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Role Of Agriculture In Economic Development

Agriculture holds great significance for Pakistan. From start, Pakistan had large potential of agriculture and at the time of independence Pakistan was mainly agricultural centered country. As the time proceeded Pakistan turned into more diversified country as industrialization took place. Though the share of agriculture has reduced considerably since its birth but the development of industries had not removed the agricultural presence in Pakistan. T h e r o l e o f a g r i c u l t u r e i n t h e economic development of Pakistan cannot be denied and Pakistan is still characterized as an agricultural country. In the subse uent assignment I will be discussing the contribution of agriculture in the economic development of Pakistan. !. INCREASING GDP OF THE ECONOMY Agricultural sector of Pakistan has made significant contribution to its "#P. $hen the "#P of a country grows, economic development takes place. According to $orld %ank, &'( of the "#P of Pakistan came from the agriculture sector of the economy. This implies that agriculture is the back bone of Pakistan)s economy and has integral role in the economic development of the country. !" FOREIGN E#CHANGE EARNER

The agricultural area is the ma*or source of foreign e+change incomes in Pakistan. The e+port of rice, cotton, cotton based products etc. bring about ,-( of our total earnings. Agriculture is helping the country to earn foreign e+change through e+ports. Foreign e+change, in turn, helps Pakistan to import t h o s e i t e m s w h i c h e i t h e r i t c a n n o t p r o d u c e i n t h e d o m e s t i c m a r k e t o r p r o d u c e s t h e m e+pensively than other countries. Foreign e+change through e+port of agriculture items helps the central bank to stabilize its currency and reducing debt burden of Pakistan. $" S%STAINING THE POP%&ATION

According to the .uman #evelopment /eport of 01#P, the population of Pakistan is increasing at the rate of almost &( per year 2 &nd most populated country in the 3uslim world while ,th most populated country of the world. Agriculture is playing a crucial role in order to withstand such an enormous population. $heat is the largely eaten food item of Pakistan and luckily is the largely cultivated crop of Pakistan. If Pakistan was not an agriculture country then the country would have to import all the food items in order to sustain such a large population. Thus agriculture is performing a double role in Pakistan)s development by giving food to such a large population and assisting economic growth by decreasing imports of food items. 4. SO%RCE OF EMP&OYMENT Agriculture industry is the ma*or source of employment in Pakistan. 3ore than the half of the population of Pakistan lives in rural areas. According to the economic survey of Pakistan, 4,.,!( of the entire employment is delivered by agriculture. In this way employment as an outcome of agricultural action is adding motion to the economic development of Pakistan.

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INCREASING THE TA# RE(EN%E OF THE GO(ERNMENT

As, agriculture engages &'( contribution towards the "#P and 45.,!( of Pakistan labor force, this increases per capita income. And government collection of ta+ revenue increases as per capita income increases. In this way agriculture has an important part in raising the ta+ revenue. To bring in structural changes and to make the institution of the country work more efficient, the government of Pakistan uses this ta+ revenue. )" S%PPORT OF IND%STRIES

The enhanced growth in the agricultural area delivers raw materials to manufacturing productions. The manufacture of fruits, *ute, cotton, sugarcane etc. assists other agro6based industries to get material from within the country and enlarge manufacture. *" RA+ MATERIA& FOR IND%STRIA& SECTOR

In the economic development of any country industries of are great importance. As long as agriculture is providing raw materials to the industries, it is helping many industries in Pakistan. 7otton which is also a significant e+port of Pakistan and raw material of te+tile industry is a ma*or crop of Pakistan. As sugarcane is also amongst one of vital crops of Pakistan and likewise sugar industry uses sugarcane as raw materials. Pakistan)s sports goods are well known worldwide and are also ma*or e+ports of Pakistan. 8ivestock which is also an agricultural activity helps in making the raw materials of these sports goods. All these assistance of industrialization are greatly resulted from agriculture sector of Pakistan which uickens the economic development of a country. 9. INFRASTR%CT%RE DE(E&OPMENT The energy of economic development is infrastructure. For ensuring fast transportation of goods and services, well6toned infrastructure is very important. As the Pun*ab province has large scale of agriculture practice, it is one of the most advanced provinces in terms of infrastructure. As the agriculture enlarges, it also conveys the infrastructure development with it, which helps in economic success of the country. CONC&%SION Agriculture had contributed in Pakistan)s development in these various ways. The government should announce policies which raise the productivity of agriculture in order to increase economic development. :+ample; government should familiarize modern ways of production through the introduction of technology in the area of agriculture. The government should also study land reforms as the large lands are more productive than the small ones and should also increase the ownership of land to remove feudalism. :ffective and operative ways for agricultural sector will definitely enhance the development of the weak economy of Pakistan.

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