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_: Agriculture sector, which is considered as the backbone of the economy has yet to come out with its full strength to serve economic needs as well as food security of the country with a nation of 200 million plus population.
The agriculture sector plays a central role in Pakistan's economy. It is the second largest sector, accounting for over 21 percent of GDP, and remains by far the largest employer, absorbing 45 percent of the country's total labor force. It is unfortunate that excessive involvement of politics in this sector has hampered its growth in the real sense, there is a need for radical reforms to let this important sector to play its due role in nation building.
It will not be out of place that the cotton production which provides the basic raw material to the huge textile industry remains unpredictable for various reasons including lack of research, quality seeds and modern techniques to increase its per acre yield.
COTTON PRODUCTION
It is important to note that after missing the cotton production target by 25 percent in the outgoing fiscal year, the government has set a target of 14.0 million bales for the upcoming season compared to a target of 14.1 million bales last season.
However, owing to better crop price in the outgoing season, area under cultivation for cotton is expected to increase, however, there are lingering threats on the production on account of canal water shortage in Punjab. In the global perspective, the production in the upcoming year is expected to increase backed...