INTRODUTION

Pakistan has agriculture based economy. This sector accounts for about
25% of the GDP and employs 50% of the total labor force. It contributes
80% to foreign exchange earnings and provides raw material for major
industries.( Pakistan economy survey ,1998-1999). The population of
Pakistan has reached the figure of 135 million. The urban/rural population
breakup reveals that share of rural population has declined from 71.7% in
1981 to 32.5% in 1998(agriculture statistics of Pakistan, 1998-1999)
majority of population residing in rural areas is directly or indirectly
dependent on agriculture. . the sector is playing and will continue to play a
pivotal role in the overall development of economy in terms of poverty
alleviation, improving income distribution and generation employment
opportunities.

Pakistan is bestowed with best land and water resources. The land bade is
stretched over79.61 million hectors traversed by the Indus river with an
annual flow of 142 m. a. f . Agriculture is practiced on 20.34 million
hectares while another 10.91 million hectares are considered cultivable
waste. The river water is tamed into canal network which command about
14.79 million hectares with farm gate delivery of 65 m. a. f .Nearly one
fourth of cropped area id dependent on rainfall. By the end of 20th century,
Pakistan with 0.675 of the world’s land will have to accommodate 4% of the
world’s population which is still increasing at a rate of 2.3 per annum. This
scaring fact warrants for much more careful thinking and planning in
formulation in agricultural policies to meet future food and fiber
requirement; (AARI,1994).

The present production of various crops is very low as compared to other

countries. Pakistan is well behind Egypt, chine and India in per hectare
rice and sugarcane production; while Egypt , turkey and china also excel in
cotton production.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (1993) reported that the very low
yield for most crops reflects inadequate access of farmers to better farming
technologies, meaning that agricultural extension services are of poor
quality. Availability of improved technology and its effective dissemination
are two key prerequisites for productivity. It is obvious inspite of having
fertile alluvial soils, longest perennial canal irrigation system of the world ,
favorable weather conditions, and industrious farming community. Pakistan
is lagging behind in agricultural production when compared to other Asian
countries. There may be many reasons for the low agricultural productivity
in Pakistan but social factors are also as important as others.

The results obtained at research stations and experience depicted by the

progressive farmers show that the available agricultural technology has a
potential to increase the current productivity manifold. In other words big
gap exists between the potential and actual yields being obtained by our
farmers. There is a need to engulf this gape between potential and actual
yield in order to meet food and other related requirements of our masses.
This situation necessitates adoption of recommended agricultural
technology by the farming community. The adoption of recommended
practices involves the total personality of a farmer who makes decisions on
the consideration of socio-economic factor in pigging on his total living.
Such is always a joint decision where a member of his family, friends and
many others contribute. Therefore, the extension worker has to appeal to a
number of social attributes, customs , values, norms and traditions. Many
innovations otherwise exceedingly attractive and economically viable, have
failed because thay could not meet even the less significant social
requirements. Adoption of innovations is a consequence of such steps like
awareness, interest evaluation, and trial. Providing the agricultural
information is the only first step in creating awareness. Applying it to the
attitudes and persuading farmers to adopt innovations, is an educational
process in the true sense. The time demands the drastic changes in the
system and there is also a need that tomorrow’s agriculture must be
sustainable.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

A vast literature is available about the agreements by Pakistan in crop

sector. In most of the fields negotiation are taking place. Different authors
wrote their views about these negotiations. Some authors are of the view
that Pakistan can get substantial benefits after the implementation of these
agreements. But on the other hand some authors are of the view that
Pakistan will be unable to compete in international markets.
 S.Q Abid2 expressed his views in the article. According to the author,
total
cropped area in Pakistan (total area cultivated plus area sown more than
once) declined
_____________________________________________________________
________________
2:Suleri A. Q (2002): The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA): Pakistan
Experience. Internet, Google search. www.google.com/WTO and
crops/SDPI research and news bulletin Jan-Feb 2002
slightly over last decade. These trends show that there is need to increase
investment in agricultural sector. To do this we need to adopt pro-poor and
pro-farmer agricultural policies.

It is to be taken care of that the trade liberalization regime is largely

effecting national policy and the process of making policies.
According to the author, Pakistan being a developing country enjoys certain
flexibilities. The Agreement on Agriculture is of particular importance to
Pakistan in terms of economic and food security. The Agreement on
Agriculture speaks of increasing trade in agricultural products through
progressive liberalization. The agreement says that the members must fulfill
specific binding and reduction commitments in the areas of market access.
It means to increase market access through the reduction of import duties
and tariff.
Pakistan is unable to give support or subsidies to its farmers due to lack of
resources.
The research paper shows that Agreement on Agriculture is creating
inequalities between countries. It means that inequalities between two group
of countries. First group is of those countries that can give substantial
support and protection to that agricultural sector. Other group is of those
countries, which could not provide such protection to their agricultural
sector (underdeveloped countries). The main example of these issues is
given as that developed countries spent US $360 billion on agriculture in
1999 (abut seven times more than what they had given to the poor countries
in international development assistant).
In the area of market access, Pakistan offered “ceiling binding “on
agricultural imports during Uraguay Round (UR). So Pakistan was not
required to reduce its tariffs during the Uraguay Round implementation
period (till 2005). A number of items on the negative and restricted list have
fallen due to liberalization in agricultural trade. As Pakistan imposed low
tariffs on imports so there was inflow of subsidized foodstuff in Pakistan.
 It is also explained in the paper that being a developing country,
Pakistan was allowed to give special and differential treatment subsidies on
fertilizer and tube well electricity. Price to the establishment of WTO,
Pakistan occasionally provided direct export subsidies.

Over decades, the IMF/World Bank loan conditions have forced developing
countries to lower their trade barriers, cut subsidies for their domestic food
producers and eliminate government policies to improve rural agriculture.
In these situations, Pakistan needs to remain over cautions. Although our
negotiation in WTO Geneva has done a wonderful job but there is need for
further improvements. The author suggested form a WTO cadre in our civil
service structure so that the civil servant may concentrate on WTO issues.
There is also a need to involve academic institutes and private sector in
WTO capacity building efforts. It is also required to give subsidies to reduce
the cost of marketing exports and transport.
Yasmeen. B and Jehan. Z 3 have shown in their paper that
unrestricted trade regime stimulate the economic regime and brings the
socio-economic gap among countries. Unrestricted trade helps developed
countries very much. But under developed countries cannot get as much
benefits as they expect. The study analyzes empirically the effect of trade
liberalization on four measures of economic development, namely per capita
GDP, income inequality, poverty and employment. The authors applied
estimating techniques of 2SLS with the help of simultaneous equations.
Overall finding reveal that, over the trade liberalization has contributed
positively in employment generation, negatively in GDP per capita and
distributions of income. There is no effect observed on poverty in Pakistan.
It is shown that trade liberalization has not fulfilled all the conditions in
which development takes place in an economy. It is necessary to
continuously moving towards liberalization with improving the performance
of its mediating factors. It is necessary to adopt the approach that is
productivity oriented and development centered. Government should take
initiative to produce labor-intensive products. Government should try to
obtain self-sufficiency and good quality measures in its concerning
products.
M. Khalid4 has shown in his research that Sanitary and Phytosanitor (SPS)
agreement can impede trade in agricultural and food products. Sanitary and
Phytosanitor (SPS) agreement recognizes that the government has the right
to take Sanitary and Phytosanitor measures but that they should be applied
only to the extent necessary to protect human, animals or plant life.
In order to harmonize Sanitary and Phytosanitor on as wide basis as
possible,
_____________________________________________________________
__________
3: Trade Liberalization and Economic Development by Bushra Yasmeen
and Zainab Jehan, presented in 7th Sustainable Development Conference.
Google Search
4: M. Khalid (2004): Barriers against Agricultural Exports from Pakistan:
The role of WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement. Pak Journal of
Agricultural Economics
members are encouraged to fulfill international standards. A broader
indication of the impact of Sanitary and Phytosanitor (SPS) requirements on
developing countries export of agricultural and food products are provided
by data on rejections following border inspection in developed countries.
It is clear that Pakistan is constrained in its ability to export
agricultural and food products to developed countries under Sanitary and
Phytosanitor (SPS) requirements. To provide one window for
standardization and quality control, government of Pakistan established
Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority.
But Pakistan has not actively participated in the Sanitary and Phytosanitor
(SPS) agreement. Key problems in this regard are: insufficient ability to
participate effectively in dispute settlement procedures. Pakistan also could
not prove that domestic Sanitary and Phytosanitor (SPS) measures are
equivalent to developed country requirements.
The author showed qualitative analysis about Pakistan’s difficulties
in the concerning matter. Pakistan may face difficulties in meeting costs
involved in exporting agricultural products under the Sanitary and
Phytosanitor (SPS) agreements. The author also gave suggestions to
improve the position of Pakistan in the concerning affairs. Firms in
Pakistan will have to implement specific system or sign up to some quality
assurance schemes. These arrangements may be attractive in the short run.
The issue of product quality in the domestic market has an important
bearing on its exports to developed country markets. There are several
examples of products that do not meet the required Sanitary and
Phytosanitor (SPS) standards for exports, being sold in local market. Given
the circumstances of rejection of product from the export trade, this might
threaten the welfare of local consumers. There are high complaints on many
products of Pakistan not only by international buyers but also from local
buyers. The export business may even detract products from the local
market.
Local consumer welfare in the country may be compromised by either the
non-availability of the product or its limited availability at high price.
Once exporters from Pakistan have met Sanitary and Phytosanitary
(SPS) standards as applied by other countries, it may be possible for them to
widen their export base and supply to a range to different markets. As
number of developed countries has high Sanitary and Phytosanitor (SPS)
rate so they have great number of exports. The exporters of Pakistan can
also adopt their techniques and measures. Extensive production methods
can also to an increasingly environmentally aware world markets. There is
need to improve access to scientific and technical expertise and the
development of domestic Sanitary and Phytosanitor (SPS) control system
that are effective and appropriate in the local circumstances. Amongst South
Asia countries, Pakistan has very narrow base of agricultural exports.
Pakistan can overcome its difficulties and can become champion of crop
exports in Asia.
Research conducted by WTO department5 in ministry of agriculture
has shown a comprehensive background of exports of Pakistan in crop
sector. The agricultural trade policy environment is becoming increasingly
complex. The research explains that the Agreement on Agriculture
contained an article requiring members of the World Trade Organization to
continue the reform process for agricultural trade. In addition to this
commitment to continue the reform process of agriculture, a number of
other WTO agreements are included. The main focus on negotiation is about
tariff quota administration, tariffs, and state-trading enterprises, export
restrictions, food security, food safety and rural development. About the
agricultural sector of Pakistan the research says that crop production is
heavily dependant on irrigation. More than 90% of the area sown to the
basic food crop, wheat is irrigated. Despite having 13% of the world
irrigated agricultural area water is still one of major or more serious
constraint on the farmers of Pakistan.
On the other side Agreement on Agriculture required countries to
classify their domestic agricultural policy measures according to one of four
categories. First of all is Aggregate Measure of Support (AMS). It is an
instrument through which government gives exemption to farmers from tax
or debt repayment obligation.
It is also explained in the agreement that governmental measures of
assistant to encourage agricultural or rural development are integral parts
of development programs of developing countries. Agricultural input
subsidies will be available to those farmers who have very low income or
those who have very few resources. But data is showing something different
about the end-results of this support or in other words subsidy. On the basis
of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
producer subsidy estimates (PSE) calculations, support rose from US$246
billion in 1986-88 to US$283 billion in 1999. It is clear that implementation
of the agreement on
_____________________________________________________________
_________________________5: Pakistan and the Article 20 Negotiations
on Future Reform on Agriculture trade research done by Ministry of
Commerce, WTO Wing

Agriculture has had no impact in terms of the overall level of support

provided to low-income countries.
Although this support remained constant in the period of 1986-88 to 1999
but only support is not sufficient.
One should see that whether policy implementation is correct or not. The
role of agricultural institutions is also very important because there are
some countries that got very good result by giving small amount of support
or subsidy. The main thing was their efficient way of policy implementation
also the nature of working of their agriculture institutions.
On the other hand countries that could not get good or well expected
results. These countries were least developed or developing countries. Main
problem was in the implementation of policies. We can see the numerical
differences also. New Zealand Australia, and Hungry had percentage of
twenty or below but they got good results. So the research shows that
Pakistan should increase its domestic support. But only this will not be
sufficient.
Another important issue is of market access. The value of world trade
in agri-food products increased by approximately 51% over the period
1986-1998. The largest increases took place in 1994 and 1995. That was a
year prior to the start of the Agreement on Agriculture and the first year of
the implementation of the Agreement on Agriculture. From a high point in
1996, global agri-food trade is diverging day by day. Pakistan’s shares in
global trade are very negligible because share of Pakistan in global exports
is falling. Some of Pakistan main competitors significantly improved their
export performance in the first three years of the Agreement on Agriculture.
For example India increased its export by 133% by value, Indonesia by
76%, Thailand by 53% and Malaysia by 79% etc. the research explains
comprehensively the reason of the falling in Agri-food exports of Pakistan.
The first and most important reason is structural problem within the
domestic agri-food economy. Second reason is the barriers encountered in
accessing exports market. The third reason is very tough competition with
other countries. The first competitor in this sense is India for Pakistan.
Although the cost of cultivation and other agricultural techniques are
almost same in both countries yet India is performing well in international
market as compare to Pakistan. The reason for this is that Pakistan has lack
of power in negotiation according to its circumstances. Therefore Pakistan
face barriers in accessing world markets. The goodwill of Indian agri-food
products is increasing due to their effective advertising facility. Even in
those fields in which India was behind from Pakistan, now India is
competing well in those products. Pakistan has also problem of quality that
is Sanitary and Phytosanitor (SPS) measures are not as good as the
standards of Agreement on Agriculture. This has also negative impact on
Pakistan’s export of agri-food products. So if Pakistan wants to improve its
trade of agri-food products before the complete implementation of
Agreement on Agriculture, it must have to overcome its deficiencies in all
above-mentioned fields.
A. Wakar and S. Muhammad6 have presented an analysis of rice and wheat
production of Pakistan under the Agreement on Agriculture. The authors
say that according to agreement, the member countries are bound to adopt a
market oriented agricultural trade system through market access. The
member countries are also bound to reduce the domestic support and export
subsidies. The authors say that Agreement on Agriculture will have an
important effect on the agriculture sector of Pakistan not only in the field of
output but also on employment. As the issue of domestic support is
concerned, Pakistan is already not providing very negligible amount. The
main focus of the research is on wheat and rice. These are the major food
crops for almost 150 million people in Pakistan. The rice-wheat production
system of Pakistan is one of the most dominating cropping systems covering
an area of 2.1 million hectares. Pakistan imports wheat while it produces
rice in surplus. Wheat contributes 13.8% to value added to agriculture and
3.2% to GDP. Pakistan made a record in 2000 in harvesting wheat crop of
about 21 million tones, which exceeded domestic demand so was available
for export. Now the requirement is to sustain this position. For this
government policies should focus on measures to minimize the cost of
production.
Rice is an important and high value crop for Pakistan. But it was
observed that produces of wheat and Basmati rice were not protected.
It means that the producers were taxed so had to face depressed prices
instead of their respective international prices.
The rate of dis-protection during 1990-91 to 1999-2000 was 40% for
Basmati and 27% for wheat.
But for proper and sustainable growth of agricultural sector, it is necessary
that farmers should receive price inline with international prices for their
commodities.
_____________________________________________________________
___________ 6: A.Waqar and S Muhammad. WTO Agreement on
Agriculture Impact on Rice Wheat production system. Google.com/crops
and WTO, pages from Pakistan
IRRI rice was introduced in the regime of General Ayub Khan.
But result of economic incentives shows those procedures of IRRI rice
received dis-protection for some year. But later it was protected only in
Punjab. The average rate of dis-protection was 7% in Punjab and 18% in
Sindh. Results also show that cost of domestic resources to produce this rice
was 1.46 dollar to earn 1 dollar. So it was costly therefore Punjab had to
face cooperative disadvantage in producing this rice.
The author is of the view that to attain crop competitiveness in the
international market, there is an urgent need to improve economic efficiency
in the use of domestic resources. This can be done through increasing crop
productivity and minimizing cost production, decreasing incidental and
processing cost incurred from farms to the place of export. The author is of
the view that producers of wheat and Basmati rice can gain efficiency by
increasing production. So by increasing production of wheat and Basmati
rice, Pakistan can get high foreign reserves. The Agreement on Agriculture
demands to cut or reduce the domestic support or subsidy from crops. As
Pakistan has never given high support or subsidy to its crops so under the
Agreement on Agriculture, Pakistan can remove or reduce at artificial high
production of wheat and rice. Because when country gives support to its
crop production, it creates artificial high trends of output in all those crops.
This type of growth in output gives very negative long-term impact on the
concerning sectors. Because cost per dollar increases and some time
country has to face comparative disadvantage. So in this situation,
production gives loss instead of profits.
It is theoretically explained in the article that are decline in the supply
of agricultural goods form developed countries and improve market access
for developing countries will very likely cause the production of these
commodities in Pakistan to become profitable. As it is condition to reduce
the support or subsidy from domestic products, so it will rise. So in this way
Pakistan can get high benefit by exports of rice. This will also increase the
share of Pakistan in world market. And it will also strengthen the structure
of rice production system. So all these indicators show the ability of
Pakistan to get market access. In the procedure farmers should give the
opportunity to behave according to world market indications on signals.
This will help the farmers of developing countries to export their cheaper
products in the world market. But it is necessary for the farmers to fulfill the
necessary and sufficient conditions of the Agreement on Agriculture.
Farmers will have to control the cost to ask very reasonable prices. The
farmers should take into account all the challenges of globalization in their
production tasks. So Pakistan should adopt those policies, which give as
large incentives to farmers to reach world markets. Increasing productivity
and profitability are main goals for the policy makers.

GENERAL REVIEW OF CROP SECTOR OF PAKISTAN

TILL 2000:
The agricultural sector in Pakistan is composed of five sub-sectors. In
these five sub-sectors major are crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry. The
major crops make the largest contribution to the GDP from the agriculture
sector. Their contribution is falling in last twenty years. In early years
agriculture was the largest sector and contributing more than 53% to GDP.
But in 2002-03, their share was down to only 23.6%. In 1949-50, the labor
force in agriculture was 65% to 70%. But now it is 45% to 48% almost. But
agriculture is still the largest sector in terms of employment. In 1947, total
cultivated area in Pakistan was 36.3 million acres. Now it is 54.10 million
acres. Table gives the basic data about the utilization of land in Pakistan.

Table: 1
Land Utilization, 1947-2003 (Million Hectares)
Year Reported area Not available for cultivation Total area
cultivated Area sown more than once Total cropped area
1947-48 46.70 20.82 14.69 0.95 11.63
1960-65 50.52 18.94 17.78 1.68 15.08
1965-70 52.98 19.08 19.19 1.99 16.28
1970-75 53.53 20.50 19.21 2.54 17.04
1975-80 54.27 20.62 19.84 3.30 18.44
1980-85 53.29 21.29 20.32 4.09 19.68
1985-90 57.87 23.97 20.78 4.79 20.49
1990-95 58.04 24.49 21.17 4.70 21.86
1995-00 59.12 24.51 21.90 6.37 22.83
Source: Issues In Pakistan Economy by S. Akbar Zaidi
In the table, reported area means that amount of total geographical area for
which official record exists. In Pakistan, over time agricultural products
have increased. This all was happened due to increase in demand locally
and internationally.

Table: 2
Index of Agricultural Production, 1959-2000 (Base year 1959)
Year All crops Food crops Fiber crops Other crops
1960/1 100 98 103 103
1965/6 127 107 142 181
1970/1 174 164 188 195
1971/2 183 170 245 169
1972/3 188 181 243 163
1973/4 196 190 228 188
1974/5 187 183 220 171
1975/6 199 207 176 193
1976/7 203 212 149 224
1977/8 209 208 197 223
1978/9 219 238 162 212
1979/10 239 245 250 210
1980/1 249 254 245 236
1981/2 258 257 247 261
1982/3 270 277 283 235
1983/4 237 253 170 248
1984/5 275 265 346 239
1985/6 298 290 418 212
1986/7 124 115 185 92
1987/8 127 109 206 100
1988/9 134 118 200 112
1989/10 134 119 204 108
1990/1 142 122 230 110
1991/2 161 126 306 120
1992/3 141 124 216 118
1993/4 142 127 192 134
1994/5 152 138 208 140
1995/6 167 147 253 140
1996/7 158 145 224 130
1997/8 170 157 219 160
1998/9 171 159 210 166
1999/00 191 180 268 143
Source: Issues in Pakistan Economy by S. Akbar Zaidi

As the total area under food crops is concerned, it has increased by more
than 50% since 1959/60. Wheat is the largest sown crop and constitutes
66% of the total area of food grains. For the four major crops of Pakistan,
the area under wheat in this period is up 67%, rice constitutes 75%, cotton
can constitute 93% and for sugar cane it is 125%. In 1960-65 periods, the
four major crops covered about 53% of total cropped area. In 1995/96 the
total cropped area has increased substantially to 64%. The comprehensive
data is given in table.

Table: 3
Area under Major Crops 1950-2000 (000 Hectares)
Year WheatRice Sugar cane Cotton %Age of total cropped area
1950-55 4154.0 947.0 245.6 1275.8 -----
1955-60 4736.6 1078.8 365.4 1393.2 -----
1960-65 4896.2 1214.2 447.6 1375.4 52.59
1965-70 5591.8 1426.6 559.6 1635.6 56.58
1970-75 6017.4 1514.6 597.6 1860.2 58.62
1975-80 6272.0 1797.6 747.0 1916.4 58.20
1980-85 7174.4 1984.2 859.8 2177.7 61.96
1985-90 7418.2 1986.6 833.0 2459.6 62.26
1990-95 8058.6 2099.0 927.4 2758.0 63.32
1995-00 8306.6 2333.8 1029.8 3002.4 66.21
Source: Issues in Pakistan Economy by S. Akbar Zaidi

As total production is concerned, it has substantially increased for all major

as well as minor crops. But average annual growth rate for major crops
have been falling since 1980. In the decade 1980-90, the average annual
growth of major crops was 3.34%. And this average annual growth rate of
major crops fell to 2.4% in 1990s. Both total production of wheat and rice
fell sharply. These lower rates of increases in out put are very disturbing.
All the annual growth rates are shown in table 4.
Table: 4
Production of Major Crops 1995-2000 (000 Tones)
Year WheatRice Sugar cane Cotton
1950-55 3235.8 837.2 7192.6 -----
1955-60 3677.6 909.6 10318.6 -----
1960-65 4016.4 1107.8 14247.8 1995.8
1965-70 5175.6 1512.6 20718.0 2625.0
1970-75 7145.6 1929.6 17402.8 3705.0
1975-80 8765.0 2778.2 26743.0 3094.0
1980-85 11330. 3292.8 32651.6 4926.6
1985-90 12947.2 3232.2 31973.4 7632.6
1990-95 15724.0 3412.0 40901.6 9648.4
1995-00 18238.0 4487.0 48371.0 9837.0
Source: Source: Issues in Pakistan Economy by S. Akbar Zaidi

Agriculture was a dominated sector not only in the field of employment but
also for the share in GDP. But gradually agriculture output decreased year
by year. Food has to be import and dependence on foreign aid increased.
There was need to improve agriculture sector and to lessen the dependency
on foreign aid. Then steps to land reforms were taken in 1959 but that was
failure in terms of land distribution. The period of green revolution came in
Ayub Khan Regime. That was a so-called Green revolution because
technological improvements were discriminated regionally. Only very few
areas of Pakistan got advantage of all the technological progress of green
revolution that was the huge distortion for the ignored areas of Pakistan.
The second land reform took place in 1970. Those were stricter as compare
to previous one. But those were also not influential and beneficial for the
progress of agricultural sector. The growth rate of agricultural sector was
only 2.3% in between 1972 – 1977.
Pricing policy of government can play an important role in determining that
what to produce and what not. The pricing policy can determine the
direction of agricultural inputs and outputs. Agricultural pricing can also
effect income distribution not only for big farmers but also for small
farmers. In Pakistan, in the beginning the main concern of government was
to keep the prices of agriculture products low to provide cheaper food and
raw material to urban industrial workers. This caused depressed prices for
the producers of agriculture products. Government imposed heavy export
duties on Cotton due to which domestic prices of cotton reduced. Wheat and
rice prices were fixed also; process of vegetable ghee was controlled at an
artificially low level, which resulted in depressed prices. For nearly a
decade after independence no systematic attempt was made for the
development of agriculture sector. The first agriculture development
program in country was launched in 1955. Barter trade was a common
feature of international Trade so agriculture products were exported to
import industrial products or inputs. This was also a disadvantage for
agriculture producers. All these steps shown that agricultural sector was
adversely affected for the promotion of Industrial Sector suffered a lot.
As the matter of agricultural sector is concern, a 1985 survey shows that
68% of the credit to agriculture is provided by non-institutional sources. We
can say it through informal sources. Almost 30 % of loan provided through
institutional sources were not reliable or proxy loans because it is very
difficult for small farmers to get loan from institutional sources. There are
many reasons for this. First of all small farmers are not aware of
complexities of institutional sources secondly they don’t have any source to
approach them. Large farmers or landlords are very influential that they
don’t even give back loans. So they get benefit only through non-
institutional loans. But for most of time such non-institutional don’t fulfill
all the needs for farmers because amount of non-institutional loans are often
not big enough to cover expenditures of cultivation. The largest source to
provide institutional loan is ZTBL. ZTBL provided almost 64% loan in 1995
– 2000. Now ZTBL is also providing long-term loan. Commercial bankers
also provided 20 % loan in period of 1995 – 2000.
In mechanization of agricultural sector we consider the innovation of new
technology in agriculture. The technological progress in agricultural sector
of Pakistan was mainly composed of bringing tractors and tube wells.
Mechanization in agriculture sector started very late because policy makers
were of the view that this will create unemployment in rural sector also
international organizations and World Bank restrict to give new technology
to farmers. First time new tractors were introduced in 1960s but the
experience showed that fear of providing tractors was baseless. Introduction
of tractors and tube wells boosted up agriculture sector in concerning
areas. But the problem was that mechanization of agriculture was restricted
to few areas Punjab and Sindh. This discriminatory policy of government
made very much harm to the farmers of the ignored areas. There is no
question that technology in agriculture is very helpful for advancement of
this sector not only incase of increased output for domestic needs but also to
export to world markets. This will make high earnings through technology
introduced in sixties but pace of increasing technology didn’t remain the
same. This made suffering of money crops
Agriculture tax is very controversial issue some favor agriculture tax but
others are against it both group of people provide justifications and
reasoning for this. The problem of imposing income tax on agriculture
sector was existence of two clauses on one hand there is majority of people
who are living below subsistence level. These people are small farmers.
They hardly fulfill their basic needs with the help of their earnings through
cultivation. On the other hand there are people who have very big or huge
earnings. These are big landlords. Most of the landlords are living in urban
sector they are making big profits through real estate investments that is
why many people were against it that government didn’t not impose income
tax. The other reason against agriculture tax was that agriculture sector is
facing heavy burdens of indirect taxes. Those who were protesting to
implement agricultural tax, they were saying that it is a big source to make
fraud. Many industrialists bought big lands in agricultural areas they got
rid of income tax by showing the land of agricultural sector. They also said
that income tax would be on personal incomes not on the whole agricultural
sector so progressive income tax will give high earnings to overcome budget
deficit and also to increase development of agricultural sector.

MAIN PROBLEMS IN PAKISTAN CROP SECTOR:

The environmental situation is very poor and alarming in Pakistan.

Therefore world bank said in a report to have effective land reforms in a
way that help in sustainable exploitation of natural resources including land
and water in this way Re-distribution of land to small farmers will help in
improving the environmental conditions. Also effective land reforms will
reduce the power of big landlords.
Many poor farmers with low subsistence level are unable to take risk in
their cultivation methodology. They also face the poor irrigation system. To
have a tube well for their land is just like a dream for them. Because
electricity charges of tube wells are very high as compared to canal water.
Water logging is also a very big problem for small farmers. The main cause
for this problem is big landlords. Another problem is structure of water
pricing. The structure of water pricing provides no incentive for using canal
water efficiently. It also discourages investment in water conservation.
Landlords are so much influential that they easily have reached to the
subsidy of government to provide gypsum. The government under took a
program to popularize gypsum in order to eliminate salinity. This salinity is
caused by low-level tube wells water. As influential landlords were main
beneficiaries so they got the gypsum. Another problem was of introducing
chemical in agriculture. They were mainly composed of fertilizers and
pesticides the main problem was of discrimination in providing chemicals to
farmers. Those were of so highly priced that a vast majority could not afford
it. The small farmers had 41% of cultivated area in Pakistan. So due to lack
of chemical provision a large cultivated area suffered. Big landlords or
middle class farmers used these pesticides in great quantity to enhance their
agricultural output. This use of pesticides in high amount caused several
health diseases, especially for those workers who apply it on crops.
Now before going in to the detail of the analysis of our concerning problem
it is better to explain the main competitors of Pakistan in major crops. This
will help in making better analysis of problem under the agreement on
agriculture.

MAIN COMPETITORS OF PAKISTAN IN KEY CROPS:

COTTON:
Pakistan is ranked number 4 in the world in terms of global production of
raw cotton. If Pakistan’s competitors, two countries have yet to join the
WTO. These two countries are China and Uzbekistan. The other competitors
in the field of cotton production are India, Turkey and Brazil. All these
countries have status of developing within the WTO. Pakistan accounts for
8.7% of global cotton production the main regional competition in cotton
production comes from China, India and Uzbekistan. Pakistan’s yield rates
are twice those of India. This suggests a comparative advantage over its
neighbor. It is useful to look at domestic support, export promotion and
market access policies in competitor’s countries.

RICE:
Pakistan is a relatively minor country in terms of its overall rice production.
It accounts for only 1.2% of Global production. Pakistan’s two neighbors,
China and India, dominate global production of rice. These two countries
accounts for 54% of global rice production. This enormous size of both the
Indian and Chinese markets means that although they are huge producer of
rice, but they are not the most important countries in terms of export of this
commodity. Thailand is the main exporter of Rice production. It exports
25% of its domestic production. World rice trade is dominated by a group of
countries that produces primarily for export. Pakistan is one of these
countries. The main competition in the region comes from four countries.
These are Vietnam, Thailand, China and India. As the only producer of
Basmati Rice India and Pakistan have a common interest in growing the
share of this rice in world trade and in particular in exports to high value
markets. Market differentiation by rice variety would seem to be growing as
the popularity of certain variety of rice grows. It would seem that Pakistan
has been able to gain market’s share in certain market by competing other
suppliers.

SUGAR:
In production terms Brazil and India dominates. Pakistan is also a major
player in global sugar production. The ranking of Pakistan in terms of
global sugarcane production is 5th. It accounts for almost 3.8% of global
production. The share of Pakistan in global sugar production is higher at
5.1%. In production terms India may be second largest producer of sugar in
the world. It accounts for approx 25% world production. But in terms of
trade India accounts for less then 1% of global trade. The important
regional competitors for Pakistan are Thailand, China, Indonesia, Malaysia
and Philippine.

FRUIT:
The two most important fruit crops in Pakistan are oranges and mango. This
analysis of competitors concentrates on these two products. European
Union, South Africa and US are the main players. In addition, other
Mediterranean countries such as morocco Israel and turkey are also
important suppliers. In terms of regional competition for Pakistan, it is
strongest from India, china and Singapore. Pakistan is marginal player in
the world orange market despite reducing around two million tons of
oranges annually. It accounts for less then 1% in global trade. This figure
would seem to indicate domestic problems with varieties, post harvest
storages and processing. There are also difficulties in meeting the Sanitary
and Phytosanitary standards of importing countries. In the area of mango
production India and China are dominating. Together these two regional
competitors accounts for 8.65% of global mango production. As with rice
neither India nor China plays an important role in world trade in mangoes.
Here Mexico is the dominant player. Pakistan produces only 3.2% of the
global mango crop, but it accounts for 6.6% of global exports. Here in the
field of mango the problem in exporting are same as those of oranges. In
terms of competitors in mango export India, Brazil Philippine, Thailand and
China are competitors in regional markets as in developed country markets.
VEGETABLES:
Onions and potatoes are the main vegetables grown in the annual total of
harvest of approximately 4.3 million tones. In the list of global production of
fresh vegetables, China and India dominates global production. In terms of
other regional vegetables, producers, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar,
Bangladesh and Thailand are the largest. Pakistan is not the major player
in the world of onion trade. Exports accounts for just 1.8% of global trade.
Trade in onion is dominated by European Union. In terms of regional
competitors in onion export, the main threat for Pakistan comes from India,
China, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan and UAE. As the trade in onion,
countries of the European Union and to a lesser extent, the United States,
dominate trade in potatoes. Important regional competitors include India
and Indonesia. Pakistan accounts for 1.5% of the global trade in potatoes.

OTHER FOOD STAPLE:

Agri-good products in the other food staples, the category are those such as
which are essential to food security and edible oil, which are constitute one
of the important item for Pakistan. Therefore these agri-food products play
a major role in the balance of payments. Looking first at wheat, production
is dominated by the European Union, China, India and the US. The huge
size of both the Indian and Chinese market means that neither is a large
player on the world export markets. The other regional competitors in the
production of wheat are Kazakhstan, Turkey and Russia. The main
exporters of wheat are United State, European Union, Australia, Argentina
and Canada.

NEGOTIATION ON AGREEMENT ON AGRICULTURE

BETWEEN WTO AND GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN
The phase of negotiation on agreement on agriculture has completed.
Pakistan is an energetic participant of the agreement on agriculture. Among
that agreement, two are very important for agricultural sector of Pakistan.
First and the most important agreement is about reduction in domestic
support, and special and differential treatment for developing countries.
Being a developing country Pakistan is also included in this category of
special and differential treatment. The second agreement is about Sanitary
and Phytosanitary measures or standards for trade. The text of the article
about reduction in domestic support and continuation of the reform process
is given in the box below.
Source: Pakistan and the Article 20 Negotiations on Future Reform on
Agriculture trade research done by Ministry of Commerce, WTO Wing

There were some countries that were not favoring some parts of agreements.
Especially most of the developing countries were against the reduction of
domestic support or subsidy. Because their agricultural sector was major
depend on domestic support programs. So there was probability of great
depression, in their agricultural sector, due to sudden decrease in domestic
support or subsidies. There was danger of rise in prices and also danger fall
in the total agricultural output. This creates problems for exports. So
developing countries were asking for a longer period time to reduce
domestic support systematically.
Special and differential treatment was given to developing countries to
overcome their deficiencies in key agricultural products within a giving
period of time. In this way developing countries had opportunity to build
their trading system in some key crops. This was not in the favor of those
developing countries that were trying to have market access for some crops.
So they were giving agreements fir equal treatments to all the members’
countries.
The second agreement was about Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures. The
key point to Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement is that it tries to ensure
that countries apply measures to protect human, animal and plants health.
The sanitary measures are about the health of human beings and animals.
Phytosanitary measures are about the health of plants. This agreement was
very problematic for developing countries. Developing countries were also
negotiation to lesser the strict rules. But develop countries were in favor of
Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures. The sole benefit of this agreement
was to develop the countries because they have very strict checking
standards to reject the products, especially agricultural project from
developing countries and almost all the developing countries are not too
much good about these standards.

Need of the study

It is an established fact that agricultural extension is the most important

instrument of agriculture development. It acts as a dovetail phenomenon
between the technology generation system (Research) and the production
system (Farmers); and has no other assignment except farmers welfare. It
renders direct contact with the farmer community at large . it is in
principle , a flexible instrument adoptable in different conditions and can be
oriented to the specific needs of the people as an educational instrument.
There is a considerable dissatisfaction with performance of extension
services among farming community and other relevant people. Major
issues/weaknesses identified in present agricultural extension system in
Pakistan ( Malik and Prawl , 1993) are listed here under:
 Lack of adequate training during the probation period of the officers.
 Mobility factors inhibits the performance of the field staff.
 Weak linkage between extension and research
 Low salaries a source of discontent and low morale.
 Opportunities for promotion are almost lacking.
 Extension became less service oriented and more education oriented.
 Agriculture in formation units require training for efficient execution
of their responsibilities.
 Private sectors and non-governmental groups are better equipped for
extension jobs.
 Agriculture extension has much weaker voice than the research
institutions or universities.
 Extensions` interventions with gender approach is negligible.
 Extension has insufficient operating funds for teaching and
demonstration and dissemination of information.

Keeping in view the above weaknesses , drastic changes are needed in the
system , so that tomorrow’s agriculture is modern and sustainable. One of
the main constrains is that the front line extension workers are not able to
make maximum use of their energies. Therefore, there exists the need to
determine the factors affecting the working efficiency of agriculture field
staff. The present study is planned therefore, to identify the factors affecting
the working efficiency of extension staff, since their working efficiency has
direct bearing on the efficiency and the quality of agriculture extension
services in Punjab province. The findings of this study are expected to
assist the policy makers , extension specialists and other social scientists in
the formulation of a appropriate strategies for making our extension
services much more effective and for promoting agricultural and rural
development in Pakistan. The problem seems to be multifunctional and the
players with problems are at all levels. The ethics that one sees in the
human systems is abysmal and there has been no one in Pakistan with the
abilities of an Ambedkar or any social lifters as are available in India, to
worry about what is happening in the various social classes. The democratic
process as well as the tyrannical process of governance brings their own
kinds of serious issues. A brain that is in turmoil can hardly be in a position
to take far reaching decisions. The personality of the population is one
aspect but the critical effort seems to be of those on whom the tax payers
have spent a considerable amount of financial resources and they have not
done well by the education that was imparted to them. When one considers
that the expenditure was upwards of 3 million rupees for each PhD who
studied in the USA one would expect then to do well by the education that
was imparted.

That the education was of doubtful quality cannot be ascertained at this

time. I had the opportunity of visiting these students in 34 universities of the
United States. I found them woefully lacking the kind of spark that is
difficult to state but easy to recognize. The students were lackluster and did
not seem to have any passion for their work. Only one student was found of
any quality and he was in Agricultural engineering and he never returned to
his mother country. He stayed on in the USA and that was the other dilemma
of criminal breach of trust and in that the universities of the USA played a
big part in encouraging the better ones to stay on in the USA. Thirty-four of
the PhD students went missing. All of them were sent on the basis of
connectivity. Most of them were not even remotely connected with
agriculture.

That most of them at that time came from University of Agriculture.

Faisalabad [UAF] and were boys from in and around that town made life
all the more difficult to deal with them later. Fixed attitudes pertaining to
the 14th century were visible. Caste system was rife and the connectivity of
many kinds that were in place led to many complaints by the public and all
those who knew that attitudes and values had to belong to the modern world
and yet here they were defying the very essence of life. The issues over time
have become more complex. To the baradari system has been added the
various ‘isms’ of Islam so that it is almost impossible to base decisions on
reason. In a society that is increasingly prejudiced reason almost always is
defunct. With the political system coming in after 11 years the hunger for
power was even more acute. This hunger for power was not balanced by
responsibility and this desire to amass power through a process that
perverts all concepts of decency and fair play.

In the decision making process the major role is that of the tyrannical
powers that have ruled this country for the better part of this nations life.
The Research organizations were almost all of them organized under Ayub
or under Zia. This meant that the human resources that were built at that
time included all the persons who were personally known to the
organization chief. That called for a special kind of loyalty. The kind that is
usually required of the canine species. Any one not adhering to these traits
was usually ostracized. That also meant that all the valid and good reasons
for setting up the organization was ab initio still born. Pakistan’s agrarian
system was also different in as much as the Armed forces were usually
recruited from the rain fed hilly areas [except for the Gurkhas who were
again recruited from hilly areas of Nepal. The idea being that there were
certain castes and certain areas that were martial that could be recruited
specifically for the armed forces. Agriculture castes were not considered by
the colonialists as fit for anything but the functions that were supposed to be
theirs.

The attitudes and value systems of these specifically recruited personal

remained in the 14th century despite further education at the universities in
the developed countries. Most of them were sent to the USA and instead of
using the tax payers help to the benefit of society they went the opposite
direction and the PhD came to be a symbol and a cosmetic attached to the
name. It boosted the ego but did precious little for the farming community or
the economy of the country. Simply stated the human resources so developed
were woefully lacking in taking the country out of any kind of stagnation.

Research came to be a dogma behind which researchers could hide. The

easier route out was that extension was not the requirement of research and
the provinces were to do the needful for the farmers. That there was not very
much to offer to the farmers was forgotten. The development of research and
the transformation of that research in to applicable actions are too different
courses and much more difficult to follow. The confusion in the system
reigned supreme when the differentiation between conceptualization and
implementation was not developed. Pakistan’s Agriculture Research
Council [PARC] was the conceptualizing body and that meant that the
seniors here were to be people of a special category and the ones that were
to make sure that the future was considered. These peoples were not
supposed to be developers but thinkers. That calls for special skills that are
embodied in the mind and not in the development mode. The
conceptualization was to be taken to developers through the National
Agricultural research Centers [NARC], the idea being to supplement the
provincial research especially in the marginal and peripheral areas. That
turned out to be a complete farce. Instead these outstations became
employment areas where the whims of the ministers as to employment were
satisfied. The issue then was whether these connected people would work
and if they did not what would become of the research organization [s]. It
happened in the Cotton research institute at Multan where the work ethics
was completely destroyed. It happened in the recruitment of research
personal at Karachi where what little was done was completely eradicated.
In fact the very genesis of the institution at Karachi can be questioned
because they could not have any research in the largest urban center. Te
people so recruited belonged to a particular section of society. This kind of
action does not help research at all. It leads to all kinds of complications
and the gathering of dead wood.

Instead of being at the top of their research these organizations are now no
longer viable entities. So what should be done? How to rejuvenate these
institutions and make them viable? The problem is that most of the PhD’s of
the 80’s are now in the fifties and in the andropause phase where they
bicker over little things. The PhD has become a symbol and the realization
that the learned individual has to be on top of his subject is simply forgotten.

How will research mesh in to extension and how will agriculture education
mesh in to research will be the subject of future discourse? The one common
aspect in all this is how to resolve obsolete factors [Humans-knowledge-
thinking-wisdom] and above all how to flog a lame horse to run. Try a three
legged race? The sad aspect has been the defunct nature of the possessed
knowledge. Such is life. Servility does go a long way? More will follow on
the intangibles and how these stand perverted

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN FARMING

Women play a key role in the rural economy in Pakistan, and their
agricultural labour leads to direct exposure to pesticides. As in
many societies, there is a gender bias not only among policy makers,
but also in society, which reinforces the problems facing rural
women. Nasira Habib has interviewed women and conducted in-
depth surveys in seven villages near Liaqatpur, in the Sindh, since
1993.

Women face social and economic discrimination which is further

compounded by new hazards in rural areas as pesticide use increases.
About 25% of farms now use pesticides in the country, and while women
bear a major responsibility for farm work and using pesticides, their
contribution to the agricultural economy is not recognised. Any short stay in
a rural area is sufficient to observe women active in many jobs in the fields.
At a meeting of 20 women in Liaqatpur, they listed at least 25 agriculture-
related activities in which they are actively involved with their men. One
woman said, "I get up early in the morning and run either to the fields or to
the animal shed. Who has the time to wash one's face? We do not even have
the time to say our prayers, the workload is so much."
The National Agriculture Policy makes no mention of women in the
statement of its objectives, and only four minor references to women in the
overall document. It provides no clear policy for the development of rural
women, who form the backbone of the rural economy. This discrimination is
reflected in the official documents and reports and as a consequence
encourage officials to overlook and marginalise women's work.
The Census of Agriculture does acknowledge the work of women in
agriculture, but indicated a drop in their contribution from 42.6% of all
family workers in agricultural households in 1980 to 36.2% in 1990. In
1980, women constituted about 25% of all full time and 75% of part time
workers. In 1990, the Census registered 25.87% and 61.25% respectively.
However these figures do not correspond to the reality because the smaller
the size of the landholding, the more intense, active and efficient the role of
the women becomes. It is not cost effective for smallholders to hire paid
labour.
The decade from 1980 to 1990 has seen a further fragmentation of land-
holdings. Fragmentation means that women's work has to be even more
intensive in order to make agriculture economically affordable. Women
have to work more, longer and harder. They are economically active and
substantially contribute to many activities, including:
 • crop farming and livestock keeping
• post harvest activities
• household management
• off-farm and non-farm economic activities
• bearing and rearing children and looking after the sick

While some of these activities are recognised as important, the visibility of

women is selective and their invisibility is rooted both in economic and
social factors. Rural women of Pakistan are economically active but are
also economically dependent. Women have neither ownership nor control
over resources and they are expected to surrender their rights in favour of
brothers or husbands.
Women work and produce on land they do not own. With the introduction
of market economics the situation of has further deteriorated. The harvest is
sold by and through men, and men control income. Land is owned by men
and the fruits of the land are enjoyed by men. Thus men automatically
become visible and women become invisible. Who actually worked in what
way to produce the crops is not taken into account.
Other factors like lack of access to credit facilities, gender bias in
transfer of new technologies and required training, education and extension
further compound the matter and force women to remain behind the scenes.
The pervasive patriarchal ideology reinforces the economic
subordination further. Gender discrimination starts from the early days of a
female child. She is taught not to value herself when it comes to equality
with males in the family. This applies even to small matters such as eating
food of the same quality. The systematic unjust socialisation takes root in
the conscious and unconscious minds of women. They have no power to
make decisions on how to behave or dress, whether or not to get an
education, whom to marry, whether to have children and how many,
whether to plan a family, whether to maintain ties with her parents' family,
marriage or divorce, contact with the outside world, her health and so forth.
All powers are vested with the males of the family.
Such circumstances make her unaware of the complexities of the outside
world and fosters an ignorance of the laws of the country that govern her
life. She does not know how she is made a featherless bird. But she knows
full well that individually it is not easy to fight for her rights, even if she
wishes to. She is caught in a complex web and thus succumbs to male
authority and dominion.
Women's encounter with pesticides
Women have always played a key role in disease and pest management
which took shape in various activities of soil improvement and fertility
management as well as direct measures to eradicate the diseases in crops
and animals. But with the advent of new pest management techniques and
technologies women have been by-passed. Recognising only men as farmers,
they have become the focus of extension. In order to fully comprehend
women's encounters with pesticides, and the impact of these chemicals, it is
necessary to look at their total farming workload.
In the area studied, over 60 activities of women to the whole system of
farm work have been identified. In the course of these they frequently
encounter toxic chemicals. The survey conducted for this study notes that
generally, women are not directly involved in spraying pesticides, but are
involved in the following activities which expose them to pesticides:

• helping mix pesticides

• washing tanks
• disposal of empty containers
• washing pesticide-soaked clothes
• storage of pesticides
• weeding and thinning
• picking cotton
• storing the harvested cotton
• collecting sticks and using them for fuel
• taking food to men in the fields

Generally, women wash clothes in water courses which are near or run
through the fields. In most cases, houses are surrounded by the fields that
are sprayed, exposing all the inhabitants to deadly poisons. When weeding-
a task which falls to women five to six times a season-pesticides are inhaled
and absorbed. Cotton crops are sprayed at least six or seven times in a
season, and in sugar cane fields their exposure is even more prolonged.
Taking food to men in the fields brings women to freshly sprayed fields,
and can prove extremely dangerous. Jobs like taking animals to the fields,
cutting fodder for animals, taking care of vegetable plots, collecting
material for fuel, bathing animals in the water courses, are all activities
where women could be affected by the poisons in addition to direct
involvement in agriculture or related activities that expose them to the
hazards of pesticides.
Major hazards arise from cotton production
Cotton picking is one of the main areas of women's exposure to pesticides.
Exposure begins when women treat the seeds with sulphuric acid and
carries on through to storage of the picked cotton. Seed treating is carried
out using a large vessel, where acid is mixed thoroughly with the seeds in a
ratio of 2 grams of acid to 1kg of cotton seeds. After a few minutes, the
seeds are washed off with water and dried. Then the seeds are ready to be
sown. The same vessel is used for other purposes in the house such as
washing clothes.
Women are engaged in cotton picking for a period of two and a half to
three months. This constant and prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals in
many ways poses greater health problems than spraying itself. While
picking, they are vulnerable to cuts and skin rashes that further expose them
to the hazards of pesticides. Studies quoted in the report of this survey have
shown that "out of a total of 88 female cotton pickers only 1% could be
termed out of danger. 74% had blood acetylcholine esterase (AChE)
inhibition between 12.5-50%. 25% were in dangerous conditions where
blood AChE inhibition was between 50-87.5%." After picking, women are
not in the habit of changing clothes which may have had contact with
pesticides.
All the respondents pick cotton during pregnancy which poses additional
problems: "I go for picking even to the last day during pregnancy", said one
woman. Women feed children in the fields, without first washing, posing
serious health hazards for the mother and child. During the survey, it was
noted that some of the women carry their small children while picking
cotton. Many children were found in the fields, either helping their mothers
or just following them. All the young pickers were girls.
During cotton picking, pesticide poisoning has increased and symptoms
reported by include: sneezing, muscular pain, dizziness, nausea, burning
skin, itching, cough, headache, blisters on body and suffocation.

Vulnerability and health care

The women interviewed found it ridiculous to ask how they treat poisoning
symptoms and laughed at the researcher for suggesting they consult a
doctor. It is not possible to go for medicine for small ailments. One of them
remarked "Unless we are unable to move, we do not think of going to a
doctor or of taking medicine." Some local remedies are used, for example in
case of skin burning, they apply mustard oil or butter oil. "Where can we get
that much money to spend on burnings treatment?" remarked a woman. This
is a reflection of the low status assigned to women and how they have
internalised it. They cannot "afford the luxury of medicines" when there are
so many other needs to be attended to in the family. The needs, problems
and interests of women come last.
One woman who did spray pesticides, Perveen, has been adversely
affected. Her most painful complaint is that she cannot hold food in her
stomach and vomits food as soon as she consumes some. Other symptoms
include sneezing, vomiting, watery discharge from her nose, and pain in the
ribs. She has taken medicines but to no avail. She feels better for three or
four days and then the complaints recur.
Generally speaking, the farmers feel that there are many new diseases
unheard of in the past. Although there is no laboratory tested evidence, they
tend to attribute the introduction of diseases like frequent fever, blurred eye
sight, diabetes, blood pressure and cancer to the use of chemical pesticides
and chemical fertilisers.
The examples reveal rural women's vulnerability to chemical pesticides.
Unfortunately, in the absence of proper diagnostic apparatus, it is difficult
to pinpoint the cause of any illness as arising from exposure to pesticides.
An exception is the case of acute poisonings. However this makes life even
more difficult. As a doctor from Liaqatur commented, "doctors are not
trained to find the cause of a particular ailment where farmers' are exposed
to pesticides. Thus they are unable to diagnose the illnesses properly.
Generally, pain killers are given in such cases".
As women's access to health care, even during times of visible discomfort,
is minimal there is no monitoring of the absorption of pesticides, of the
impact on blood, reproductive organs, size of infants, and so on.
While the pesticides law has been amended several times, the
amendments are focused on the issue of quality of the chemicals and no
mention has been made of the threat facing human health.

Towards a just and equitable society

A number of reforms are essential to ensure better visibility for women's
work and to recognize their role in the mainstream of agriculture. It is of
paramount importance that land reforms be initiated that guarantee joint
ownership of agricultural land by both men and women. Technology
packages which are oriented towards women must be urgently introduced,
especially where women are already key actors. Effective measures are
needed which encourage participation of women in the market processes.
A rapid policy shift would be helped by studies which highlight women's
roles in various areas, including:
 • socio-cultural life of rural Pakistan with a focus on the gender
relationships;
• women's role in securing food and fibre;
• the relationship between economic dependence and access to
nutritious food;
• the qualitative and quantitative contribution to agriculture of women
all ecological zones;
• the role of women in natural resource management;
• documenting women's knowledge on agriculture;
• agricultural technologies traditionally used by women, their
displacement by the advent of modern technology;
• women's exposure to chemical pesticides in cotton and in other cash
crops: particularly in vegetable cultivation a traditional area of
women's labour with a growing concentration of chemical pesticide
use;
• pesticide residue levels in blood and the impact on women's
reproductive system.

Almost no programmes address the problems of rural women. A few donor-

driven, men-led women's groups exist, but the token presence of women in
these groups without a real voice or decision-making powers is not
encouraging. Initiatives which are women-led and which understand the
mechanisms of gender relationships can form a sound basis for future action
that strives for a society free of discrimination and injustice.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Pakistan’s crop sector is the leading sector of agriculture. Agreement on
Agriculture is affecting the crop sector not only in terms of export but also
affecting the structure and composition of crop sector indirectly. The main
goal of Pakistan should be to give the right direction to the crop sector
because a large number of labor force is associated with it along with the
earnings and expenditures of exports and imports respectively.
First of all government should give a lot of consideration to Sanitary and
Phytosanitary standards because this agreement has affected the exports of
crop adversely. So there is need to have new and energetic team of
inspection. There should be proper way of utilizing waste. Education for
farmers can also play a major role for cleanliness of our crop sector. As the
matter of fact Pakistan’s population is also becoming very much aware
about health and cleanliness of food products. This all is happening due to
awareness at the global level. If government of Pakistan could not improve
its Sanitary and Phytosanitary standards then our products will not only be
unable to convince the international consumers but also local consumers
will ignore them.
Secondly mechanization of agricultural sector should be increased. There
should be new technology and machinery for our farmers because
mechanization can increase the gross production of crops. Only import of
new machinery will not bring about revolution in the crop sector of
Pakistan. Actually good machinery can only be beneficial if the way to use
the machinery is advance and productive.
The system of providing agricultural credit should be improved. As we saw
in our research that the main source of agricultural credit to our farmers is
non-institutional loans. It is not beneficial for the farmers to get loans from
the other sources because they have to pay a high interest on those loans. It
is duty of government to fulfill the basic needs of farmers. This will not only
help the farmers but also the productivity of our crop sector will increase.
There should be financial institutions in most of the part of our rural areas
and also the procedure to get those loans should be easy for farmers. Along
with these financial institutions there should be guiding centers for our
farmers from where they get the information about effective pesticides for
their particular crops. These guiding centers will also help in giving
education about the proper use of certain seeds and fertilizers.
There should also be training for some of the officials in understanding
WTO. This will help to make suitable decisions according to the agreements.
Also we can perform well in negotiations.
If government of Pakistan gives proper consideration to the above-
mentioned points then our crop sector will not only fulfill the domestic needs
but also it will get huge foreign exchange earnings by exporting agricultural
products. This is the way to face the new challenges of liberalization of
global trade.
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2002
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Development. Paper presented at 7th Sustainable Development Conference.
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M. Khalid (2004): Barriers against Agricultural Exports from Pakistan: The
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Pakistan and the Article 20 Negotiations on Future Reform on Agriculture
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