20000203

Agricultural growth rate

hit by falling

yield per acre

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's agriculture growth rate has been adversely affected over the past decades because of falling yield per acre.

Currently less than 2.5 percent yield per acre of major crops has been estimated, compared with 7.5 percent of the 60s.

An official report of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture says that the frequency of bad harvest has also simultaneously increasing.

The last 17 years have witnessed seven years of negative growth, while this frequency was five years in the first 20 years.

The report says that since the country now has more cultivable lands and water resources and has come to greater capacity, it should concentrate upon increasing yield per acre.

The report outlined three areas, which have badly affected agricultural growth: irrigation system, soil depletion and seed depletion.

According to the findings, agricultural instability and degeneration have affected 40 percent of the village population badly.ÑInternews