Revelations to Revitalize Agriculture Sector

Agriculture is the lifeblood of Pakistan’s economy because it contributes about 18.5% to GDP, provides livelihood to 64% rural inhabitants and employs 38.5% of the total national labor force. In contrast to high contribution of agriculture sector to Pakistan’s GDP, a very meager amount of financial resources is spent on research and development (Figure 1). Investment in other sectors may generate higher growth than agriculture sector but 70% of total population is residing in rural areas, implying that such investment will not help to alleviate rural poverty. It is the only sector that provides raw materials to the industries and helps in poverty alleviation. In addition, it is also one of the major contributors to the foreign exchange earnings.