Punjab Agriculture Policy 2018.

This Punjab Agriculture Policy 2018 is a sectoral policy document at the provincial level. The overall policy objectives as stated in the government agenda are : 1. Enhance economic growth of Pakistan to sustain political freedom and economic wellbeing of its people; 2. Raise standards of living of the population in general and rural population in particular; 3. Maximise income and agriculture sector contribution to the national GDP and exports.
The specific goals for the agriculture policy are: 1.Enhance competitive position of agriculture sector in line with global and domestic market demands, including to benefit from China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) opportunities; 2. Increase food production to improve food quantity, quality and nutrition diversity through higher yields and better crop mix; 3. Increase farmer profitability to raise living standards of the farming families, with increased participation of rural women and youth; 4. Conserve agricultural resources with efficient use of land, water and labor deployed for agriculture in the province; 5. Enhance sustainability and resilience in the wakeof climate changes and implications thereof; 6. Enable private sector participation in agriculture value chains with increased investment, technology infusion and management resources.
The Policy seeks to help eliminate hunger, food insecurity. It proposes to deal with farm land and water resource management to increase productivity and water efficiency, along with promoting climate resilient and nutrition sensitive agriculture.
The Policy seeks to make agriculture more productive and sustainable. The strategic means include: Introduce regenerative agriculture and weed management; Massively expand water conservation efforts; etc.
The Policy contributes to rural poverty reduction. The policy proposes to target the small commercial farmers (SCF) for rapid growth, empowering women and engaging educated rural youth as catalysts of change. While the Policy aims to drive benefits for the overall population of the province, especially the farming communities, it particularly targets at beneficiary groups of Small Commercial Farmers, women and rural youth to ensure. The increase in economic activity at Small Commercial Farmers (SCFs) will increase earning opportunities and reduce poverty for rural communities including the landless farmers, rural women and rural youth. Women’s role in agriculture in Punjab cannot be overstated. The economic inclusion of rural women will increase the household incomes, reduce poverty and make the Punjab food and nutrition secure. The Policy also promotes the Safety Net for Small Farmers through area Yield Index Insurance.
The Policy seeks to Eenable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems. The Policy proposes to increase level of targeted assistance for small commercial farmers, with landholding between 3 and 75 acres, rural women and rural youth. Policy thrusts and strategic means to accomplish overall objectives and goals are indicated as: 1. Increase farmer profitability; 2. Reduce cost of inputs for farmers; 3. Encourage crop diversification to improve crop-mix; 4. Optimize subsidy programs through targeting and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) technologies; 5. Improve access to finance for farmers through Mobile Money Operators; 6. Transform agriculture produce markets; 7. Initiate a markets and storage expansion drive to ensure competitive prices, establish warehouse receipt financing; 8. Encourage Small Medium Enterprise (SME) level food processing with focus on export.
In addition, the Policy recommends four broad strategic areas of focus for Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA): 1. Adaptation and building resilience by addressing vulnerability due to changes in rainfall and temperature, extreme weather events and unsustainable land/water management and utilization; 2. Mitigation of GHG’s emissions from key and minor sources in the agriculture sector; 3. Establishment of an enabling policy, legal and institutional framework for effective implementation of CSA; and 4. Minimizing effects of underlying cross-cutting issues such as human resource capacity and finance which would potentially constrain realization of CSA objectives.