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The Pakistan Development Review

36 : 4 Part II (Winter 1997) pp. 593—612

Pakistan’s Agricultural Development since

Independence: Intertemporal
Trends and Explanations
M. GHAFFAR CHAUDHRY and GHULAM MUSTAFA CHAUDHRY
The main objective of this paper has been to review Pakistan’s historical experience in
agricultural development in terms of growth, income distribution, and rural poverty. While the
long-term growth rates between 1949-50 and 1994-95 were satisfactory, the variations around
the average have been rather too large over the various decades. Beginning with a stagnating
sector of the 1950s, agriculture witnessed record growth rates during the Sixties. This was
followed by the lowest growth rates of the early Seventies, and acceleration in the second half
of the Seventies. The experience since 1979-80 has been mixed, but the growth rates have been
rather low through the Eighties and the Nineties. The trends in income distribution and poverty
varied directly in relation to the agricultural growth rates, especially when they were in excess
of the threshold level of 4.5–5.0 percent per annum. In general, a growth rate of 5.0 percent or
higher has induced positive changes in income distribution and poverty. In view of this
positive association, the pursuit of a high growth policy in agriculture should guide Pakistan’s
future development strategy. The efficiency of resource use, a greater dependence on modern
technologies, and a minimisation of government intervention in the market mechanism are the
essential pillars of the high growth strategy.

Agricultural development in Pakistan since the Fifties is the subject of discussion

in this paper, which is divided into 5 sections. Section 2 follows Section 1 and reviews
the historical growth pattern of the agricultural sector. The trends in income distribution
and poverty are related in Section 3. In Section 4 the causes and consequences
underlying this development experience are discussed with an emphasis on technology
and agricultural prices. The concluding section makes policy recommendations for better
prospects of agricultural development.

II. HISTORICAL GROWTH OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Because of the primacy of the agricultural sector, sustained growth of production
in agriculture has been a cherished goal of Pakistan’s economy throughout its history.
The relative growth performance of agriculture and subsectors is summarised in Table 1.
Two broad conclusions can be derived from the table. Firstly, the agricultural
sector has maintained a long-term growth rate of 3.28 percent per annum between 1949-
M. Ghaffar Chaudhry is Joint Director and Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry is Staff Economist at the
Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad.
 Table 1
Output Trends and Growth Rates of Agriculture and Its Sub-sectors from 1949–50 to 1994–95
Value-added at Constant Factor Cost of
1959-60 (Rs Billion) Output (Million Tonnes) of Livestock Products (000 Tonnes) Eggs
Agriculture Crop Livestock Wheat Cotton Cane Rice Milk Animal Poultry (Nos.
Years Meats Meats Million)
A. Output Levels
1949-50 6.60 4.25 2.29 3.92 0.22 7.85 0.81 – – – –
1954-55 6.95 4.32 2.25 3.19 0.28 8.84 0.84 – – – –
1959-60 7.71 4.77 2.84 3.91 0.29 10.64 1.00 – – – –
1964-65 9.28 6.02 3.12 4.59 0.38 18.67 1.35 – – – –
1969-70 12.57 8.92 3.44 7.29 0.54 26.37 2.40 7800 554 12 583
1974-75 13.07 9.14 3.80 7.67 0.51 21.34 2.31 8173 622 34 1159
1979-80 15.83 11.20 4.42 10.59 0.73 27.50 3.13 9075 740 49 2094
1984-85 18.60 12.75 5.58 11.70 1.01 32.14 3.32 10856 980 99 4093
1989-90 23.26 15.29 7.51 14.32 1.46 35.49 3.22 14723 1350 157 4670
1994-95 28.21 17.74 9.91 17.00 1.48 47.17 3.45 18946 1806 308 5929
1995-96 29.70 18.81 10.47 16.91 1.80 46.23 3.97 18919 1916 335 5757
1996-97 29.91 18.40 11.15 16.38 1.60 42.00 4.30 20950 2032 385 5915
B. Annual Growth Rates (%age)
1950-55 1.01 0.33 2.35 (4.04) 4.94 2.40 0.73 – – – –
1955-60 2.10 1.91 2.18 4.15 0.70 3.78 3.55 – – – –
1960-65 3.78 4.76 1.90 3.26 5.55 11.90 6.34 – – – –
1965-70 6.26 8.18 1.97 9.69 7.28 7.15 12.19 – – – –
1970-75 0.78 0.49 2.01 1.02 (1.14) (4.14) (0.76) 0.94 2.34 19.42 14.73
1975-80 3.91 4.15 3.07 6.67 7.44 5.20 6.26 2.12 4.36 7,58 12.56
1980-85 3.28 2.63 4.77 2.01 6.71 3.17 1.19 3.65 4.94 15.10 14.34
1985-90 4.57 3.70 6.12 4.12 7.65 2.00 (0.61) 6.28 6.62 9.66 2.67
1990-95 3.93 3.02 5.70 3.49 0.27 12.89 1.39 5.17 5.99 14.43 4.88
1995-97 2.97 1.84 6.07 (1.84) 3.98 (5.64) 11.64 5.05 6.07 11.80 (0.12)
1950–97 3.28 3.23 3.43 3.31 4.33 4.06 3.27 3.61 4.84 13.16 9.72
Source: Government of Pakistan (1986 and 1996a).
Note: Figures in parenthesis point to negative growth rates.
 Pakistan’s Agricultural Development 595

50 and 1996-97. The annual growth of the crop production subsector has been slightly
lower; and that of livestock, wheat, cotton and sugarcane slightly higher, than the
average growth rate.
Secondly, the growth pattern in agriculture has been patchy: it has been enviable
during certain periods but disappointing in others. The table shows that the growth rate
of the value added by agriculture barely exceeded 1.0 percent per annum during the
early 1950s and 2.1 percent during 1954-55 to 1959-60. The acceleration of growth
initiated in the Fifties continued into the Sixties and agricultural value-added exhibited
an annual growth rate of 3.78 percent and 6.26 percent, respectively, during the first and
second halves. Lacking any change in livestock sector, the accelerating growth rates
were the result of rising growth rates of crop production. The first and second halves of
1960s had respective annual growth rates of crop output of 4.8 to 8.2 percent. In the
latter half of 1960s rice, wheat, cotton and sugarcane had annual increases of 12.2, 9.7,
7.3 and 7.2 percent per year.
During early Seventies the annual growth rate in agriculture plummeted to the
historically lowest level of 0.78 percent. While crop production had a growth rate of
0.49 percent, output of rice, cotton and sugarcane fell persistently. With the exception of
poultry, growth was equally disappointing in livestock sector. However, the agricultural
growth revived in the second half of the Seventies and crop output and livestock
registered respective growth rates of more than 4.0 and 3.0 percent.
Since the 1980s, livestock and non-cereal crops emerged as the prime movers of
agricultural growth. Against 3.28 percent annual growth rate of agriculture, growth of
livestock exceeded 4.77 percent and that of cotton 6.71 percent. By contrast respective
growth rates of crop sector and cereal crops were less than 2.63 and 2.0 percent. During
the period of 1984-85 and 1989-90, the production of cotton and livestock witnessed a
further acceleration and contributed to more rapid agricultural growth (4.57 percent)
than in the previous period. Despite some recovery in wheat, the growth rates of
sugarcane and rice remained very low. In the 1990s, the growth rates fell further to less
than 4.0 and 3.0 percent per annum respectively between 1989-90 and 1994-95 and
1994-95 and 1996-97. The high growth rates of the sugarcane and livestock sectors had
a positive, and a slower growth of cotton, rice and wheat a negative, effect on the overall
agricultural growth in the 1990s.

III. TRENDS IN INCOME DISTRIBUTION

AND POVERTY
The time-series data on income distribution and poverty are not as comprehensive
as those on agricultural production. The Household Income and Expenditure Surveys
can profitably be used to trace the changes in the patterns of income distribution and
poverty. Table 2 presents the relevant data on the inter-temporal income distribution and
poverty trends in rural Pakistan.
596 Chaudhry and Chaudhry

It is clear from Table 2 that the patterns of income distribution and poverty in
rural Pakistan have witnessed considerable changes from time to time. The rural incomes
became more skewed during early Sixties. Improvements in rural income distribution
occurred during 1963-64 to 1970-71, as concentration ratios fell from 0.35 to 0.29. A
reversal of this trend began in 1971-72; and the rural income inequalities grew until
1984-85. Although rural income differentials narrowed down between 1984-85 and
1987-88, the Gini Coefficients rose to 0.41 and 0.37 respectively, the highest ever
recorded in Pakistan’s history, during 1990-91 and 1992-93.1

Table 2
Income Concentration Ratios and Poverty Levels in Rural Pakistan
from 1959-60 to 1990-91
Rural Population Below the Calorie-based
Gini Coefficients Poverty-line
Based on Household As a Percent of Total Rural Poor (Million)
Year Income Rural Population
1959 0.35 – –
1961 0.36 – –
1963-64 0.35 43.10 16.53
1966-67 0.32 – –
1968-69 0.29 25.10 10.76
1969-70 0.30 26.00 11.40
1970-71 0.29 9.25 4.15
1971-72 0.31 19.19 8.82
1979 0.33 19.00 11.48
1984-85 0.34 21.10 14.33
1985-86 0.33 – –
1986-87 0.32 – –
1987-88 0.31 19.60 14.30
1990-91 0.41 20.60 16.06
1992-93 0.37 20.40 16.36
Source: Gini Ratios are from [Chaudhry (1982); and Government of Pakistan (1996a and 1997)]; while the data
about Poverty Levels are from [Allauddin (1975); Ercelawn (1988) and Malik (1994)].

1
The sudden rise in Gini may partly be attributed to variation in data used in the calculation of
Gini Coefficients. Prior to 1990, the grouped data formed the basis of calculation but ungrouped
household data were used for calculating Gini ratios for 1990-91 and 1992-93.
 Pakistan’s Agricultural Development 597

The poverty level exhibited more or less the same trend as rural income
distribution, though with less abrupt changes. This is to expected as poverty studies are
based on expenditure which can be financed out of savings or borrowing. In 1963-64,
poverty was widespread as more than 43 percent of the rural population suffered from
varying degrees of poverty. The incidence of poverty fell consistently through the Sixties
and was confined to 9 percent of the population by 1970-71. Relative poverty
accentuated between 1970-71 and 1984-85 reaching a level of 21.1 percent. It, however,
has tended to stabilise at around 20 percent in the late Eighties and early Nineties
[Chaudhry (1996)].
There were at least 16.5 million rural poor in Pakistan during 1963-64. The
number fell to around 11.0 million in 1968-69 and 1969-70. A sharp decline in absolute
poverty occurred during 1970-71, but it has risen consistently since then with the result
that the number of poor in 1992-93 were about the same as in 1963-64.

IV. FACTORS IN GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION

Pakistan’s long-term experience in agricultural growth and distribution seems to
be rich enough to allow some hypothesis testing. Such an analysis should help
appropriate policy-making, to redirect the government’s efforts, and enhancing the
welfare of the people. Among the many hypotheses that can be tested on the basis of this
experience, the most appropriate ones are listed below.
Firstly, we can ask: is there a trade-off between agricultural growth and income
distribution? Secondly, what factors, other than the growth rate of output, may have
been responsible for changing the trends in agricultural growth and income distribution?
Thirdly, what has been the effect of agricultural price policy on growth, distribution and
poverty alleviation?

Growth and Distribution in Agriculture

The policy of growth maximisation was widely criticised during the Sixties for its
adverse effects on income distribution, and social, political and economic stability.
However, several recent studies show that rapid growth of agricultural sector has been
no less than a blessing for Pakistan. Naqvi (1994), for example, has shown that a sturdy
agricultural growth is essential for rapid growth of national income, for attaining
macroeconomic stability, and for securing an improvement in distributive justice and a
reduction in rural poverty. According to Naqvi (1992) agriculture must maintain a
growth rate of more than 5.0 percent in order to ensure achievement of the above desired
objectives. That a 5.0 percent annual growth of agriculture output is an absolute
necessity in Pakistan has further been enunciated by Mellor (1988) in terms of its
implications for the effective employment of growing labour force. On the basis of
population growth rates, an income elasticity of demand for food of 0.6 and a per capita
598 Chaudhry and Chaudhry

income growth rate of 2-3 percent, Chaudhry (1994) argued that food output must grow
at an annual rate of 5.0 percent to attain food self-sufficiency on a sustainable basis.
Can such high growth rates be achieved and sustained in the future? It may be
recalled that Pakistan has had a long-term growth rate of nearly 3.3 percent per annum
between 1949-50 and 1996-97. It may also be recalled that the average annual growth
rate exceeded the required growth rate during 1960s and was close to it between 1984-
85 and 1989-90. In view of this fact the current agricultural growth can easily be stepped
up to the required growth rate by simple manipulation of agricultural policy.

Technology and Growth

It has been shown that agricultural growth may not be destabilising, and that the
Green Revolution would have made a positive contribution to higher growth rate of
agriculture. There is considerable evidence that private tubewell installations led to a 50
percent increase in the cropping intensity [Muhammad (1965)]. The shorter duration of
the High-Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of wheat and rice and the availability of chemical
fertilisers has produced similar results [Gill (1973)]. The quickness of operations
permitted by tractor cultivation augmented the cropping-intensity effects of tubewells
and HYVs [Lawrence (1970)]. The yield-increasing effect of the above technologies
was equally important. Each of the tubewells and HYVs of wheat and rice raised crop
yields by 50 percent [Muhammad (1965) and Gill (1973)]. The new varieties of cotton,
introduced in the 1980s, have a yield potential of 3-4 times the traditional varieties
[Chaudhry (1994)].

Green Revolution and Inequalities

A second hypothesis that needs to be tested is the (alleged) negative effect of the
Green Revolution on rural income distribution. The argument is based on growing
income differences among; (1) the small, and the large farms, (2) the farm sector and the
landless workers, and (3) the irrigated and unirrigated areas. These issues are discussed
below if only to portray a true picture.

(a) Inter-farm Income Disparities

In line with the existing literature, the changes in farm income are a function of
the changes in land distribution and those in farm productivity. Assuming proportional
changes in the productivity of the small and large farms, the changes in income
distribution would follow the trend of land distribution.2 As measured by the operational
and ownership holdings, land distribution trends over the years are depicted in Table 3.
2
For the purposes of this study, small farms include all farms under 12.5 acres and large farms
mean farms with farm area exceeding 25 acres.
 Pakistan’s Agricultural Development 599

Table 3
Changes in the Distribution of Agricultural Land for Census Years
Land Concentration Relations: Based on
Agricultural Ownership Holdings Operational Holdings
Census Year Revenue Factors Census Data Census Data
1960 0.640 – 0.617
1972 0.570 0.658 0.518
1980 0.510 0.643 0.535
1990 – 0.654 0.583

Source: [Naqvi, Khan and Chaudhry (1989) and Government of Pakistan (1993)].

It should be clear that land distribution in Pakistan consistently moved in favour

of the small farmers between 1960 and 1980. Both the revenue records and the census
data show a rapid improvement in the distribution of ownership holdings. The same
trend is reflected in the distribution of operational area during 1959-60 and 1972, but
with a slight reversal occurring between 1972 and 1990. During the 1980s both the
ownership and operational holdings show a deterioration of land distribution. These
trends, especially during the Sixties, indicate that the Green Revolution may not have led
to any large-scale land purchases, land renting or increased owner cultivation. While the
improvements in land distribution continued to be guided by the Islamic inheritance
laws, its deterioration in the Seventies and Eighties must have been induced by land
purchases by the industrialists with a view to saving taxes on industrial profits
[Government of Pakistan (1993a)].
There is an impressive body of empirical evidence which postulates an inverse
size-productivity relationship in agriculture [Cornia (1985); Dorner (1972); Johnston and
Tomich (1985) and Ruttan (1969)]. Despite contrary theoretical suggestions, empirical
evidence in Pakistan lends support to the inverse relationship between farm size and
agricultural productivity [Chaudhry (1982); Naqvi, Khan and Chaudhry (1989); Sharif et
al. (1986) and Hai (1997)]. Some of factual information in this regard has been depicted
in Table 4.
It is apparent from Table 4 that the gross productivity of the small farms has been
consistently higher than that of the large ones. The last column of the table indicates that
the small farms have maintained an edge over the large farms in the growth of land
productivity between 1965-66 to 1995-96. In the light of the above, there is no room for
the assertion that the large farms overtook the small farms in farm productivity under the
Green Revolution. Indeed, the differences in the adoption rates of various modern
technologies between the two groups have narrowed with passage of time.
600 Chaudhry and Chaudhry

Table 4
Gross Productivities per Farm Acre for Small and Large Farms
Value of Output (Rs) per Farm Acre Small as Percentage of Large
Year Small Farms Large Farms Farm’s Productivity
1965-66 363 205 177.1
1966-67 515 250 206.0
1967-68 561 230 243.9
1968-69 552 250 220.8
1969-70 657 349 188.2
1970-71 700 332 210.8
1973-74 526 303 173.6
1981-82 1719 1031 166.7
1995-96 7301 3419 209.3
Source: [Naqvi, Khan and Chaudhry (1989) and Hai (1997)]. The figures reported here have been adjusted for
land use intensities of the two groups and differ to that extent from incomes reported in the source.

It may be argued that, because of the lumpiness of investment, the ownership of

the mechanical technologies like tubewells and tractors would be heavily concentrated in
the hands of large farmers. Apparently this seems to be the case. According to the 1980
Census of Agriculture [Government of Pakistan (1983)], nearly 59 percent of the tractors
and about 39 percent of the tubewells were in the ownership of large farmers. By
contrast, the small farmers owned only 16 percent of the tractors and 35 percent of the
tubewells. However, if measured in terms of per unit of farm area, the disparity of
ownership of mechanical inputs between small and large farmers is considerably
reduced. Furthermore, the relative differences in the physical ownership of mechanical
inputs may not be uniquely related to inter-farm differences in productivity levels and
the efficiency of resource use. The reason is simple. The use of these inputs may not
always be positively related to the ownership pattern. This is because the practice of
selling tubewell water and the institution of contract-ploughing at competitive rates can
increase the small farmer’s access to tubewell and tractor services. Accounting for this
fact, nearly 35 and 32 percent of the small farmers were users of tractors and tubewells.
By contrast, the respective percentages were 44 and 33 for the large farmers.
As regards the current adoption rates of bio-chemical technology, there are no
known differences between the small farms and the large farms. Although the leading
role of the large farms in the adoption of HYVs cannot be denied, there is considerable
evidence that the differences in the adoption rates of the two groups had at least
disappeared by the early Seventies [Chaudhry (1982)]. It may be interesting to note that
the HYVs of wheat accounted for 68 percent of wheat acreage in 1980, on both the
 Pakistan’s Agricultural Development 601

small farms and the large farms. By contrast, the small farms devoted nearly 54.0 percent
of their rice area to HYVs of rice compared to 44.0 percent on large farms [Government
of Pakistan (1983)].
Not very different has been the experience with chemical fertilisers. There were
wide differences in the rates of fertiliser application on large farms and the small farms
in the Sixties [Chaudhry (1982)]. However, such differences had been greatly reduced
by the early 1980s [Naqvi, Khan and Chaudhry (1989)].
One of the most probable reasons for a somewhat lesser use of the modern inputs
on the small farms relative to the large ones lies in the fact that the small farms, guided
by their resource endowments, prefer to make a more intensive use of some of the
traditional inputs. For example, although tractors may enable the large farms to
undertake tillage operations with precision, small farms can do the same in better ways
with greater inputs of human labour and animal power in addition to their access to
tractors. According to available evidence [Naqvi, Khan, and Chaudhry (1989); Herring
and Chaudhry (1974) and Chaudhry (1982)], the labour input per unit of land for the
small farms is, at least, twice as much as that for the large farms. Similarly, the bullock-
power input of the small farmers was 4.0 times that of the large farmers. Although the
small farmers have a somewhat limited access to tubewell water, their proportionate
irrigated area has historically exceeded that of the large farmers, probably because they
tend to use water more efficiently. This would be particularly true if the small farmers
had only a limited access to surface and ground water supplies. According to the 1990
Census of Agriculture [Government of Pakistan (1993)], the proportionate irrigated area
of the small farmers was close to 80.5 percent as against 72.8 percent of that of the large
farmers. A somewhat lesser use of chemical fertiliser on the small farms is perhaps more
than offset by their higher manorial input. Also, the small farmers use twice as much
farmyard manure per acre as is done by large farmers [Chaudhry (1982)]. As farm-yard
manure is rich in plant nutrients, its greater use would be instrumental in enabling the
small farmers to secure a higher and better soil-nutrient balance than is obtained by large
farmers, who solely depend on chemical fertilisers.

(b) Incomes of Rural Landless and Landowners

Apart from the relative income changes of the small farms and the large farms,
the pattern of income distribution is critically shaped by the relative growth rates of the
incomes of the landless and the landowners, which are in turn determined by the changes
in employment and wages in agriculture. This issue is discussed in the following pages.
On the basis of Labour Force Surveys, Chaudhry and Chaudhry (1992) have
shown that the employment rates in rural Pakistan were above 98 percent during the
1960s and early 1970s, fell below the 97 percent level in the late Seventies and the
Eighties, and exceeded the 94-95 percent level in the 1990s.
602 Chaudhry and Chaudhry

The changes in the demand for, and the supply of, labour in agriculture determine
long term trends in rural employment. While the labour supply is a function of the
growth of rural labour force, its demand depends directly on the growth of agricultural
output. The growth of labour force in agriculture between 1951–81 has been estimated at
2.10 percent per annum [Rukanuddin and Farooqui (1988)], and at 1.95 percent between
1979-80 and 1994-95 [Government of Pakistan (1996)]. Using the estimates of the
employment elasticity of agricultural growth given in Mellor (1988), it is not difficult to
estimate the growth of labour demand in agriculture. Given this elasticity, agriculture
must at least maintain a growth rate of 3.0 – 3.5 percent per year. However as the growth
rates of agriculture remained below these threshold levels during the 1950s, the 1970s,
the early 1980s and the 1990s, a deterioration in employment situation should be
expected. On the contrary, the high growth rates in the 1960s and the second the half of
the 1980s may be compatible with an increasing competition in the rural labour market.
Needless to add that a large growth of demand for agricultural labour was the result of
technological breakthroughs in agriculture like the Green Revolution of the Sixties and
the HYVs of cotton during the late 1980s [Chaudhry and Chaudhry (1992)].
The intertemporal trend of rural wages is another factor in determining rural
income distribution. The relevant data are given in Table 5.

Table 5
Trends in Agricultural Wages from 1959-60 to 1994-95
Agricultural Wage Implicit GDP Real Wage Annual Growth
Year Rate (Rs per day) Deflator Rate Rate
1959-60 1.36 100 1.36 –
1964-65 1.92 112.53 1.71 4.69
1969-70 3.00 126.96 2.36 6.65
1974-75 7.53 256.49 2.94 4.49
1979-80 13.30 392.80 3.39 2.89
1984-85 21.93 585.34 3.75 2.04
1989-90 32.62 709.95 4.60 4.17
1994-95 56.00 1290.74 4.34 –1.12
Source: [Chaudhry and Chaudhry (1992); Pakistan Labour Gazette (Various Years); Monthly Statistical
Bulletin (Various Years); and Government of Pakistan (1996a)]

Several interesting conclusions follow from the table. The nominal daily-wage
rate in 1959-60 was indeed low, not exceeding Rs 1.36 per day. It took 10 years to
double, but a redoubling of these rates took just five years between 1969-70 and 1974-
75. A nearly three-fold increase seems to have occurred during each of ten-year periods
 Pakistan’s Agricultural Development 603

beginning with 1974-75 and 1984-85. In contrast, when the real GDP deflators is used,
the real wages in agriculture, show an inconsistent and varying intertemporal trend. The
growth was the fastest during Sixties, exceeding 6.6 percent per annum during the
second half of the decade. The annual growth rates declined and averaged around 4.5,
2.9 and 2.0 percent respectively during first and second halves of the Seventies and the
early 1980s. While the real wages grew at an annual rate of 4.2 percent during 1984-85
to 1989-90, they began to decline at the rate of 1.1 percent in the 1990s.
On the basis of the rates of increase in agricultural employment (2.00 percent)
and the real wage, the growth rate of the ‘wage fund’ (defined as the product of number
of persons employed in agriculture and the going wage rate) can be calculated and
compared with the estimates of value added in agriculture to draw its implications for
rural income distribution and poverty. Going by these comparisons, the income
distribution and poverty witnessed considerable improvement during the 1960s and
second half of the 1980s; but the trend reversed over the 1969-70 to 1984-85 and the
1989-90 to 1994-95 period.

(c) The State of Regional Disparities

It was argued in the late Sixties that the regional income distribution would
inevitably worsen because the Green Revolution technologies were heavily concentrated
in the most prosperous province of Punjab with well-developed irrigation system to the
total exclusion of poorest regions like Balochistan, the barani areas were supposed to
have least access to assured water supply [Falcon (1970) and Hamid and Hussain
(1974)]. These arguments have, however been widely challenged in the more recent
literature [Pinstrup-Anderson (1985) and Chaudhry and Iqbal (1989)]. At any rate,
whatever validity such argument had for the pioneer adopters of these technologies the
same may not hold for the late-comers, who tend to adopt the technologies more rapidly
once their benefits are fully demonstrated. In fact, it has been shown that, following the
Punjab’s example, other provinces and the barani areas have adopted the Green
Revolution technologies at an even faster rate [Chaudhry and Iqbal (1989)].
The question is: have the benefits of Green Revolution been concentrated in the
Punjab relative to Balochistan and the barani areas? In the absence of any published
statistics on regional incomes, the question can be investigated in the light of the yield
trends of wheat and rice crops widely grown in all the above regions. Table 6 furnishes
the necessary details.
The table makes clear that, contrary to the notions held in the 1960s, the Green
Revolution has had a much greater success in Balochistan and in the barani areas than in
the Punjab. While the wheat yields doubled in Punjab between 1964-65 and 1994-95,
they tripled or tetraploid in Balochistan and barani areas. And even though rice is not
grown in the barani areas, the rice yields have at least doubled in Balochistan as against
the stagnation in the Punjab.
604 Chaudhry and Chaudhry

Table 6
Wheat and Rice Yields in the Punjab, Balochistan and Barani Areas
for Selected Years since 1964-65
Crop Yields (Kgs. per Hectare) of:
Wheat Rice
Years Punjab Balochistan Barani Punjab Balochistan
1964-65 1020 600 – 1190 980
1969-70 1360 770 397 1580 990
1974-75 1490 980 572 1520 1110
1979-80 1598 1229 877 1287 2223
1984-85 1610 1576 780 1370 2762
1989-90 1882 1902 1033 1157 2618
1994-95 2153 2320 1129 1257 1911
Source: Government of Pakistan (1981, 1996).

Agricultural Price Policy and Development

The next question to be addressed is: are prices important in shaping agricultural
development and can non-price factors play their usual role in the absence of
remunerative prices? There is worldwide evidence that prices play a crucial role in
agricultural development. In particular, the long-term trends in agricultural commodity
prices relative to input prices influence expectations, investment and technology and
hence the growth of agricultural production [Timmer (1988)]. Also, stable and
remunerative prices of farm products are associated with a reduction of risk and
uncertainty; and they augment entrepreneurial skills of the farming community [Schultz
(1978)]. Finally, the movements in the intersectoral terms of trade influence the
unemployment rate, the wage good prices, the pattern of income distribution, and the
level of social welfare [Brown (1978)]. The conclusion seems to be that the non-price
factors (technological and institutional) are not a substitute for an effective price
mechanism. For example, Bale and Lutz (1981) highlight the fact that the level of
agricultural production depends not so much on technical considerations but, in large
measure, on what governments do to agriculture. According to Schultz (1978) whenever
the farm product is underpriced, even though superior varieties of crops are at hand, the
adoption rate is at best partial. In the same vein, Johnston and Cownie (1969) have
remarked that the application of chemical fertilisers will depend on optimal grain-
fertiliser price ratios. Schultz (1965) has categorically stated that when the price of
fertiliser is far above the prices of farm products, no extension programme can induce
the farmers to use additional quantities of fertiliser.
 Pakistan’s Agricultural Development 605

As is well known, Pakistan has always followed a policy of intervention in the

price mechanism, to the point of subverting it. In the Fifties, for example, most of the
agricultural commodities were subjected to compulsory procurement at substantially less
than the world prices. However, this policy was relaxed in the 1960s and the government
began to guarantee above-world prices of agricultural commodities, along with liberal
subsidies on fertilisers, pesticides, tubewells, tractors and improved seeds of agricultural
commodities [Kuhnen (1989)]; but the policy was reversed again in the beginning of
1970s, and the prices of agricultural commodities were reduced to less than world levels,
while those of fertilisers were tripled [Haque (1993)].
In the 1980s and 1990s, a different set of conditions determined the fate of
agricultural price policy. Under the World Bank/IMF structural adjustment programme,
the government subsidies on pesticides, seeds and mechanisation were withdrawn and
the subsidy on fertiliser was to be phased out. At the same time, in view of expected
increases of prices and rising profits on major inputs the sales of substandard fertilisers
and pesticides, black marketing and underbagging became the standard practices. To
avoid agitation from the urban consumers and industrialists, the governments in power
continued to maintain agricultural commodity prices well below the world prices. This
has been the conclusion of all the studies undertaken during the Eighties and the Nineties
[Chaudhry and Kayani (1991); Dorosh and Valdes (1990); Ender (1992); Faruquee
(1995); Longmire and Debord (1993) and Government of Punjab (1991)]. Table 7 sums
up the situation since 1979-80.
It follows from Table 7 that, while nominal protection coefficients moved up and
down randomly, the underpricing of agricultural commodities has remained a consistent
policy. As a consequence, the resource transfer from agriculture (net of input subsidies
and government expenditure on agriculture and water) has greatly increased: it was Rs
11 billion until about mid-Eighties, averaged around Rs 20 billion during the second half
of the decaded, has been well above Rs 30 billion during 1990–93, and reached an all-
time high figure of Rs 66 billion in 1994-95.
While the above resource outflows are large enough to dry up any investment
potential of the farm sector, the story does not end here. In view of the faster increases in
input prices relative to those of final goods, agriculture has faced low and falling rates of
profits [Afzal et al. (1992)] in sharp contrast to rising and substantially higher profit rates
of industrial sector [Government of Punjab (1991)]. Given this state of affairs, it is only
rational on the part of the marginal investor to disinvest in agriculture and redirect
investible funds into the industrial sector.
As appropriate incentives are a sine qua non for rapid agricultural growth, the
favourable price policy of the Sixties did induce heavy private investments, which led to
a rapid growth in agriculture; but as the price incentives became less favourable during
the 1980s and 1990s, they induced falling growth rates of agricultural crops. In addition
 Table 7
Extent of Underpricing of Agricultural Commodities and Resource Transfers from Agriculture, 1979–80 to 1994–95
Gross Transfer Govt.
Nominal Protection Coefficients from Input Subsidies (Rs Million) in Agriculture on: Expenditure
Cotton Wheat Basmati Coarse Sugar Agriculture Fertiliser Irrigation Govt. Electricity Total on Agr. & fers
Years Rice Rice Cane (Rs Million) Water Credit Water

1979–80 0.57 0.57 0.28 0.47 0.38 12847 2455 297 116 –16 3121 4891 4835
1980–81 0.51 0.47 0.32 0.41 0.39 18665 2448 338 180 –88 2898 4956 10809
1981–82 0.68 0.44 0.29 0.43 0.50 18128 1750 416 265 –11 2444 6235 9449
1982–83 0.60 0.50 0.33 0.74 0.73 15029 1948 437 349 –100 2658 7297 5074
1983–84 0.50 0.37 0.33 0.73 0.77 19707 1466 661 524 –153 2498 6179 11080
1984–85 0.52 0.39 0.25 0.56 1.29 20546 1500 828 543 103 2974 6461 11111
1985–86 0.69 0.51 0.24 1.89 0.94 17313 2409 1005 448 16 3894 9024 4395
1986–87 0.76 0.43 0.24 1.96 1.25 20038 1284 1234 551 375 3444 444
1987–88 0.43 0.41 0.28 0.67 1.41 40162 1995 1352 785 1112 5259 31 26872
1988–89 0.49 0.41 0.29 0.47 1.09 35059 2415 1154 1009 1139 5720 7379 21960
1989–90 0.34 0.39 0.33 0.41 0.47 72226 1257 1028 1207 1380 4872 8452 58902
1990–91 0.39 0.57 0.53 1.19 0.62 57614 1248 1545 1526 1625 6220 9857 41537
1991–92 0.47 0.52 0.59 1.10 0.74 51591 1191 2701 1744 1796 7512 9446 34633
1992–93 0.55 0.53 0.58 0.79 0.77 44354 810 3111 1993 1724 7639 11922 24793
1993–94 0.55 0.69 0.53 0.93 0.82 43543 805 2565 1980 330 5680 14429 23434
1994–95 0.40 0.60 0.66 1.01 0.59 87746 79 2938 1986 330 5333 16113 66300
1995–96 0.48 0.47 0.71 0.77 0.58 77414 0 NA 0 NA NA 16508 NA
1996–97 0.57 0.65 0.60 0.95 0.79 56144 0 NA 0 NA NA 17487 NA

Source: [Chaudhry (1995). Chaudhry and Maan (1993) and Chaudhry and Sahibzada (1995)].
Nominal protection coefficients represent the ratios of procurement to the corresponding import/export parity prices and net transfers equal to gross transfers minus
subsidies and government expenditure on agriculture and water.
 Pakistan’s Agricultural Development 607

to the obvious repercussions for agriculture, the unhelpful price policy in vogue since
1980 has had adverse effects on the landless and rural poor as well. A growth rate of 2-3
percent of agriculture crops is highly inadequate to absorb the growing labour force and
the rising unemployment is likely to induce large undesirable effects on income
distribution and rural poverty. Low agricultural commodity prices also tend to
accentuate poverty and income differentials among the farmers for at least two reasons.
First, the implicit taxation of agriculture in the form of the low prices of agricultural
produce increases the skewness of post-tax disposable incomes. Second, the impact of
the increase in input prices on output is likely to be much worse on the small farmers
relative to the big farmers because of the former’s risk-averse character. It has been
noted, for example, that small farms—those with a farm size of less than 5.0 acres—
tend to reduce fertiliser input by 2.4 percent with each 1.0 percent increase in
fertiliser prices in contrast to price elasticity of demand for fertiliser of only 0.6
percent on large farms [NFDC (1994)]. It is thus not surprising that an unfavourable
price policy in agriculture, since 1980, was responsible not only for the slower
growth of agricultural output but also for worsening income distribution and poverty
levels.

V. CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

The main objective of this paper has been to review Pakistan’s historical
experience in agricultural development in terms of growth, income distribution and rural
poverty. While the long-term growth rates between 1949-50 and 1994-95 have been
satisfactory, the variations around the average have been rather too large over the
various decades. Beginning with a stagnating sector of the 1950s, agriculture witnessed
record growth rates during the Sixties. This was followed by the lowest growth rates of
the early Seventies, and then acceleration in the second half of the Seventies. The
experience since 1979-80 has bee mixed, but the growth rates have been rather low
through the Eighties and the Nineties. The trends in income distribution and poverty
varied directly with the agricultural growth rates, especially when they were in excess of
the thresh-hold level of 4.5-5.0 percent per annum. In general, a growth rate of 5.0
percent or higher has induced positive changes in income distribution and poverty. In
view of this positive association, the pursuit of a high growth policy in agriculture
should guide Pakistan’s future development strategy. The efficiency of resource use, a
greater dependence on modern technologies, and a minimisation of government
intervention in the market mechanism are the essential pillars of the high growth
strategy, which has the following as its elements.
Firstly, technological change is at the heart of a high growth-strategy. To this end,
there is need to evolve new HYVs of crops, new breeds of livestock and to develop new
cultural practices. To accomplish these tasks effectively, the importance of greater
608 Chaudhry and Chaudhry

expenditure on research can hardly be underestimated.

Secondly, from the growth maximisation viewpoint, the efficiency of input
delivery systems should be enhanced. In order to check black marketing, underbagging
and the sale of substandard fertilisers, pesticides and seeds, punitive action should be
taken. In addition, efforts should be made to reduce the intensity of the problem by open
market sales, by breaking up government (and registered dealer) monopolies, and by
ensuring supply of inputs at the right price, time and place and in adequate quantities. In
the case of irrigation water, an efficient use of available supplies must be ensured by the
construction of storage dams, a continuation of water-course improvement programme,
an equitable distribution of water across watercourses and the establishment of a direct
relationship between the quantum of water delivered and the charges levied on its use.
However, being a public good, the privatisation of the irrigation system, partial or
otherwise, is not desirable.
Thirdly, the government intervention in agricultural commodity markets should
be reduced to a minimum. This follows from the fact that parastatals have widely been
blamed for serving their own vested interests rather than the interests of producers and
consumers [Bale (1985)]. However, such a policy should keep in view the fact that the
experience with private traders in Pakistan has been disappointing so far [Naqvi and
Cornelesse (1986)]. Thus appropriate laws should be framed to guard against illicit
practices of the private sector to ensure fair play and competition in the agricultural
commodity markets.
Finally, agricultural commodity prices should be raised to world levels in
accordance with corresponding import and export parity prices to prevent an
uneconomic (implicit) resource transfer from agriculture to other sectors of the economy.
As procurement prices in Pakistan are still considerably below the world levels, raising
them to world prices should revive incentives, investment and growth in agriculture.
Even though the procurement price of wheat has been raised to Rs 240.00 per 40 kgs,
the above statement would still hold as the average border price (cif Karachi) of
imported wheat was in excess of Rs 310.00 per maund [Government of Pakistan
(1996a)]. It is worth noting that this border price corresponded with an import parity
price of wheat of Rs 360.00.

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