Some Strategic Problems in Agricultural Development in Pakistan

Crop yields in Pakistan are amongst the lowest in the world. Food intake is less than 2,000 calories per capita per day; the diet is not balanced and consists mainly of cereals. The average intake of animal protein is only onehalf of the absolute minimum recommended by the FAO1. Similarly, yields of export crops are low and foreign-exchange earnings are meagre. So long as yields of crops remain low, the great bulk of the land will continue to be devoted to growing of subsistence cereals for the human population and there is very little possibility of crop diversification to include more of such nutritive foods as fruits and vegetables. Under such conditions, there is virtually no possibility of diverting any significant acreage from food and cash crops to fodder and feed crops for the animal population