Sir: It seems that with whatever we have been blessed we have abandoned it and have been mired in pursuing a wild goose chase. Pakistan is an agricultural country. However, the country has not achieved the laudable strides in the field of agriculture. Australia’s economy is an agricultural-based economy and it is ranked among the, developed country in the world. It is simply because the succeeding governments there have had the top focus on education in agriculture. One could see plenty of institutions there, providing professional education in the field of agriculture. One balks at the fact that we have only few universities providing professional degrees in agriculture. Malaysia, once a heavy borrower of Pakistan back in the 1970s, has witnessed much progress primarily due to paying serious heed to agriculture. When Mahathir Muhammad, the former Malaysian Prime Minister (from 1981 to 2003), was asked how his country developed from being struggling to heading fast towards progress, he responded that he undertook two main reforms. By giving Chinese proverb that the fish starts rotting from the top, he said that the first was to rid the country of corruption starting from top to bottom, and the second reform was to revolutionise the agriculture system. A great deal of attention is being given to education in agriculture, besides facilitating the farmers. Prioritising agriculture would have several positive advantages. It will not only improve agriculture yield in the country but also generate jobs in agriculture field. Those at helm of education policies seriously need to give consideration to it. RIAZ MAHAR Sukkur Published in Daily Times, January 2nd 2018.