ISLAMABAD, JAN 08, (DNA) – Agricul­tural production and productivity in Pakistan continue to rise, though the growth is increasingly on the back of unsustainable input intensification patterns rather than technological change, according to a report released by the International Food Policy Research Institute.

While the agriculture sector is still the foundation of Pakistan’s economy, it is changing in terms of both structure and composition; its share in country’s total output and its capacity to drive growth and development are diminishing.

Moreover, given its large share in the gross domestic product, it will be extremely difficult for Pakistan to achieve high overall growth without substantial agricultural growth.

Agriculture is no longer the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy today, however, it remains a major source of income for the country’s rural poor and an important driver of the rural non-farm economy where there is untapped potential for pro-poor growth, according to the IFPRI report titled ‘Agriculture and the Rural Economy in Pakistan: Issues, Outlooks, and Policy Priorities’.

Researchers David J. Spielman, Sohail J. Malik, Paul Dorosh and Nuzhat Ahmad in the report examined what can be done to revitalise the country’s agricultural sector and rural economy in light of recurring macroeconomic policy shifts and weather-related shocks.

The challenge for Pakistan’s development strategy is how to take advantage of opportunities to continuously increase agricultural productivity and incomes, facilitating a smooth spatial and structural transformation of the overall economy, the publication said.=DNA

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