Pakistan's Agriculture in the 21st Century (Self-Reliance IN Agriculture) (Report‪)‬

The paper reviews past trends in total factor productivity in agriculture and shows that there are signs of stagnation in the productivity growth due mainly to resource degradation, failure to adopt technical change and poor farmer incentives. The paper argues that future growth through productivity increase requires major changes in system, policies and institutions dealing with the agricultural sector. These changes are crucial for agriculture because this sector will remain the key sector for achieving growth with poverty alleviation and environmental protection in the next century will remain key in achieving growth with poverty alleviation and environmental protection. The appropriate role of the government should be limited to encouraging the development of a smoothly functioning market through institutional and regulatory reforms that facilitate private sector activities and market efficiency. **********