Expert says rising temperatures, water scarcity threats to agri sector

PESHAWAR: An agricultural expert and former secretary Pakistan Tobacco Board Khan Faraz on Wednesday said the government had made strides to ensure sufficient wheat production through planting campaigns, subsidies and support pricing.

“The efforts have yielded results, with notable milestones like the 2020-21 season, when Pakistan achieved its highest-ever wheat production of 27.4 million tonnes, an increase of over 2 million tonnes from the previous year,” he noted.

He said being an agricultural country, agriculture was the backbone of the country’s economy, contributing nearly a quarter of the GDP and employing almost 38 percent of the labour force.“Wheat is not just a crop; it is the mainstay of Pakistan’s agricultural economy. Increasing its production injects vitality into rural economies, creating jobs and providing incomes for millions of farmers and labourers who depend on agriculture for livelihood,” Khan Faraz explained.

In recent years, he said Pakistan’s reliance on wheat imports had strained its fragile foreign exchange reserves. “With wheat consumption expected to reach a record high of 31.2 million tonnes for the 2024-25 period, boosting domestic production is critical. Encouragingly, the anticipated surge in production is forecast to limit wheat imports to just 1 million tonnes. Pakistan is vulnerable to the impact of climate change,” the former PTB secretary opined.

Khan Faraz said that erratic rainfall, rising temperatures and water scarcity were constant threats to the agricultural sector. These challenges can be turned into opportunities but that required an informed and consistent approach on a national scale, along with new ideas, he said. “A country that once prided itself on being self-sufficient in wheat now faces the burden of importing this staple grain,” said the agricultural expert.