Devastated by flooding and soaring prices of inputs only to get thruway prices of their yields, hundreds of farmers have gathered in Islamabad for the last four days to protest rising agricultural input, diesel, and electricity prices, among other things. The farmers are demanding a complete subsidy on all agricultural inputs, a reduction in diesel and electricity rates, and an increase in the minimum support prices for agricultural produce. The government has said that it is open to negotiations. According to reports, the government is considering providing subsidies on certain agricultural inputs to calm down the situation.
Farmers are not asking for the moon. They only want agricultural machinery taxes removed and compensation for losses caused by rain and flooding. They won’t leave until their demands are met, and a meeting with the prime minister is scheduled. With the government strapped for cash and under IMF conditions, most of these demands, particularly those asking for additional subsidies, will be difficult to fulfill in the near future. However, the demonstrations should remind the government of the critical importance of agriculture to the economy’s recovery, reduce food prices and scarcity, and ease poverty, among other things. Without a significantly better agricultural economy, the country’s fiscal and current account woes can’t be solved for a sustained period of time.
Inadequate agricultural research, the failure to adopt modern farming techniques, and the government’s efforts to influence crop selections are all contributing to the current situation. Moreover, smallholders should have better access to formal credit and be linked directly to the market to bypass middlemen and reduce costs and increase incomes. The government must allocate adequate resources for agricultural research, establish programs to encourage agricultural technology adoption, and stop attempting to influence farmers’ crop selections.
Despite the agricultural sector’s significant contribution to national production (more than 20 percent), its inefficiency and disorganization are evident, indicating successive governments’ neglect and calling for a rethink of policies impeding its competitiveness at the expense of national food security. The agricultural sector’s problems include low yield, soil fertility erosion caused by excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers, waterlogging and salinity, outdated and inefficient farming techniques, changing weather patterns as a result of climate change, and other difficulties. Government policies have exacerbated these issues by encouraging fixed cropping patterns and discouraging a shift to value-added crops, resulting in a large proportion of the population remaining food insecure, and the country relies heavily on food imports. The policy focus on expanding cultivable land and increasing chemical use in order to enhance yield has raised concerns about food security and impeded efforts to boost the farm export market.
Agriculture can play a critical role in economic resurgence, but only if we overhaul the policies and place smallholder and landless farmers at the center of all future initiatives.
