Junaid Mustafa Bizenjo
Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan. The current contribution of agriculture to the GDP of Pakistan is 18.9 percent and the labor force which is directly associated with the field is 42.3%. This figure takes soars to 65% in the indirect labor force. According to the world bank report, from 1960 to 2018 agriculture was contributing 27.38% to GDP with a minimum of 20.22% at the lowest.
Talking about the mammoth contribution of agriculture to the GDP of the country, Balochistan has a weak contribution in this regard because of certain reasons. Though in terms of production, it is the largest producer of apple, dates, grapes, peach, and almond in the country, however, due to weak policies and lack of attention paid by the government, the agriculture sector of Balochistan is declining.
To mention the potential threats faced by the farmers of Balochistan, the seed is a very basic issue. As the role of seed in farming is pivotal, because the good and healthy seed is the key element to the good germination ratio of the plant, unawareness about the seed directly affects the potential yield of the certain crop. The local seed is non-certified or unverified by the state certification bodies. (Department of Plant Protection). This slack behavior by the State institutions creates space for the middlemen to fill this vacuum. Resultantly, farmers are exploited and treated as slaves. Resultantly, the farmers are sold commodities, such as substandard fertilizers and pesticides, at higher prices.
Moving one step ahead, the fertilizers purchased by the poor contingency of the farmers from the non-professionals make them pay high in terms of nutrients depletion in the soil, low production of crops, and economic loss. The branded fertilizers of Pakistan don’t have the percentage of nutrients which are mentioned in their labels. For example, the percentage of nitrogen, mentioned on the bag of urea, is 23 but the fact is very different from this offer. Concerned authorities need to probe this issue because it creates a colossal impact on the produce of the crops.
It is unrealistic to avoid mentioning the role of pesticides in modern-day agriculture. As mankind has revolutionized the field of agriculture by inventing new seeds and synthetic fertilizers, the role of pesticides has become crucial because, in a country like Pakistan, it’s widely accepted that one cannot control pests and diseases without spraying the pesticides. Weak research has enabled a certain mafia to import the required chemicals from different countries like India and China. Non-functional or malfunctioning government institutions allow the importers to import all the chemicals without proper inspection and quality control measures. These imported chemicals are packaged in Pakistan with different labels and brand names and dispatched to the different areas and shops of the country. Once distributed, these unchecked and unevaluated chemicals are sold to the farmers by the non-professionals. These pesticides have nothing to offer to the farming community because of their incompetence to kill the pests and resist the diseases.
While paying much for these pesticides, having a low yield and non-availability of a favorable market, farmers have been forced to live hand to mouth. Moreover, unawareness about the term “maximum residual level” causes fatal effects to human health and the environment too.
Adding salt to the wound, the policies made by the government for the agriculture sector are cumbersome. Easy access to agriculture loans is frustrating. The agriculture extension wing of Balochistan should be made functional so that the proper and sincere guidance to assist the poor farmers. The proximity or access to the market should be made easy. Moreover, the government should encourage farmers to produce new crops as per the agro-ecological zones of Balochistan. Along with this, more subsidies on fertilizers should be given to the farmers to assist them financially. This will enable the farmers to reach new markets, where their produce is sold easily.
The writer is a researcher graduate in Agriculture from University of Karachi
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and Balochistan Voices not necessarily agrees with them.
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