Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has demanded that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government should identify shortcomings of the 2005 policy and immediately formulate a new policy framework for the development of its agriculture sector.
KP’s agriculture suffers from very low productivity given the agricultural landscape of the province. Nearly 80 per cent of the KP population lives in rural and peri-urban areas, whereas about 85 per cent directly or indirectly earn their livelihood from farming. Agriculture contributes a mere 14 per cent to the provincial income, far below its potential, the FPCCI said.
Farmers are locked in production of low value crops; the irrigation network is not expanding and there is a marked decline in intensity of land use.
FPCCI Standing Committee Chairman Ahmad Jawad in a meeting with a group of farmers said that small landholding is one of the major hurdles in achieving higher yield growth. Over 80 per cent of the landholdings are below five acres.
“In India, China, and South Korea, the average size of landholding is even lower than, but the productivity of major crops is a lot higher,” he said and added, “This is because access to input-institutions, knowledge, and technology favour small farmers in those countries.”
On the other hand, institutional arrangements favour large and politically influential farmers in KP. Small growers do not have access to inputs and resources to participate in high value-added markets. While large and assured markets exist for the traditional crops like wheat, small farmers are the big losers due to fluctuating prices. Generally, the production is supply- driven and not demand-oriented.
Out of the total cultivable land of 2.96 million ha in KP, the area under cultivation is only 1.80 million ha. The remaining 1.16 million ha can be used for farming with marginal investment and something needs to be done in this respect. But, the FPCCI Standing Committee chairman said, the trouble is that both the land use and cropping intensities have declined over time.
