6) CASH CROPS OF PAKISTAN
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1. Introduction
2. Pakistan is an agricultural Country.
3. Cotton the main cash crop of Pakistan.
4. Rice is also second to none in this respect.
5. Sugarcane brings foreign exchange for us.
6. Tobacco is one of the important cash crops of Pakistan.
7. Seeds of mustard, sunflower and soybean are grown as cash crops.
Pakistan is an agriculture country and 72 percent of her population lives on agriculture. Broadly speaking, our cultivators produce two types of crops- food crops and non-food crops. The non-food crops are also called cash crops by the economists. Though food crops occupy nearly 75 percent of our cultivable soil, yet contribution of cash crops to the gross national product of the country is significant. The major cash crops of Pakistan are cotton, rice, tobacco, oil seeds, etc.
Cotton is the principal cash crop of Pakistan. It is grown in Sindh and the Punjab. In Sindh cotton is grown in the districts of Tharparkar and Sanghar, while in the Punjab, districts of Multan, Sahiwal and Faisalabad are well known for the cotton production. Cotton is the major export of our country at present.
Rice comes next to cotton as foreign exchange earner of the country. It is grown on a large scale in Sindh and the Punjab. In Punjab it is grown on 150 million hectares. Pakistan is producing some of the finest varieties of rice, which have a worldwide demand. Its contribution to foreign exchange earnings is estimated at 22 percent.
Sugarcane is another popular cash crops. Almost every cultivation has some portion of his reserved for this crop. Its average cultivation is 50 tons per hectares. In modern times this crop has become very important. It is grown in almost every province. Pakistan produces enough sugarcane to feed a sizeable sugar industry. A lot of foreign exchange can be earned of our farmers increase the production of sugarcane because sugar is ceded everywhere in the world.
Tobacco is one of the important cash crops of Pakistan. The soil of Pakistan is very suitable for this crop. Tobacco industry provides jobs to a large number of workers in the field at the time of crop production and also in tobacco factories. Tobacco of a common quality is grown in the Punjab and Sindh. The areas in and around Peshawar are rich in the production of Virginia tobacco, which is the world famous quality of tobacco.
Fruits like mangoes, apples and oranges are also sold abroad, but it is the mangoes which top list. Major markets are in the Middle East. Gulf countries, Singapore, Malaysia, London, Germany, and Sweden.
The essay will be incomplete without the discussion of oil-seeds as cash crops. Since cotton is grown extensively in our country cottonseeds are the by-products of this crop. Sunflowers are also becoming popular as cash crop. Beside there are rapeseeds and mustard seeds all these seeds are used in manufacturing vegetable ghee which is commonly used in the country for cooking and a small percentage is also exported.
The importance of cash crops may be stressed from one more angle of vision. Pakistan’s agriculture cannot provide employment to a fast-growing population. It is only in the field of industry where our surplus population can seek and get jobs. As there are no notable mineral resources in Pakistan the pattern of industrialization should be such as will depend of agriculture for raw materials. And so we have established cotton textile industry sugar-industry cigarette factories vegetable ghee factories etc. these industries engage nearly 80percent of our industrial labour force.
Effort should be made to increase their production. Naturally this will have a healthy effect on the economic and social development of the country. If we want to make Pakistan march on the road of progress, we will have to accelerate in the field of agriculture. We have rich soil and hardworking farmers that can really produce such crops as to bring foreign exchange.
