PROBLEMS ISSUES OF AGRICULTURE SECTOR PROBLEMS ISSUES OF

PROBLEMS & ISSUES OF AGRICULTURE SECTOR

PROBLEMS & ISSUES OF AGRICULTURE SECTOR • Agriculture sector accounts for one fourth of the GDP and more than 70% of export earning, directly or indirectly, and provides around 50% employment.

MAIN ISSUES • • • Crop sector Land Plant protection Farm mechanization Livestock development Fisheries development

Crop Sector • Fragile food security. • Stagnant and low productivity. • Low utilization of export potential particularly of non- traditional products. • Lack of new high yielding crop varieties and seed. • Failure of edible oil seed development and limited availability of livestock feed. • Constraints on expansion of water and land for cultivation.

Land • Static availability of land due to water constraints. • Spreading salinity and water logging. • Fragmentation of land holdings. • Soil erosion. • Increasing non agricultural use of cultivated land.

Plant Protection • Adulteration in pesticides • High cost of pesticides. • Health hazards of pesticides use.

Farm mechanization • Inadequate farm mechanization. • Limited use of farm implements other than tractors. • Non- availability of area specific or farm size specific mechanization package. • Inadequacy of training facilities about farm machinery. • Sub- standard quality of locally produced farm implements.

Livestock Development • Wide spread breeding of genetically inferior stock. • Outdated and limited marketing facilities. • Inadequate and poor feed and fodder. • Limited animal health cover.

Fisheries Development • Insufficient knowledge of marine fish resources and their location. • Inadequate size and equipment of fishing fleet. • Lack of handling and processing facilities. • Under exploited status of inland fisheries.