A Historical Perspective of Agriculture Development Policies

Description

Many factors were developed to erratic economic and social progress in recent decades and lagging agricultural performance. But agriculture is so central to economy, society and politics which are incomplete without devoting to agriculture and rural economy. So we control this, we briefly examining the history of policy engagement with agriculture and rural development in some parts of Asia and its impact on the rural economy.

During the two decades that followed, Pakistan was largely fed by the Punjab province, which is home to the rich alluvial soils and vast irrigation system in the Indus River basin. Unfortunately the cleaving of Punjab across two separate countries diminished the depth and breadth of agricultural markets served by farmers at the borders areas. The effects of this reduced market were exacerbated by the neglect of agricultural development by public policy makers, who followed much of the developing world in turning their attention to industrialization. However, as Pakistan became a net importer of food grains in the early 1950s about half a million tons annually, but later on attributes in the government changed. In particular, a severe drought in 1952 forced Pakistan to import one million tons of wheat to meet basic food staple requirements, reminding policy makers of the insecurity of the young countries food supply. Policy makers acknowledged the fundamental importance of agriculture and the rural sector to Pakistan’s future with the introduction in 1953 of the village agricultural and industrial development program. It is a social protection program created to provide rural employment opportunities on short duration projects. Pakistans policies for the agricultural sector and rural development beginning with a series of five year development plans have focussed on aggregate production, land distribution and governance with varying degrees of commitment and impact across the years. During the course of the first five year plan the government of Pakistan set bold targets to increase both cereal and cash crop production. Few of these targets were met, despite allocations of 24% of the national development budget per year for agriculture and water. Nevertheless, the period observed major challenges in the institutional landscape of Pakistans agricultural sector and in the government apparatus designed to promote its growth and development. In 1958, policy makers took aim at harnessing Pakistan’s vast natural endowment of water resources in the indus river basin with the establishment of the water and power development authority. It was created to coordinate activities in the water and power sectors that had previously been managed by provincial departments of electricity and irrigation. This was assumed oversight over efforts to manage the Indus river basin for both irrigation and power generation purposes and over schemes designed for reclaim waterlogged sodic and saline lands for use in agriculture.

The food and agriculture commission was created in 1959 to assess the causes of and solutions to poor performance in the country’s agricultural sector. This step led to the creation of the agricultural development corporation, which soughts to improve the implementation and coordination of policies pertaining to agricultural development. These initiatives were consistent with strategies pursued in many other developing countries at the time but their impact was likely to be included in different policies and finally that might help the society.