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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Pakistan
Index
In the early 1990s, most crops were grown for food (see
table 10;
table 11, Appendix). Wheat is by far the most
important crop
in Pakistan and is the staple food for the majority of the
population. Wheat is eaten most frequently in unleavened
bread
called chapati. In FY 1992, wheat was planted on 7.8
million
hectares, and production amounted to 14.7 million tons.
Output in
FY 1993 reached 16.4 million tons. Between FY 1961 and FY
1990,
the area under wheat cultivation increased nearly 70
percent,
while yields increased 221 percent. Wheat production is
vulnerable to extreme weather, especially in nonirrigated
areas.
In the early and mid-1980s, Pakistan was self-sufficient
in
wheat, but in the early 1990s more than 2 million tons of
wheat
were imported annually.
Rice is the other major food grain. In FY 1992, about
2.1
million hectares were planted with rice, and production
amounted
to 3.2 million tons, with 1 million tons exported. Rice
yields
also have increased sharply since the 1960s following the
introduction of new varieties. Nonetheless, the yield per
hectare
of around 1.5 tons in FY 1991 was low compared with many
other
Asian countries. Pakistan has emphasized the production of
rice
in order to increase exports to the Middle East and
therefore
concentrates on the high-quality basmati variety, although
other
grades also are exported. The government increased
procurement
prices of basmati rice disproportionately to encourage
exports
and has allowed private traders into the rice export
business
alongside the public-sector Rice Export Corporation.
Other important food grains are millet, sorghum, corn,
and
barley. Corn, although a minor crop, gradually increased
in area
and production after independence, partly at the expense
of other
minor food grains. Chickpeas, called gram in
Pakistan, are
the main nongrain food crop in area and production. A
number of
other foods, including fruits and vegetables, are also
grown.
In the early 1990s, cotton was the most important
commercial
crop. The area planted in cotton increased from 1.1
million
hectares in FY 1950 to 2.1 million hectares in FY 1981 and
2.8
million hectares in FY 1993. Yields increased
substantially in
the 1980s, partly as a result of the use of pesticides and
the
introduction in 1985 of a new high-yielding variety of
seed.
During the 1980s, cotton yields moved from well below the
world
average to above the world average. Production in FY 1992
was
12.8 million bales, up from 4.4 million bales ten years
earlier.
Output fell sharply, however, to 9.3 million bales in FY
1993
because of the September 1992 floods and insect
infestations.
Other cash crops include tobacco, rapeseed, and, most
important, sugarcane. In FY 1992 sugarcane was planted on
880,000
hectares, and production was 35.7 million tons. Except for
some
oil from cottonseeds, the country is dependent on imported
vegetable oil. By the 1980s, introduction and
experimentation
with oilseed cultivation was under way. Soybeans and
sunflower
seeds appear to be suitable crops given the country's soil
and
climate, but production was still negligible in the early
1990s.
Data as of April 1994
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