Pakistan Among World's Largest Food Producing Countries

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan's agriculture output is the 10th largest in the world. The country produces large and growing quantities of cereals, meat, milk, fruits and vegetables. Currently, Pakistan produces about 38 million tons of cereals (mainly wheat, rice and corn), 17 million tons of fruits and vegetables, 70 million tons of sugarcane, 60 million tons of milk and 4.5 million tons of meat.  Total value of the nation's agricultural output exceeds $50 billion.  Improving agriculture inputs and modernizing value chains can help the farm sector become much more productive to serve both domestic and export markets.  

Top 10 Countries by Agriculture Output. Source: FAO

Pakistan has about 36 million hectares of land under cultivation. Wheat and rice are grown on more than half of it. Fruits and vegetables each account for only about 3% of the cultivable land.  Since year 2001, the country's cereal production, mainly wheat, corn and rice, has grown about 45% to 38 million tons. Pakistan produced 6.64 million tons of vegetables and 5.89 million tons of fruits in 2001. 

Pakistan is the world’s 4th largest exporter of rice. The country's domestic production is estimated to surge 13.6% to an all-time high of 8.4 million tons in the year end June 2021, according to Bloomberg.  

Vegetable production rose to about 10 million tons and fruit production increased to nearly 7 million tons in 2015.  A little over 60% of Pakistan's agriculture consists of livestock. Pakistan produces 60 million tons of milk and 4.5 million tons of meat.  Fish production adds up to about 575,000 tons. 

Pakistan's Rising Rice Exports. Source: Bloomberg

Share of Land For Various Crops in Pakistan

Crop yields in Pakistan are low, mainly due to poor quality inputs like seeds. In addition to fertilizer and water, seed is the basic input for agriculture sector and has a major role in enhancing agriculture productivity. This needs to be a key area of focus for Pakistani policymakers working on agriculture. 

Other critical area is post-harvest handling, particularly storage and transportation that is in desperate need of improvement. Post-harvest losses in fruits and vegetables due to mishandling of the perishable product, poor transportation, and inadequate storage facilities and market infrastructure account for about 30%–40% of total production, according to experts at Asian Development Bank.  

World's 5th Largest Population of Chicken in Pakistan

Improvements in agriculture inputs and modernization of post-harvest process require significant financing and investment. Growers get only a small fraction of value of what they produce, making it difficult for them to make these investments. Middlemen finance farmers and take the lion's share of profits in the value chain.  

Source: FAO via Kleffmann Group

Most of the farmers sell their produce to wholesalers via middlemen called arthis, according to an ADB report. Farmers contract out fruit orchards during the flowering stage to the middlemen (arthis), commission agent, and/or wholesalers who provide loans to the farmers over the course of production. Vegetables and fruits are transported by the same cart or truck from farms to the main markets in the absence of specialized vehicles for specific products. The same vehicle is used for many other purposes including animal transportation. Recently however, reefer (refrigerated) trucks have been introduced on a limited scale in some parts of Pakistan. In the absence of direct access of carrier vehicles to the farms, farmers gather their products in a convenient spot along the roadside for pickup. When middlemen or contractors are involved, it is their responsibility to collect and transport the produce. The unsold produce in one market is sent to other markets in the same locality. 

Date Palms in Sindh, Pakistan. Photo: Emmanuel Guddu

Investments in modernization of the agriculture production process and farm-to-market value chain will require major reforms to ensure growers get a bigger share of the value. The extraordinary power of the middlemen (arthis) as financiers needs to be regulated. This can not happen without legislation in close consultation with the growers. Improving agriculture inputs and modernizing value chains can help raise the productivity of the farm sector for it to serve both domestic and export markets better.  

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[Akhtar Hussain]

Riaz Sahib, Very informative and encouraging information as always.  Inshallah 2021 will be a great year for all Muslims and Pakistan.  May Allah guide us and Imran Khan.  Happy New Year !!

~Akhtar.

[Riaz Haq]

Thank you Akhtar sahib

[Riaz Haq]

What Is The Future Of Meat?

https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/fake-meat-science/

More and more people are trying meat alternatives, and for good reason: The meat industry is a major contributor to climate change. Almost 15% of greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock, with cattle making up about two-thirds of that. Others avoid meat because of ethical problems with slaughtering animals.

Altogether, plant-based meats are having a major moment, making their way onto the shelves of major grocery stores, and the menus of fast food chains. It’s now possible to eat a burger that tastes, looks, and feels like beef—while being entirely made of plants.

Some scientists are devoting their careers to creating a future where more meat comes from plants, or even cells grown in a lab. Joining Ira to mull over the future of meat is Pat Brown, CEO of Impossible Foods, and Isha Datar, executive director of New Harvest, a non-profit that promotes the research and development of cell-based animal products.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan is Asia's #2 Dairy Milk Producer , 2020

https://www.globaltrademag.com/asias-milk-production-is-expected-to...

From 2009 to 2019, the average annual rate of growth in terms of volume in India totaled +5.4%. The remaining consuming countries recorded the following average annual rates of consumption growth: Pakistan (+3.2% per year) and China (-1.2% per year).

In value terms, India ($146.8B) led the market, alone. The second position in the ranking was occupied by Pakistan ($37.3B). It was followed by China.

The countries with the highest levels of whole fresh milk per capita consumption in 2019 were Uzbekistan (339 kg per person), Turkey (281 kg per person), and Pakistan (231 kg per person).

From 2009 to 2019, the biggest increases were in Uzbekistan, while whole fresh milk per capita consumption for the other leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

Market Forecast 2020-2030
Driven by increasing demand for whole fresh milk in Asia, the market is expected to continue an upward consumption trend over the next decade. Market performance is forecast to decelerate, expanding with an anticipated CAGR of +2.4% for the period from 2019 to 2030, which is projected to bring the market volume to 477M tonnes by the end of 2030.

According to FAO projections, Asian production is expected to increase by 2% in 2020 due to expected growth in India, Pakistan, and China, while Turkey may experience a decline. India, the world’s largest milk producer, is projected to increase production by 2.6 percent, or 5 million tonnes. The increase expected this year reflects the efforts of the vast network of rural cooperatives that have been mobilized to maintain milk collection despite the pandemic lockdown. Given the loss of sales in the foodservice industry due to the COVID-19 lockdown, large volumes of milk were sent for processing to drying plants, which were reported to operate at almost full capacity.

Pakistan’s milk production is projected to increase by an average of 3% due to an increase in the herd population.

[Riaz Haq]

Parliamentary panel stresses focus on agriculture under CPEC - Profit by Pakistan Today

https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/01/06/parliamentary-panel-...

The committee further recommended the government to capitalize on opportunities available in China’s meat market, as the China imports meat worth $48 billion from other countries. It called for measures to meet international food standards and initiate negotiations with China to remove anomalies in this regard.

Earlier, the committee was briefed by National Food Security and Research Secretary Ghufran Memon and PARC Chairman Dr Muhammad Azeem Khan on the existing projects in the agriculture sector.

Dr Azeem, while sharing 10-year development targets under CPEC, informed the committee that PARC’s aim is to make Pakistan a cotton exporting country, thereby helping it save foreign exchange worth $1.5 billion.

“Besides renovation of existing orchards, introduction of new varieties, reduction in post-harvest losses, improvement in value chain and development of rural industries are major proposed interventions.”

Meanwhile, the committee members also paid a visit to the exhibition at National Agriculture Research Centre where a comprehensive briefing was given on agro-tech, aquaculture and fisheries programme, honeybee research institute, alternative energy use in agriculture and vegetable and fruit crops cultivation processes.

The committee members remarked that farmers are the major stakeholders of the agriculture sector, and it is a matter of concern that seeds of various crops are not being provided to farmers on time.

They called for removal of bottlenecks to ensure fair and timely distribution of crops seeds to the farmers.

[Riaz Haq]

Advances in farming technology and intensification of animal agriculture increase the cost-efficiency and production volume of meat. Thus, in developed nations, meat is relatively inexpensive and accessible. While beneficial for consumer satisfaction, intensive meat production inflicts negative externalities on public health, the environment and animal welfare. In response, groups within academia and industry are working to improve the sensory characteristics of plant-based meat and pursuing nascent approaches through cellular agriculture methodology (i.e., cell-based meat). Here we detail the benefits and challenges of plant-based and cell-based meat alternatives with regard to production efficiency, product characteristics and impact categories.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20061-y


Global production and consumption of meat continue to surge as demand is driven upward by population growth, individual economic gain, and urbanization1,2. In 2012, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations projected the global demand for meat would reach 455 M metric tons by 2050 (a 76% increase from 2005)3. Likewise, the global demand for fish is projected to reach 140 M metric tons by 20504. The majority of this incline is attributed to middle-income countries (e.g., China), as consumption in higher-income countries is relatively stagnant or marginally decreasing (e.g., United Kingdom) and in lower-income countries, the rate of consumption is fairly constant (e.g., India)1. This pattern is consistent with a proposed theory that the relationship between meat consumption and income follows an “inverted U-shaped” trend; consumption initially increases with rises in income but eventually reaches a turning point at which consumption stagnates or declines5. This observation may be rationalized by correlations between high income and increased concern for the consequences of animal agriculture5.

This rising demand is problematic as current methods of large-scale animal husbandry are linked to public health complications, environmental degradation and animal welfare concerns. With regard to human health, the animal agriculture industry is interconnected with foodborne illness, diet-related disease, antibiotic resistance, and infectious disease6,7. Notably, zoonotic diseases (e.g., Nipah virus, influenza A) are linked to agricultural intensification and meatpacking plants in the United States were hotspots for COVID-19 outbreaks7,8. Animal agriculture also contributes to environmental issues including greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water use1. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a 2018 report asserting that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced 45% by 2030 to prevent global temperatures from increasing 1.5 °C; a target that could mitigate catastrophes associated with a 2.0 °C increase9. Conventional mitigation techniques include improvements in reforestation, soil conservation, waste management as well as tax policy, subsidies, and zoning regulations10. While these strategies remain important, the urgency of climate change may require more transformative approaches. Lastly, with regard to animal welfare concerns, each year billions of animals are killed or suffer either directly (e.g., farm animal slaughter, seafood fishing) or indirectly (e.g., fishing by-catch, wildlife decline due to habitat destruction) in relation to human food systems11,12.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan is one of the few countries of the world, where a variety of fruits are grown in cool temperate climate such as apples, pears, plums, cherries, and those grown in the warm temperate climate are apricots, figs, grapes, pomegranates, melons and the rest in the tropical and sub-tropical climate like bananas, mangoes, dates, guava and citrus fruits, which are available throughout the year.

http://www.amis.pk/files/F&V%20Statistics%202015-16.pdf

While the fruits grown in temperate climate are produced in Baluchistan and NWFP, tropical and subtropical fruits are mostly grown in Punjab and Sindh. The various varieties of fruits are grown over an area of about 8.04 million hectors. The annual production of fruits in Pakistan is estimated at around 6.57 million tonnes, of which only 674 thousand tones were exported in 2015-16. In 2015-16 overall fruit export has witnessed a steady growth. More than 29 types of fruits and 33 types of vegetables are produced in the country throughout the year. The highest production have reached i.e Citrus fruit & Mango 2.3 and 1.3 million tons, the largest fruit crop group by volume and are major export revenue earner. According to latest figures Pakistan exported 674 thousand tons of fruits, vegetables 692.2 thousand tons and condiments 20.5 thousand tons in FY 2015-16.

[Riaz Haq]

Tractors Industry is one of our most promising export-oriented area. I am glad to share that number of tractors sold in first half of FY 2020-21 increased by 43% to 21,800 units as compared to 15,200 units sold in same period of FY 2019-20, showing an increase of 6,600 units. 1/4

https://twitter.com/razak_dawood/status/1355055410538045441?s=20

Even more encouraging is the increase in export of tractors during the first half of FY 2020-21, especially Millat Tractors whose exports grew by 68% in value to USD 6.9 million compared to USD 4.1 million in the previous year...2/4

…In terms of quantity, Millat exported 850 tractors during the first half of FY 2020-21 as compared to 500 tractors in previous year showing a growth of 70% in quantity terms.
I congratulate the tractor manufacturing industry for this outstanding performance.. .3/4

…and encourage them to strive even harder to increase their footprint in the international market. 4/4

[Riaz Haq]

#ImranKhan:#Pakistan to get help from #China in improving #agriculture. #Pakistani government is collaborating with China in learning agricultural techniques under #CPEC to enhance yield of crops, modernization of irrigation system and value addition #food https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/pak-to-get-...

"The production of crops and dairy products in China is far more than that of Pakistan due to their advanced research and technology," the Prime Minister said.

He added that his government is taking revolutionary steps to uplift agro-based industries of the country to ensure sustainable development and prosperity, and China is willing to help Pakistan in this regard.

Agriculture is the backbone of the Pakistani economy, and cooperation with China could turn a new page in agricultural modernization and will be a destiny changer for the people of Pakistan, he said.

On Tuesday, China and Pakistan launched an online platform to collect and display information and achievements of agricultural and industrial cooperation between the two countries, aiming at enhancing bilateral cooperation under CPEC in the two sectors.

[Riaz Haq]

#China-#Pakistan #agro-industrial online platform will boost exchange and cooperation. China is committed to strengthening #agriculture cooperation with Pakistan to add impetus to the economic and social development of the two countries- Global Times #CPEC https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1214193.shtml#.YBn4f8fmjSM.t...


The new China-Pakistan Agricultural and Industrial Cooperation Information Platform will boost exchanges and cooperation, said a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.

China and Pakistan launched an online platform on Tuesday to collect and display information and achievements in agricultural and industrial cooperation between the two countries, aiming at enhancing bilateral cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"We have noted the relevant situation and I extend my congratulations. I have worked at [the Chinese Embassy in] Pakistan before and have been following the progress of the CPEC closely since returning home," said Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the ministry, during a daily press briefing on Wednesday.

Agriculture is an important area of practical cooperation between China and Pakistan, as the two countries have strong agricultural complementarity. China is committed to strengthening agricultural cooperation with Pakistan to add impetus to the economic and social development of the two countries, Zhao said.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan's economy and contributes some 18 percent of the country's GDP. The sector employs a large number of people and is essential for the country's food security and export potential, Xinhua reported on Tuesday citing Asim Saleem Bajwa, chairman of the CPEC Authority in Pakistan.

"We hope and believe that the launch of the information platform will further promote exchanges between the two sides and produce more cooperation," Zhao added.

The Chinese and Pakistani governments established a joint working group on agricultural cooperation in 2018, and established another working group on agriculture under the framework of the CPEC in March 2020.