.
Mango 2013, likewise has been targeted with the bagsand cartons for exports over long distance with a targetof 200 tons, and 1000 tons for domestic distribution andnetwork. The open top ledge tray, universally used for abetter presentation will bring savings up to 25% in logis-tics. It shall make the major Pakistani population enjoythe seasonal fruit of short span to a longer span with 10%lower prices than previous years.
Fresha Bags, especially designed for the domestickitchen, will save 20% of the budget of a family on thevegetables and fruit along with the saving on electric bill.
The wastages which shall be controlled by using thetechnology can save Pakistani nation US$1 billion forthe year 2013 which shall facilitate the buying power ofthe common man of Pakistan.
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission-I
SINCE its inception, the Pakistan Atomic EnergyCommission (PAEC) has focussed on the peaceful utili-
sation of nuclear energy for sustained economic develop-ment of the country. PAEC was established in 1956 andwithin six years, its first agriculture centre, AtomicEnergy Agriculture Research Centre, was fully function-al. Located at Tando Jam in Sindh, the main thrust of itsactivity was creation of radiation-induced mutants andbreeding for crop improvement. The agriculture centrewas upgraded in 1998 and was renamed as NuclearInstitute for Agriculture (NIA). Although developmentof new varieties, plant soil nutrient management andstress physiology are the main areas of research at NIA,but it also has the strongest programme in bio-control ofinsect pests.
In the following three decades, three more centreswere developed to contribute to various areas related toagriculture and biotechnology utilising nuclear tech-niques. National Institute of Agriculture and Biology(NIAB) was established in 1972 at Faisalabad in Punjabconsidering the importance of agriculture in this areaand its impact on socioeconomic development of thecountry. Development of crop varieties with special ref-erence to environmental stresses and animal productionand health are its focused areas of research. The thirdagriculture institute of PAEC got functional in 1982.This was named Nuclear Institute for Food andAgriculture (NIFA) at Peshawar in KhyberPakhtunkhwa. In addition to crop development, themain objective of NIFA is to use nuclear radiations topreserve and increase the shelf life of cereals, fruits andvegetables produced in the province.
The fourth institute is the Nuclear Institute ofBiotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), estab-lished in Faisalabad. The institute, first of its kind in thecountry, was formally inaugurated by the president ofPakistan in 1994. Biotechnological improvement ofcrops, environment, health and industry are the mainresearch areas of NIBGE. Molecular diagnostic testshave been developed and a major role was played in theeradication of most fatal ‘rinderpest’ disease fromPakistan. It also has the largest MPhil and PhD biotech-nology programme in Pakistan. Identification of genes,assembly of gene constructs and genetic transformationsof crop plants have been achieved at NIBGE through theuse of state-of-the-art facilities for genetic engineering,microscopy, molecular diagnostics and nanotechnology.
All these PAEC centres not only contribute throughproduct development, but also provide manpower forcurrent and future needs. In 50 years of its history,PAEC has developed 79 different crop varieties.Millions of hectares have been treated throughIntegrated Pest Management (IPM) to reduce crop loss-es. Techniques have been developed for the utilisationof salt-affected lands and, most importantly, technologyhas been transferred to the farming community throughspecialised trainings and seminars.
The white revolution brought about by a PAEC cottonvariety NIAB 78 in 1980s had increased the productionfrom 4.5 million bales to 7.8 million bales. Not many peo-ple are aware of the fact that mungbean varieties devel-oped by the PAEC cover about 90% of the cropped areaand according to Consultative Group of InternationalAgricultural Research (CGIAR), the PAEC mungbeanvarieties have brought another green revolution in thecountry.
In addition to crop development, molecular andbiotechnological techniques have been developed fordisease diagnostics, therapeutics and drug discovery.Bioleaching, bioremediation and nanotechnology arebeing utilized to alleviate concerns about industry andenvironment. Latest techniques and expertise devel-oped at these agriculture and biotechnology institutesare instrumental in increasing exports through authentictesting of Basmati rice and utilisation of food irradiationtechnology.
PAEC introduced R&D culture in Pakistan and contin-ues to be one of the leading organisations in terms ofcompetence and productivity. PAEC stands out as theunrivalled organisation in Pakistan that has such track
record of contributions for the overall development ofagriculture sector and improvement of socio economicstandings. – Dr. Nayyer Iqbal, Director Agriculture andBiotechnology, PAEC
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission-II
FOR nearly 60 years now, the Pakistan Atomic EnergyCommission, the flag-bearer of nuclear technology in thecountry, has been actively engaged in harnessingnuclear technology, in all its various forms, for thesocioeconomic uplift of the people – contributing direct-ly to the many facets of our national life: in the healthsector, in agriculture, in industry, in water studies, andin various other areas. But most importantly, for ourenergy-starved country, it has set itself on a path to pro-vide a clean and reliable source of electrical power.
At the PAEC, the most important task has alwaysbeen the harnessing of nuclear energy for the genera-tion of electrical power. There is very limited access toconventional energy resources in the country and, there-fore, it is an obligation to build and safely operate morenuclear power plants to help resolve this acute problem.
We began nuclear power development at a very earlystage, with our first plant at Karachi coming on line in1972, and at that time, we were only the 15th country inthe world to have a nuclear power plant operating.
Despite various restrictions and embargos on thenuclear technology to Pakistan, we set an example ofoperating a nuclear power plant-KANUPP, without anyvendor support. Two more nuclear power plants, 325MWe each, have been installed at Chashma, a site inMianwali district. Another two, 340 MWe each, areunder construction at the same site and are expected tobe commissioned by 2016. To meet the national energyneeds, PAEC has been tasked by the Government ofPakistan to install 8,800 MWe of nuclear power by theyear 2030.
The functioning plants, C-1 and C-2, are operating verywell. In 2012, C-1 with a capacity factor of 94% producedat Rs5.3 per unit gave the highest capacity factor in allpower plants of the country, with C-2 not far behind witha capacity factor of 84% at Rs7.5.
Over more than four decades, PAEC has maintained anenviable safety record. Radiation monitoring of the landand waters surrounding our nuclear plants, as well as edi-bles from these areas, is a normal routine. There are well-documented emergency plans drawn up in collaborationwith national and provincial bodies to deal with any
eventuality for all such facilities in the country.PAEC has also made remarkable progress in some
other areas related to peaceful applications of nucleartechnology. It is currently operating 15 nuclear medicineand oncology centres across the country with anotherthree under construction. More than 70% of the cancerpatients in the country are being treated at these hospi-tals, most of them free of cost or with nominal charges.The total number of patients who visited these hospitalslast year exceeded 700,000.
PAEC uses research reactor PARR-1 at PINSTECH toproduce most of the radiopharmaceuticals required byits hospitals and even cater to the needs of other cancerhospitals in the country. It has installed a facility for theproduction of the most widely used radionuclide,Molybdenum-99, which has lately been in short supply inthe world.
Currently, Pakistan is producing Moly 99 indigenouslyand getting into position to export this isotope. Lately,PAEC has also been engaged in indigenously developinglinear accelerators for its nuclear medical centres.
PAEC has four agricultural and bio-technology centresnamely NIA in Tando Jam, NIFA in Peshawar, NIAB andNIBGE in Faisalabad. These have been pioneers in manyareas in the country. The new varieties developed inthese centres through the use of nuclear technologyhave resulted in improvements in crop productivity, andin the fight against salinity and drought.
PAEC also operates a large gamma irradiation facilityfor sterilising the medical and surgical equipment, andfor enhancing the shelf life of food and food products.Nuclear technology is also being used in a number ofindustrial applications.
For R&D in the applications of physical sciences, thePakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology(PINSTECH) is the premier institution of the country. Itis at PINSTECH that the research reactor, PARR-1, hasbeen functioning since 1965. Along with a number ofother activities, PINSTECH also focuses on productionand application of radioisotopes.
All the successes that have been achieved are ulti-mately due to the dedicated work of a highly accom-plished and talented workforce that PAEC has beenable to gather together. From the very early days of theorganisation, the importance of basing the selectionprocess purely on merit was realised, and has been zeal-ously guarded since then. The highly sophisticated andtechnically demanding nature of the work requires thesetalented people to undergo further specialised educa-tion and training, and today PAEC has network of in-house educational and training institutions that encom-pass all major facets of nuclear science and technology.
One of these institutes is the Pakistan Institute ofEngineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS). It functionsas a full-fledged university and conducts PhD, MS, andBS programmes in a number of academic disciplines. Inboth the rankings of Pakistani universities that HEC hascarried out till now, PIEAS has been rated as theNumber 1 engineering institution of the country.
PAEC has come a long way in the past six decades inthe service of the nation, and will continue the work forthe betterment and prosperity of the people of Pakistan.– By Shahid Riaz Khan, Director SI&PR, PAEC
Al-Technique Corporation of Pakistan Ltd
AL-TECHNIQUE Corporation of Pakistan Limited(ATCOP) was established in 1984 as a subsidiary ofPakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). It was topave way for the interaction of public sector with theprivate sector in non-conventional technologies, and tobring the technologies developed in PAEC to thedoorsteps of the common man. ATCOP provides servicesto pharmaceutical, food, agriculture, civil and electricalindustries.
Pakistan Radiation Services (PARAS) provides sterili-sation services through gamma irradiation to nationaland multinational pharma industry for their productslike sutures, catguts, surgical cotton gauze, aluminiumtubes (empty), eye ointments, eye drop vials (empty),surgical instruments, surgical implants, culture tubes,gloves, safe delivery kits, syringes, IV sets and many oth-ers. Pharma exporters have benefited from PARASapropos radiation sterilisation of their products.Radiation treatment of pharma products is the best,sure, neat, clean and superior to any other process invogue in the industry. PARAS has a unique process todevelop charming and attractive colours in preciousstones for dealers in this sector. This has pushed theexport and marketability of gems and stones.
Post-harvest losses in Pakistan are approximately35%. Irradiation is the best possible method for improv-ing the hygienic quality as well as prolonging the mar-ketable life of food items. To cater to the needs of fruitand food exporters, PARAS Foods was established in2008. It is a joint venture between PAEC and PHDECand provides irradiation services to food processors andfood exporters. USA and Australia do not allow importof mangoes without radiation treatment. Treating thefruits, vegetables and spices with radiation preserve thestuff and shelf life is extended.
Agro Laser is a land-levelling system developed byPAEC indigenously. It is marketed involving the privatesector for the supply of locally produced parts of the sys-tems. This is the only locally developed system andapproved by the Government of Punjab. The benefitsinclude 30% saving of water, 20% increase in yield, and35% reduction in labour. ATCOP provides excellentafter-sales service to farmers for the Agro Laser.
SOILCON offers soil testing and drilling service toboth private and public sectors. It performs quality test-ing for its clients as per international codes and stan-dards.
HS Vaccine for animals is being developed in NIAB-PAEC. This oil-based vaccine has a longer shelf life andcan be stored at room temperature. The vaccine pro-vides immunity for one year.
Power Tech provides quality services in designingmanufacturing, testing, commissioning and completeelectrical distribution system on turnkey basis.
PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) based diagnosis ofHepatitis B and C, and genotyping at competitive ratesare carried out at NORI, Islamabad. This service is alsoavailable at IRNUM, Peshawar.
ATCOP is planning to bring two non-conventionaltechnologies – Electron Beam for multiple application ofradiation, and Hydrogel for medical and cosmetic uses.ATCOP welcomes joint venture in any of its enterprises.– By Abdul Hai, Managing Director
Punjab Agriculture & Meat Company
PUNJAB Agriculture and Meat Company (PAMCO) isstriving to educate and facilitate the farmers since 2010.In a short span of time, we have a list of success storiesand thousands of satisfied farmers. PAMCO is workingat all tiers of the value chain in the meat sector, includ-ing production, processing and marketing.
At the production level, the company registers live-stock farms, provide them technical back-stopping andincentivise them under Save the Calf and Feedlot
Fattening programmes. Till date, we have registeredmore than 4000 livestock farms and about 60,000 ani-mals while providing them free vaccination and ear tagsfor traceability. The company has set a trend of livestockfarming to produce quality and sufficient meat animalsin the province.
At the processing level, PAMCO has established mod-ern slaughterhouse, the Lahore Meat ProcessingComplex (LMPC), having slaughtering and processingcapacity of 1,500 large and 18,000 small animals per day.It is providing hygienic meat to the local community andexporting the meat and by-products to earn the valuedcapital.
We also patch up farmers and exporters for sale andpurchase of animals for meat export.
PAMCO is also working in the horticulture sector andhas developed modern nurseries in the province byestablishing Potohar as the Olive Valley, Cholistan asthe Grapes Valley and Bhakar and Layyah as the CitrusValley. The company has provided more than 19,000imported plants of olive, citrus and grapes to nurseriesfree of cost. We are determined to make the agriculturalfuture of Punjab bright. – By Mohammad Imran Amjad,CEO
ProFarm Pakistan Pvt Ltd
IN Pakistan, ProFarm is the first one-stop dairy farmproduct and service provider. We are a partner in thesuccess of your dairy farm operation from the inceptionto the daily operation. Over 100,000 farmers have usedour products and services ever since the start of ouroperations in 2007. We are proud to be a partner to allthe major dairy farms in Pakistan. Our commitment is toprovide you with quality products and reliable servicesany time, every time, to contribute to your dairy farmingprofit. All our products and services have three things incommon: the best quality, unchallenged reliability, andunrivalled focus on your success.
ProFarm Pakistan is a joint venture between twoDutch companies: The Blue Link [www.thebluelink.org]and CRV [www.crv4all.com]. CRV is the world’s secondlargest breeding organisation with activities in over 60countries worldwide. ProFarm Pakistan is proud to bethe exclusive representative of DeLaval Dairy Solutions[www.DeLaval.com] in Pakistan.
You want a profitable dairy farm? We support you toachieve just that!
CLAAS
CLAAS is one of the world’s leading manufacturers ofagricultural machinery. The CLAAS brand stands for lat-est technology in the agricultural business and is well-known among farmers all over the world. About 40% ofcombine harvesters sold in Europe come from the com-pany based in Harsewinkel, Germany. CLAAS is theworld market leader with its second largest productgroup, i.e. self-propelled forage harvesters.
Beside combine harvesters, self-propelled forage har-vesters and tractors, CLAAS is also one of the leaders inworldwide agricultural technology with agriculturalbalers and grassland harvesting machines. The range ofproducts furthermore includes modern system, trans-portation and traction vehicles, as well as the latest agri-cultural information technology.
In 2013 CLAAS is celebrating its 100th birthday.Founded in 1913 by August Claas, it is still a companywith family participation. With Helmut Claas as chair-person of the shareholders’ committee, his daughterCathrina Claas-Mühlhäuser as chairperson of theSupervisory Board and representatives from the twoother owner families, it also remains family-run.
Through its range of complete, perfectly matched har-vest chains from mowing, tedding and swathing to load-ing, chopping or baling, CLAAS can offer unique, well-designed forage harvesting technologies that are suitedto various farm structures. All mowers, swathers andtedders from CLAAS are developed and manufacturedin Bad Saulgau, Germany.
Ever since CLAAS was granted the first patent for itsknotter technology in 1921, the company has continuedto develop intelligent solutions for enhanced straw qual-ity. With the new chopping system on the QUADRANT3300 RC and QUADRANT 3200 RC/FC, CLAAS nowadds even greater diversity to its range of large squarebalers for all forge types.
CLAAS forage harvesting technology also presentssome new developments for 2013. The VOLTO 1100 isthe world’s first 10-rotor tedder for three-point attach-ment. This tedder is equipped with a working width of10.70 metres. A new crop flow concept facilitates higherworking speeds through an improved crop flow withexceptionally gentle handling of the forage.
The LINER 500 is a new one-rotor swather with aworking width of 4.80 metres. It has a continuously lubri-cated rotor housing with 14 tine arms and a PROFIXtine arm bracket for zero-play and wear-resistant seat-ing. Thanks to fully floating suspension on the rotor theLINER 500 has a three-dimensional ground-contour fol-lowing.
CLAAS has a total of 11 manufacturing locations,meaning that it can meet the requirements of the vari-ous markets with its steadily growing product range. Indoing so, the company is always guided by the demandsof the world market, and it develops machines to meetthe individual needs and conditions in the relevantcountry. Three regional centres, 16 sales companies andmore than 1,000 sales partners in over 100 countriesthroughout the world ensure that sales, service and thesupply of spare parts run smoothly and with extensivecoverage.
In 2009, RAVI Agric launched CLAAS in Pakistan asthey started to sell and service the CLAAS productrange as official importers. Since then, CLAAS balersand forage harvesting machines have proven good suc-cess among Pakistani agriculture. Ravi Agric aims atenhancing the productivity of agricultural fields, dairyfarms and biomass businesses in Pakistan by bringingperfect business solutions by CLAAS to the nation starv-ing for agricultural technologies.
With CLASS agricultural excellence gained through acentury of services in fields across the globe and RaviAgric’s motivation to revolutionise the agricultural sec-tor of Pakistan, a new era of technological reforms isabout to dawn.
Selected Seeds Australia
SELECTED Seeds Australia is specialist provider oftropical seed species. With over 40 years of domestic andinternational experience, Selected Seeds is a namerenowned for quality.
Australian Rhodes grasses are very valuable in theworld market for the quality hay and pasture they pro-
duce. Our Rhodes Grass varieties Finecut and Reclaimerare specifically designed for producing quality highyielding hay. After finding out what hay users wanted,Selected Seeds has invested 20 years of research andbreeding to develop high-quality, reliable and high-pro-duction varieties. Our quality control also ensures thatour seeds are pure, quality seeds ready for you to plant.
Selected Seeds supports its product with agronomistsable to give the latest technological advice to ensure youachieve the best production.
Selected Seeds is excited to be able to work with grow-ers in Pakistan and assist them in producing qualityRhodes Grass hay and pasture. The Dawn Agri Expooffers us a great opportunity to meet growers and dis-cuss our varieties with them.
You can contact us via our website www.selected-seeds.com.au or through Austrade’s Mr. Imran Saeed onmobile 03008471481.
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
THE University of Agriculture, Faisalabad is a proudmember of the elite league of the top ranked universi-ties of the world. Being the mother of all agriculturaleducational institutions in the country, it has animmense impact not only at local, regional and nationallevels, but also across the globe.
Now it has emerged in the list of 300 best universitiesof the world as the National Taiwan University rankinghas placed the UAF at 33rd position in the Asia Pacificregion and at 158th in the world. Besides, the HEC alsorecognises the university's top position among 140 uni-versities in the country in terms of research factor publi-cations.
Recently, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB)declared it the best institution of the Islamic world andhonoured the UAF with Science & TechnologyExcellence Award-2011 and cash prize of $100,000. Theuniversity academia is collaborating with renownedinstitutions worldwide on recent challenges of universalimportance in all advanced disciplines of agriculture.The university has produced more than 54,000 gradu-ates, including 1040 PhDs and its national and interna-tional research portfolio surpasses Rs2 billion, including50 per cent from international competitive grants.
Now, we are putting great emphasis on disseminationof knowledge, that is being produced faster than ever,and its translation into goods and services. To put knowl-edge into practice, the university is expanding its out-reach programmes by spawning new offshoots across theprovince. It is holding festivals twice a year to provide aplatform to the farming community to interact with theagricultural scientists.
It also helps flourish university-industry linkages anddevelop knowledge based economy. The university alsohouses the Policy Centre for Agriculture and FoodSecurity, helping meet the food demand of ever increas-ing population in the county. Thus the University ofAgriculture, Faisalabad, is building leadership for foodsecurity, making education relevant to the needs of thesociety, and contributing to the development of knowl-edge-based economy in the country.
National Bank of Pakistan
THE National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) was incorporat-ed in Pakistan under the National Bank of PakistanOrdinance, 1949. The bank is involved in commercialbanking and related services in Pakistan and has one ofthe largest domestic branch networks consisting of 1,294branches across Pakistan. It also has 23 overseas branch-es and representative offices in four countries world-wide with unique footprint in South Asia, Central Asiaand the Middle East.
As the world is talking about food security, Pakistanjust can’t remain aloof. The country aimed at achievingfood security that is not possible without addressing theissues faced by farmers. Agriculture is the backbone ofPakistan economy and contributes around 21% toPakistan’s GDP and directly supports three-quarters ofthe country’s population, employs half of the labourforce and also contributes a large share in country’s totalexports.
Pakistan has one of the world’s largest man-made irri-gation systems. It is among the top five largest cotton-producing countries, third largest herd of livestock andis the fifth largest producer of milk. It is also the fifthlargest producer of sugarcane and dates and sixthlargest producer of mangoes and the largest producer ofKinnows and enjoys significant share in the global ricetrade.
Realising the importance of this segment, NBP givesan important position to agriculture sector and plays apivotal role in agriculture financing. NBP was the pio-neer in micro-financing by launching People’s Micro-financing Scheme. NBP was also the pioneer in SRCP(Supervised Rural Credit Programme) and financingagainst gold and salaries.
The Agriculture Business Division has shown out-standing results in 2012. NBP surpassed the targetassigned by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Its portfo-lio increased from Rs35 billion to Rs46 billion with NPLhovering below 6%, which is less than half the industryaverage of 13%. The other distinguishing feature ofNBP is the competitive mark-up rate charged on lendingto farmers.
Out of total 1,294 domestic online branches, 875 areinvolved in catering to the needs of farmers, while offer-ing complete range of commercial banking services tothe farmers. The NBP has disbursed Rs45,789.5 millionas agriculture credit among nearly 241,296 farmers dur-ing 2012 against a target of Rs43,200 million.
The loans disbursed can be divided into two cate-gories – production and development. Under the firstcategory loans aredisbursed mainlyfor the procure-ment of seeds, pes-ticides, fertilisersand levelling land,whereas the secondcategory coverspurchase of trac-tors, agriculturalimplements andconstruction ofmodern storagefacilitates, cattlefarms and poultryfarms etc., and pro-viding runningfinance for cater-ing to day-to-dayrequirements.
National Bank
of Pakistan has converted its entire network of 1,294branches online. The Bank now has the largest num-ber of online branches in Pakistan, exceeding anyother bank operating in the country. NBP currentlyenjoys widest branch network in the country and itsservices are available to Pakistanis living in far-flungand most difficult-to-reach areas. People living insuch remote areas will benefit the most from thisdevelopment.
Through online facility, NBP customers holding anaccount at any online branch can deposit and withdrawcash from any of the 1,294 online branches throughinter-branch transactions (IBTs); Debit/ATM Card can beissued to all customers of online branches; centralisedaccount opening; Know Your Customer (KYC) and bet-ter control and compliance.
NBP is a diversified, dynamic and largest bankinginstitution of the country. Its services are available toindividuals, corporate entities and government. It con-tinues to act as trustee of public funds and as the agentto the SBP in places where the SBP does not have anypresence.
NBP is the pioneer in Pakistan in developing a widerange of consumer products to enhance business andcater to the different segments of society. Some schemesare specifically designed for all the income segments ofpopulation. These include NBP Advance Salary, NBPSaiban, NBP Kissan Dost, NBP Cash N Gold. NBP hasimplemented special credit schemes like small financefor agriculture, business and industries, and is adminis-trator to Qarz-e-Hasna loans to students, self-employ-ment scheme for unemployed persons, as well as publictransport scheme.
During 2012, NBP through concerted efforts managedgrowth in all spheres especially in low-risk consumerfinance (Cash N Gold) and deposits with record growth.It stood by the nation in time of need. Where recentfloods wiped out of the business of some of its clients,the bank stood with the nation. SME and agriculture sec-tors have been its focus, as these are main pillars forgenerating economic activities in the country and offerlucrative opportunities for effective diversification andoptimum returns.
To achieve quantum growth in the days to come, NBPhas successfully implemented Core Banking Application(CBA) at its Main Branch, Karachi, and now plan toimplement this in another 250 branches by the end ofSeptember 2013. NBP Call Centre is now working on24/7 basis providing account information, facilitatinglodgment of complaints and status of ATM card applica-tion. The Call Centre now receives more than 1,000 callsa day and the numbers are increasing with the passageof time. The Bank is serving 7.7 million account holders.Another mark of distinction is that the Bank serves 3.3million pensioners out of total four million pensioners inthe country.
A web-based application has been implemented fromMarch 1, 2012, in 560 authorised branches for paymentof pension and contribution collections of EmployeesOld Age Benefits Institution — an autonomous bodythat assures payment of grant, financial relief or finan-cial assistance to employees of private institutions whoare registered with them. System facilitates direct creditof pensions to pensioners’ accounts and minimises theirphysical presence in the branch to receive the pension.Automation of pension payment to Pakistan Railwaysretired employees is also planned which will furtherbenefit more than 100,000 pensioners and reducecounter traffic at the branches.
It undertook remodelling of Card ManagementUnit (CMU) for improving its efficiency in dealingwith ATM card issuance and allied services to cardholders in 2012. The capacity to produce cards andtheir delivery through courier services has enhancedto 7,000 from 700 cards per day. The turn-around-time for issuance of ATM Card to applicant accountholders has also been significantly reduced. Manualbased application for issuance of ATM Card hasbeen substituted with automated filing of applica-tion. In the next phase, generation of PersonalIdentification Number (PIN) for ATM card will bedone by the card holder through IVR feature avail-able at Call Centre.
ATM Alerts are now generated for ATM DebitTransactions. As a next step, alerts for all Debit andCredit transactions that are made (self or by the Bank)in customer accounts as well as automatic reversalswould also be generated. NBP has successfully replacedthe paper-based account opening process with a system-based process which meets all regulatory as well asBank’s internal policy requirements relating to Know-Your-Customer.
American Soybean Association
THE American Soybean Association (ASA) was found-ed in 1920 by US soybean farmers and currently advo-cates for their interests through voluntary membershipby 21,000 farmers in 30 states where soybeans are grown.Overseas activities began in the mid-1950s and to date,ASA has served in more than 80 countries globally. In2000, ASA expanded and focussed its international roleand founded the World Initiative for Soy in HumanHealth (WISHH) whose mission is to create sustainablesolutions for the protein demands of people in develop-ing countries through the introduction and use of soyproducts.
ASA/WISHH is currently implementing a three-yearproject funded by the US Department of Agriculture(USDA) focussing on the aquaculture sector in Pakistan.The 'FEEDing Pakistan' project will assist Pakistan inusing US soybean meal to make high-protein fish feeds.Last year's tilapia feeding demonstrations with US soy-based feed were a strong success and accentuated thevalue of the feed. The project has brought industrystakeholders to the US for training and provided techni-cal assistance to the stakeholders in the country, build-ing local capacity. The fishery sector in Pakistan grew1.9% in 2010-11, and has great potential for continuedgrowth. ■
