"SEC | S20W4: "ROLE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE ECONOMY"

Greetings

This is me Muhammad Ahmad from Pakistan and I hope that you all will be fine. Today I am very excited to participate in the Steem Agro week 4 learning contest about agriculture which is organised by xkool. I am very excited about this because the knowledge and understanding I gain from this is very useful. I hope that you all will like my article and without wasting any time let's get into it.

Explain the social and industrial roles of agriculture in your country, sighting one of the main grown crop.

Agriculture in Pakistan is crucial and has a vital role both industrially and socially. It is the backbone of Pakistan's economy. A very large number of the population depends upon it. In Pakistan 60% of the people live in rural areas and farming is the main source of their income. Agriculture provides 38.5% of the jobs which makes it the largest employer in Pakistan. Agriculture also plays a vital role industrially because many big industries in Pakistan such as food processing and textiles depend on the crops which farmers grow in their fields. The most important and main crop grown in Pakistan is Wheat because millions of Pakistanis eat it daily. It is used to make bread (Chapati).In short, agriculture is connected to the economic and social fabric of Pakistan. It does not only provide food or jobs but it has a key role in the development of Pakistan.

How has this main-grown agriproduct helped in reducing poverty and as well promote rural development in your country?

As we know Wheat is the main agricultural product of Pakistan. It has a crucial role in decreasing the ratio of poverty and promoting rural areas in several ways which I will discuss.

Wheat farming provides a stable income for millions of small farmers and laborers. If we increase the production of Wheat and improve the techniques of farming then that way farmers of Pakistan can increase their income which will help in getting their life out of poverty.

Wheat is also very beneficial in food security because it has a direct relation with the reduction of poverty. When farmers have enough wheat for the consumption of households and for the market demand then in that way it stables the prices which makes it affordable to those who have low incomes.

The programs that are held by the government are also very beneficial for the production of wheat. Like Subsidies which improve the distribution of seeds and credit facilities have empowered the rural farmers. This program had a great effect on increasing wheat production.

What are the main challenges facing your country's top crops (e.g., cocoa, palm, maize, wheat, rice, etc.) in terms of economic impact?

The top crops of Pakistan are wheat rice, maize sugarcane and cotton face different difficulties that badly impact their economic contribution. It does not only affect the productivity of crops but also has a bad effect on their agricultural economy. Some are discussed below.

The scarcity of water in Pakistan is one of the biggest problem for agriculture. Crops like wheat, rice, and sugar cane depend on water a lot but the irrigation system of Pakistan is not good that's why it is very challenging for crops and I hope in the future it will be fixed so our economy can be better.

agriculture in Pakistan is also very disturbed due to certain climate changes like floods, drought, and extreme temperatures. Due to this the economy reduces a lot and those farmers who have these fields are facing a lot of difficulties due to this.

Many of the farmers are not educated and that is why they are using the traditional methods of farming due to which the productivity of the crop is reduced. It has also had a bad effect on Pakistan economy and the crops are facing this challenge a lot. Thus this problem should be solved by the government. If the government sends their professional farmers to them and also gives them the latest machinery the profession farmers will guide them about that and thus our economy can be better.

Crops like wheat, corn, and rice suffer from pests a lot and most of the farmers don't have enough knowledge about pesticides so the crops are suffering a lot from that.

In Pakistan soil fertility is also reducing a lot because her are a lot of cultivation and a lot of use of chemical fertilizers and bad management of land. This problem is also very challenging for the crops.

What current or past government initiatives are boosting agricultural productivity in your country?"

In Pakistan, there are a lot of initiatives taken to boost agricultural productivity. Which I am discussing below:

In 2019 an initiative was taken Prime Minister's Agriculture Emergency Program and this initiatives aim to increase the productivity of crops and increase the livestock sector. The program has an estimated budget of PKR 277 billion.

In 2015 another initiative was taken Kissan Package which was for the support of farmers. The PKR 341 billion package was provided for fertilizers, reduced electricity tariff for tube wells, and a loan was given to small farmers.

In 2018 National Food Security Policy initiative was taken which focuses to ensure the food security through agricultural practices. It also encourages the farmers to use new technologies in farming to improve crop productivity.

Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) & Agriculture was a social net program in which some cash was provided to the poorest families many of whom were farmers. From this financial support, they invest their money in buying seeds, fertilizers, etc which is very beneficial for the economy of Pakistan.

Alot of government projects like building dams, and canals. These initiatives were taken for agriculture which will ensure a more efficient water supply for agriculture.

There are also more initiatives taken that aim to reduce the input costs for higher yields develop high-yield crop varieties and promote modern farming. There were low interest loans for the farmers. There was an initiative taken in 2018 for the protection of farmers crops from crop failure due to natural disasters.

What solutions can enhance agricultural productivity and growth in your country?

Some of the solutions according to me are given below:

If we use high-quality seeds and the farmers should be trained about balanced fertilizers they should know how much land, and how much fertilizers should be used which will improve the soil health and crop yields. The government should increase the loans for farmers from which farmers can invest in better and better seeds, fertilizers, and equipment. All the farmers should be trained professionally in modern agricultural techniques, and water management. Also, we should give services to farmers about pest control, crop rotation the wise use of resources and much more. The government should invest a lot in the agricultural sector like in agricultural research and development which will greatly affect Pakistan's economy. Farmers should be given mobiles and on those mobiles, some apps should be installed for them from which they can get to know about the weather and the latest information about crops. There should be some great packages for farmers from which they can do farming more effectively like giving them medical packages or education packages for their kids.

I would like to invite @goodybest @djanita and @ahsansharif to participate in this amazing contest.
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