This is the best way forward. Pakistan agriculture is still primitive after 70 years of independence and is a national shame. Even India has higher productivity. What we need to do is lease out say 2.5% of land in various districts of Pakistan to Chinese agri-business concerns. Then we need a system where all other farmers can look at and copy the best practices that these Chinese agri-businesses bring in. This should serve to first introduce modern technology and trade linkages with Chinese market. This could be a great example of finding a niche in the global trading order. With a market of 1.4 billion in China we could not go wrong.
I couldn't disagree more. I get the sentiment, but the practical suggests you mentioned are the wrong move for us as a nation. Frankly I'd rather we not utilise this potential at all, rather than be ripped off by someone else. Having others farm our land would make us amongst the stupidest people on earth, even stupider than tinpot African regimes who do this sort of stuff.
We have 200 million people and millions more popping out every years. These people need jobs. We have huge swathes of under utilised state owned lands. We have the means to do our own farming, we should do exactly that. Hire all these people on state owned farms to grow crops and pay them a salary. Even if it is pendus with 16th century tools farming, it's still better than foreigners doing it. Why because firstly because our people are employed and secondly because we own all the produce and all the profits. We could export this food, or use it domestically and increase the export quotas for the wider industry. So what if other people can do it more efficiently? What do we benefit from them making more profits? Nothing.
Modern farming is not rocket science. It's automation, it's up skilling your labour force, it's using IT, it's utilising scientific know how to increase yield and crop resistance (we've both watched countryfile from time to time....lol). There is nothing in this field that we don't have in our country. The only thing we don't have is implementation because the small scale farmers lack know-how and the large scale fuedals don't need it. They have slave/bonded labour and tax free income so what do they care for maximising yield?!
We need to start these farms with the most profitable scale of hi-low tech so we can get a large scale operation going, producing as much as we can as cheaply as we can. Then we need to invest in it to get teams of horticulturalists and agriculturalists involved in managing these farms and making them as productive as possible using any means necessary.
Why let someone else do something today, which we can do tomorrow.
Agree 100%. Some Pakistani farmers are starting already.
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk...e-pakistans-water-crisis-and-food-insecurity/
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1798666/1-drip-irrigation-help-conserve-water/
