PakAlumni Worldwide: The Global Social Network
Pakistan Among World's Largest Food Producing Countries
Pakistan's agriculture output is the 10th largest in the world. The country produces large and growing quantities of cereals, meat, milk, fruits and vegetables. Currently, Pakistan produces about 38 million tons of cereals (mainly wheat, rice and corn), 17 million tons of fruits and vegetables, 70 million tons of sugarcane, 60 million tons of milk and 4.5 million tons of meat. Total value of the nation's agricultural output exceeds $50 billion. Improving agriculture inputs and modernizing value chains can help the farm sector become much more productive to serve both domestic and export markets.
 |
| Top 10 Countries by Agriculture Output. Source: FAO |
Pakistan has about 36 million hectares of land under cultivation. Wheat and rice are grown on more than half of it. Fruits and vegetables each account for only about 3% of the cultivable land. Since year 2001, the country's cereal production, mainly wheat, corn and rice, has grown about 45% to 38 million tons. Pakistan produced 6.64 million tons of vegetables and 5.89 million tons of fruits in 2001.
Pakistan is the world’s 4th largest exporter of rice. The country's domestic production is estimated to surge 13.6% to an all-time high of 8.4 million tons in the year end June 2021, according to Bloomberg.
Vegetable production rose to about 10 million tons and fruit production increased to nearly 7 million tons in 2015. A little over 60% of Pakistan's agriculture consists of livestock. Pakistan produces 60 million tons of milk and 4.5 million tons of meat. Fish production adds up to about 575,000 tons.
 |
| Pakistan's Rising Rice Exports. Source: Bloomberg |
 |
| Share of Land For Various Crops in Pakistan |
Crop yields in Pakistan are low, mainly due to poor quality inputs like seeds. In addition to fertilizer and water, seed is the basic input for agriculture sector and has a major role in enhancing agriculture productivity. This needs to be a key area of focus for Pakistani policymakers working on agriculture.
Other critical area is post-harvest handling, particularly storage and transportation that is in desperate need of improvement. Post-harvest losses in fruits and vegetables due to mishandling of the perishable product, poor transportation, and inadequate storage facilities and market infrastructure account for about 30%–40% of total production, according to experts at Asian Development Bank.
 |
| World's 5th Largest Population of Chicken in Pakistan |
Improvements in agriculture inputs and modernization of post-harvest process require significant financing and investment. Growers get only a small fraction of value of what they produce, making it difficult for them to make these investments. Middlemen finance farmers and take the lion's share of profits in the value chain.
 |
| Source: FAO via Kleffmann Group |
Most of the farmers sell their produce to wholesalers via middlemen called arthis, according to an ADB report. Farmers contract out fruit orchards during the flowering stage to the middlemen (arthis), commission agent, and/or wholesalers who provide loans to the farmers over the course of production. Vegetables and fruits are transported by the same cart or truck from farms to the main markets in the absence of specialized vehicles for specific products. The same vehicle is used for many other purposes including animal transportation. Recently however, reefer (refrigerated) trucks have been introduced on a limited scale in some parts of Pakistan. In the absence of direct access of carrier vehicles to the farms, farmers gather their products in a convenient spot along the roadside for pickup. When middlemen or contractors are involved, it is their responsibility to collect and transport the produce. The unsold produce in one market is sent to other markets in the same locality.
 |
| Date Palms in Sindh, Pakistan. Photo: Emmanuel Guddu |
Investments in modernization of the agriculture production process and farm-to-market value chain will require major reforms to ensure growers get a bigger share of the value. The extraordinary power of the middlemen (arthis) as financiers needs to be regulated. This can not happen without legislation in close consultation with the growers. Improving agriculture inputs and modernizing value chains can help raise the productivity of the farm sector for it to serve both domestic and export markets better.
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
Chicken Cheaper Than Daal
Meat Industry in Pakistan
Bumper Crops and Soaring Tractor Sales in Pakistan
Meat and Dairy Revolution in Pakistan
Pakistanis Are Among the Most Carnivorous
Eid ul Azha: Multi-Billion Dollar Urban-to-Rural Transfer
Pakistan's Rural Economy
Pakistan Leads South Asia in Agriculture Value Addition
Riaz Haq
Pakistan’s seafood exports to China rise 24% to $240 million in 2025
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2627913/pakistan
The Chinese embassy cites strong growth in agricultural trade with Pakistan
Islamabad aims to expand food exports amid effort to boost foreign reserves
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s seafood exports to China rose 24% year-on-year to $240 million in the first 11 months of 2025, the Chinese embassy in Islamabad said on Wednesday, highlighting growing agricultural trade between the two countries.
China is one of Pakistan’s largest seafood export markets, alongside destinations such as Thailand, Vietnam and countries in the Middle East. Pakistan exports fish, shrimp and other marine products sourced from coastal areas in Balochistan and Sindh, including Gwadar, Pasni and Karachi, with shipments typically consisting of frozen fish, frozen shrimp and a smaller volume of processed seafood.
The figure cited by the Chinese embassy fits into a longer upward trend, supported by rising Chinese demand, improvements in cold-chain logistics and market access approvals for Pakistani exporters.
“Pakistan’s seafood exports to China hit [nearly] $240 million from Jan-Nov 2025, soaring by 24% compared with the same period in 2024, which fully shows the strong vitality of the agricultural trade between China & Pakistan,” the embassy said. “[China looks] forward to more export of high-quality Pakistani products to China in the future.”
China is Pakistan’s closest regional ally and a key destination for its agricultural and food exports, which Islamabad has been seeking to expand to bolster foreign exchange earnings.
The two countries enjoy strong strategic and economic cooperation, with Chinese support seen as vital to Pakistan’s efforts to diversify its export base beyond textiles and reduce reliance on external financing.
Beijing and Islamabad are also working closely on energy and infrastructure projects as part of broader efforts to enhance regional connectivity and support industrial development in Pakistan.
Dec 31, 2025
Riaz Haq
Pakistan’s Punjab province rolls out major aquaculture initiative to bolster shrimp exports
https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/aquaculture/pakistan-s-punjab-pr...
Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, has authorized a large-scale aquaculture initiative to develop shrimp-farming operations across 5,600 acres of land.
According to Pakistan’s Business Recorder, the project, described as the province's largest blue economy investment to date, aims to convert saline and unproductive land in the province into shrimp farms.
Official progress reports confirm that initial development at a site near the city of Sargodha has seen nine ponds constructed over 20 acres and a 5,320-meter drainage system finalized. Surveys for a 10-acre expansion are also complete, according to Business Recorder.
To support the program, two laboratories are being constructed: a PKR 4.5 billion (USD 16.1 million, EUR 13.7 million) quality control laboratory in Lahore is nearly complete, as well as a research laboratory in Muzaffargarh.
he initiative also includes a focus on technical capacity, with Pakistani experts pursuing specialized training in Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
Besides farm construction, the Punjab project has plans to become vertically integrated, including construction of hatcheries and processing plants, alongside improvements to cold storage and an integrated logistics chain. This ambitious infrastructure will be bolstered by international support from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Ecuador, Australia, and Mexico, according to Arab News.
The push for shrimp farming in Punjab comes as Pakistan seeks to boost the value of its seafood exports. The country’s seafood exports set a record by volume in the 2024-25 fiscal year, which ended in June 2025, but still fell short of hitting the sector’s long-held value goals.
Exports by value rose 13.4 percent in the period to USD 465 million (EUR 399 million), and though that total spiked year over year, it still fell short of the sector’s long-held goal of USD 500 million (EUR 428 million).
However, demand in key markets picked up as 2025 came to a close, as Pakistan’s seafood exports to China rose 24 percent year over year to USD 240 million (EUR 204.6 million) in the first 11 months of 2025, driven by rising demand and improved cold chain logistics.
Jan 7
Riaz Haq
Sowing the Seeds of Better Nutrition in Pakistan
https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/sowing-seeds-better-nutrition-p...
Cultivating a Different Future
Immediate action on four tracks could transform Pakistan’s approach. First, create incentives for dietary diversity. Rather than privileging a narrow set of staple crops, policy should support the production and affordability of nutrient-dense foods such as fruits, vegetables, pulses and, where appropriate, animal-source foods, without undermining price stability.
Second, reduce food loss and waste. Cutting post-harvest losses in the agri-food industry, estimated at 20 to 40 per cent, may be the fastest way to expand the effective supply of nutritious foods without requiring more land or water.
Third, build awareness and a strong political and social constituency for healthy diets. Until citizens demand better nutrition and leaders see electoral value in delivering it, progress will be slow. In this spirit, the UN and partners reached over 2.9 million mothers and caregivers with nutrition messages in 2024.
Fourth, use fiscal policy to make healthy choices easier. A nutrition-first agenda cannot rely on messaging alone; it requires coherent taxation, subsidies and public procurement that shift relative prices and incentives, including reviewing commodity support, assessing the health impact of food taxes, and using targeted social protection to improve access to diverse diets.
Pakistan has spent decades asking: do we have enough wheat? The more urgent question today is: can families afford and access enough good food? A food system that reliably delivers healthy diets is not a luxury agenda. It is economic policy, resilience policy and ultimately, nation-building.
Mar 31