AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

There are three main types of Farming practices in Pakistan:

1. Small scale subsistence farming
2. Cash Crop / Commercial farming

3. Livestock farming

1. SMALL SCALE SUBSISTENCE FARMING

 When purpose of growing crops is to consume the out for their own family
 Any surplus for subsistence farmer is a bonus (If rainfall is timely and pests and diseases
do not attack the crop)
 The profit earned either used to pay loans, debts, buying the necessities of life, invested
back on to farms & buying fertilizers or insecticides and pesticides
 They have to supplement their income from other sources e.g. Carpenter, Cobbler or
Blacksmith etc
 Some of the human (economic) inputs are obtained during the process of farming are:
Cow Dung, Desi Seeds, Drought Animals, Wooden Plough, Orthodox methods of
irrigation etc
 The whole family including women and children work on the farm as labour
 Sometimes unskilled labour is hired on daily wages for harvesting
 They have inherited knowledge about farming
 They are unable to afford pesticides and insecticides so crop diseases are vulnerable

2. CASH CROP / COMMERCIAL FARMING

 When the purpose of growing crops is to sell
 Farmers are landlords who can bring high production and profits
 Some of the human (economic) inputs are chemical fertilizers, HVYS, mechanization &
modern methods of irrigation
 Skilled labour is used along with knowledge about the methods
 Pesticides and Insecticides are used to prevent crops
 Big warehouses are to store the produce before it is taken to the market
 Major crops grown on commercial farms are: Wheat, Rice, Cotton, Sugarcane, Tobacco
& Oil Seeds
 Certain incentives given by the government

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 PROCESSES
No. PROCESSES SUBSISTENCE COMMERCIAL
1 Ploughing Wooden Plough Tractors
2 Sowing Desi Seeds HYVs
3 Irrigation Orthodox Modern Methods
4 Fertilizing Cow Dung / Manure Chemical Fertilizers
5 Weeding Slash & Burn Herbicides
6 Harvesting & Threshing Manual Harvesters

3. LIVESTOCK FARMING
a) Subsistence Livestock
When farmers keep and rear animals for the consumption of their output for their own
family

b) Commercial Livestock
When farmers keep or rear animals for the selling of their outputs for profit

INPUTS & PROCESSES

NO. PROCESSES SUBSISTENCE COMMERCIAL
1 Feeding Open grazing fields Farms with animal
sheds & fodder rooms
2 Water Natural water bodies Man-made ponds
like rivers and lakes
3 Breeding Natural Breed Cross Breeding
4 Labour Family members Specialized labour
5 Diseases Inheritance Veterinary Facilities /
knowledge Vets
6 Storage and processing Lack of storage Storage rooms /
facilities warehouse /
Refrigeration facility
7 Slaughtering Manual Machines
8 Milking Manual Suction Machines

OUTPUTS
 Milk
 Meat
 Eggs
 Wool
 Hides

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IMPORTANCE OF LIVESTOCK
 Draught power in traditional fields
 Supply of nutritious food for people (Milk, Ghee, Butter, Cheese, Egg, Meat)
 Raw material for domestic industries of processed milk, leather manufacturers,
processed meat and milk products
 Contribution to exports to earn foreign exchange
 Contributes 10% to GDP

PROBLEMS OF LIVESTOCK
 Lack of grazing fields
 Grazing unirrigated fields causing soil erosion by wind or water
 Unhygienic conditions in animals
 Insufficient breeding for quality
 High prices of animal feed
 Inefficient marketing system
 Gap in price of livestock products in rural and urban
 Inadequate facilities for storage
 Process of weaning

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