Articles of September 2009

It is in the air that Pakistan, a country called land of the pure, is going to lease out big chunks of its cultivable land in the name of agriculture investment policy to some foreign countries. For most of the people, any such deal would increase the food insecurity in Pakistan. Saudia is reportedly wishing for 500,000 acres of farmland in all four provinces of Pakistan. The land would be used to grow food crops for Saudia. No such deal, according to the government, has yet been inked but a hullabaloo is surfacing the national media. However, the government has also plans to lease out land to countries other than Saudi Arabia.

Before proceeding ahead, it would be instructive to survey the present status of agriculture of Pakistan. The land that covers present day Pakistan has been producing major food crops for about 8000-6000 BCE. Irrigation was developed in the Indus Valley Civilization by around 4500 BCE. The inhabitants of Indus Valley Civilization were able to develop refined irrigation and water storage systems, including artificial reservoirs around 3000 BCE. Since then agriculture took many shapes but remained major source of income to the inhabitants. Irrigated by one of the largest irrigation systems in the world about 25% of Pakistan's total land area is under cultivation at this time. One can understand the role of agriculture in the national economy with the fact that it accounts for about 23% of GDP and employs about 44% of the labor force. As far Pakistan's farm output is concerned, the country is ranked fifth in the Muslim world and twentieth worldwide according to the available data. Also Pakistan is