The Political Economy of Agricultural Research in Pakistan (Report‪)‬

This study is premised on the proposition that economic research on agriculture in Pakistan has concentrated on narrow and technocratic aspects without reference to the structure of production relations among various and contending classes of farmers. The paper identifies three major and so far largely unexplored areas of agricultural research, viz. set of relationships among farm groups and their impact on agricultural production and income distribution, measurement and interpretation of participation by these groups in production activities in the private and public sectors, and the land tax system and its effect on issues of growth and equity. "This paper ... argues that the immediate need of Pakistan is to make available to farmers large quantities of those low-priced inputs that can bring about large increases in crop production in relation to the cost incurred."