Daily Times

If a country’s backbone breaks, is it possible for a country to stand upright or lift its burden, the answer is pretty simple, a big no. Agriculture is considered the backbone of Pakistan. Over the years’ agriculture has been in a phase of downfall. The annual agricultural growth rate averaged just 2.8 percent in recent years signifying drop from growth rates than the previous two decades. It accounts for over 21 percent of GDP, 45 percent of the total labor force engaged with this sector. Around 63 percent of the country’s population live in rural areas is indirectly or directly linked with this sector for their livelihood.

The agriculture sector has a strong linkage with the rest of the economy that is unnoticed in statistics. While on the other hand, it is the primary supplier of raw materials to the downstream industry, that contributing significantly to Pakistan’s export; it is the largest market for industrially manufactured goods such as pesticides, fertilizers, tractors and agriculture equipment’s.

I would start my discussion with what Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (South African politician) said, “We need to transform our rural areas, restore the land to its rightful owners, and significantly grow our agricultural output.” Throughout the world, the first step to solve any issue is to identify the problem otherwise failure will greet you at your doorsteps, and only then quality can be implemented and wonders can be seen. So, in the first paragraph, we will talk about issues leading to solutions in the second paragraph. In the past few decades, agriculture has seen a dark period where farmers have got nothing in their fate except exploitation. There are various factors behind the breakage of the backbone of Pakistan. Some of them take us back to history and other roots are planted in today’s technology advances.

The issues I have analyzed that are in the way of quality are inequitable unjust distribution of Resources and Power, they are denied of their basic rights, landlords get their share and farmers are left with nothing other than sweat and some pennies because no defined procedures are there and some of them which are there are manipulated by landowners and middlemen. Though growth in population would have led to an advantage of more yield and more productivity illiteracy has held their feet with ropes leading to burden only.

As the Prime minister of Pakistan says, corruption is the root cause of everything and that is what happened here as well. Government has played a major role in poor governance, rampant corruption, rapid deterioration in ethical norms, poor policy, Non-existent analyses, poorer data, rapidly diminishing domestic capacity to formulate or Implement Reform, false bravado, increasing reliance on donors for analyses and support, circumstances out of our control, domestic terrorism and misuse of power. This does not end here when natural calamities hit farmers as well, the water crisis is looming around the corner, earthquakes, floods, and an attitude of waiting for Allah to do everything– Manna from heaven or from Kerry Lugar or from the IMF? No independent foresight and action these constraints have driven the Economy to the Precipice – And Agriculture functions as a neglected sector in this depressing scenario.

Due to the absence of the land reforms in Pakistan, the subsidies and other farmer-based incentives given by the government are enjoyed by the landlords and the farmer with small landholding suffers at the end (Smith, & Franklin. n.d.). Our farmers are living in an unknown world far from the world of technology. Traditional practices are more common in developing countries like Pakistan and these practices are mainly due to the smaller farm size as the small level peasant is unable to bear the farm expenses and result in low yield per unit area (Project, B. 2017). They are resistant to investing in new technologies mainly because of illiteracy, lack of finances and no interest in the government to take practical steps to educate and encourage them.

A hidden factor that is swept underground and I feel is the most important factor is the “Middleman”. This does not only prove to be a hurdle to improve the status of farmers but also hinders the farmer’s potential to produce quality products and creates doubt on the procedure as well (Khan, 2010). Small peasants are unable to access the market and get the rate that is the original price of the commodity that is neither the farmers are satisfied nor the consumer. Quality means customer satisfaction and procedural control. For this, the utilization of resources is the crux. In Pakistan, 28% area is used for agricultural purposes with low yield per hectare. But, other countries of the world are getting a higher yield per hectare due to the use of modern technology and trained labor. The supply of modern inputs like high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, mechanized machinery, etc. not only costly but also inadequate and irregular in Pakistan.

In quality management, continuous improvement and research is the essence of quality management. Unfortunately, agriculture in Pakistan lacks both. In order to raise the potential of agricultural production, there should be continuous improvement in the research. Total agricultural universities and colleges are only 16 in Pakistan. Quality is also related to training and facilitation, to have the right thing at the right time. Rural infrastructure makes it impossible for farmers to meet the requirement of growth of agriculture. Many villages have no metal-led roads at all.

Hence, I believe that no quality management system can survive without equal participation from the government, farmers, middle man because quality is all about responsibility and implementation on procedures rather than control on the product as a better procedure can lead to a better quality product.