An unyielding year for agriculture in Pakistan

Agriculture, the backbone of Pakistan’s rural economy, has been hit hard in 2022, especially due to the impact of the devastating floods. The other reasons remain the same: incompetence, bad governance and the spectre of ever-increasing inflation.The effect of these factors has raised alarm bells when it comes to predicting the state of the agriculture sector and feeding the people of Pakistan for the next year. The Economic Survey of Pakistan 2021-22 presented an encouraging scenario; it said that the agriculture sector posted a 4.4% growth in 2021-22 against 3.4% in the corresponding year. Except the wheat crop, all other crops have shown impressive growth. In the current fiscal year, floods hit most of the country, thereby damaging the kharif crops. There are a few estimates made by the Planning Commission of Pakistan and some independent think-tanks to determine the level of economic damage to the agricultural sector. The Planning Commission of Pakistan, in its report, said that the floods have damaged agriculture and its sub-sectors to the tune of Rs800 billion or $3.725 billion. Around 1,784,126 hectares (4,408,575 acres) of agricultural land have become derelict and over 800,000 animals have died in the six affected provinces and their 94 districts.