Pakistan's agriculture sector GDP grew at a rate of 5.2% in the October-December 2023 quarter, according to the government figures. This is a rare bright spot in the overall national economy that showed just 1% growth during the quarter. Strong performance of the farm sector gives the much needed boost for about 37% of Pakistan's workforce engaged in agriculture. It helps the country's rural economy improve their living standards. In the same period, India's agriculture sector that employs 43% of the workforce slowed to 1.2% growth. This could be one possible contributing factor for Pakistan (rank108) significantly outperforming India (rank 126) on the World Happiness Index once again.
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| World Happiness Map 2023. Source: Gallup |
Pakistan has seen bumper crops of rice, corn, wheat, sugar and cotton this fiscal year after the devastation caused by massive floods in the prior year. During the first six months of the current fiscal year 2023-24, exports of agro and food products from Pakistan have soared by 64% as compared to the same period during 2022-2023. In the month of December alone, there was a growth of 118%, as $882 million of food was exported as compared to $404 million in the same month in 2022-23. Pakistan's gains in the food export market have come at a time when India has had to limit or ban exports of rice, corn, sugar and other commodities due to crop failures.
The World Happiness Report attributes India's poor ranking in the Index to widespread caste discrimination in the country. Older Indians belonging to upper castes, and “never experience[d] discrimination or ill-treatment” were “more satisfied with their lives”, according to the report.
Caste discrimination contributed “significantly to the caste-based discrepancies in life satisfaction”, the research showed. Caste backgrounds determined access to education, social services, health care or financial security in India. Individuals with secondary or higher education, and those of higher social castes reported higher life satisfaction than those without access to formal education and those from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Another factor contributing to India's unhappiness is the ruling party's targeting of its minorities, including Christians, Muslims and Sikhs. Here's an excerpts from Rohit Khanna's piece in The Quint describing this issue:
"In recent years, 20 percent of India, our minorities, have been targeted – economically, socially, and physically. We have all seen multiple viral videos calling for the economic boycott of Muslims, of them being mob-lynched on the roads, of their homes being bulldozed, of inter-faith marriages being targeted as ‘love-jihad’ and more. We have seen videos of Christian pastors and congregations being roughed up, and of church buildings being vandalised. We have seen protesting Sikh farmers being vilified on communal lines as ‘Khalistanis’".
Average MPCE (Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure) for Indian Muslims is only Rs. 2,170. Average MPCE for upper caste Hindus is Rs. 3,321, the highest of all groups. Lower caste Hindus fare much worse than upper caste Hindus, according to Indian government data.
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| Average Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure by Caste in India. Source: Hindustan Times |
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| Income Poverty in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Source: Our World in Data |
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14 comments:
worth thinking how much of the misery of north indian muslims has to be attributed to caste within muslim community..something which does not exist in Islam, but made its way into community
Zen: "worth thinking how much of the misery of north indian muslims has to be attributed to caste within muslim community"
Please note the MPCE graph of government data for various castes/religions.
It shows that that there is very little economic inequality among Indian Muslims. MPCE is INR 2164 for ST/SC/OBC Muslims versus INR 2180 for other Muslims.
On the other hand, there is a huge caste-based MPCE gap among Hindus.
ST Hindus are at INR 1789, SC Hindus at INR 2095, OBC Hindus at INR 2393 and upper caste Hindus at INR 3321.
https://www.riazhaq.com/2024/01/indian-muslims-poorest-group-in-modis.html
I see that you are finally reconciled to Pakistan being ruled by the familiar faces in the form of a PDM 2.0 (+ ME) for the forseeable future, and we are therefore back to our old India-bashing routine. But with your zeal to highlight how and why India scored worse than Pakistan in one index or the other, are you forgetting (or choosing not to talk about) another index that downgraded Pakistan significantly in its recent rankings? With its ranking at 41 as a "flawed democracy" in EIU's democracy index, India under Modi still seems to score much higher than Pakistan which ranked at 118 as "authoritarian". (Not that it should matter for "happiness" though. People living under authoritarian political systems and enduring high inflation and a grinding economic crisis could well be "happier" than those living under a "flawed democracy" with moderate inflation, I guess.)
But I'm not gloating here about India's better ranking vis-a-vis Pakistan in EIU's Democracy index. The extent of the witch hunt launched by Modi's "establishment" here against opposition parties and leaders in the name of "corruption" and "unpaid taxes" right before Parliament election reminds me very much of all the pre-poll rigging that Pakistan's ME engineered during the past year to keep IK out of power. So, I wouldn't be surprised to see India's democracy rankings slip further next time. (Not that voting masses here care about these rankings.)
Anyways, my point is that both Indians and Pakistanis are essentially stuck in the same mud pit. We are all equally dirty. Indians mocking Pakistan and Pakistanis mocking Indians for each other's faults and failings is like the classic case of pot calling kettle black. In one socio-economic index Pakistan may score a bit better than India, and in another it may score a bit worse, but essentially both nations are under-performers languishing at the bottom, the only question being who is doing *worse*. The only real difference I see between the two countries these days is that India's economic fundamentals are relatively stronger (no thanks to Modi) and therefore it doesn't face the sort of acute economic crisis that Pakistan seems to be grappling with.
And as for religious tolerance, we know that Islamic Republic of Pakistan isn't exactly a paradise of religious freedom either for its minority Hindus, Ahmedis and Christians, and the socio-economic condition of these minorities in Pakistan may well be worse than that of its Muslims. In fact, those liberal Indians who feel concerned about rising religious intolerance under Modi rule lament that India is increasingly turning into a Hindu version of Pakistan, which isn't exactly a flattering comparison.
And by the way, crop failures are not the only reason why Modi govt banned exports of many agricultural commodities. They wouldn't want inflation to spike in an election year. For the same reason, even fuel prices here have been kept static for the past year despite all the ups and down in the oil market. But its quite likely the ban on agricultural exports would be lifted and fuel prices hiked once the election results are announced. Its largely a political decision.
Also, "shudras" are actually a class (working class) and many upper castes themselves may be classified as "shudras" in the 4-tier "Varna" classification (i.e. Kshatriya - Warrior/Ruler, Brahmana - Priest, Vaishya - Trader, Shudra - worker). For instance, I belong to the Nair caste in Kerala state which is considered a dominant "upper caste" here, but a "shudra" by Varna.
@Riaz
I think there are some muslims in India with lots of money, but they are tail end. But overall upliftment of the community is held back by caste among muslims. Being equal among poorest and most backward doesn't help.
I happened to come across the following article in DAWN today, and I am curious to know how this report can be reconciled to the assertions in your articles that Pakistan is somehow doing better than India in socio-economic indicators despite its grinding economic crisis. (This is not to say India is doing a stellar job at the economic upliftment of its people either. Like I said in my earlier comment, both nations are essentially stuck in the same mud pit and bickering over who is "dirtier".)
"CONSTANT DECLINE"
- Naseer Memon, Published April 6, 2024
"THE UNDP’s Human Development Report for 2023-24 ranks Pakistan 164th out of 193 countries. Last year, Pakistan stood at 161. Its decline on the Human Development Index (HDI) did not create much of a stir in the country. Perhaps few were surprised, considering the protracted political instability, the colossal losses resulting from the 2022 floods, poor governance and staggering inflation."
"Among the eight Saarc countries, only Pakistan and Afghanistan fall in the ‘low human development’ category. India (134), Bangladesh (129), Nepal (146), Bhutan (125) and the Maldives (87) come under the ‘medium development’ category, whereas Sri Lanka, while slipping to 78 from 73, because of its nightmarish economic meltdown, remains in the ‘high development’ category. Some of the other countries, too, have slipped, including India, Nepal and Afghanistan, whereas Bangladesh has maintained its position and Bhutan and the Maldives have been ranked higher than previously."
"While most of the Saarc countries do not have an enviable presence on the human development map, Pakistan consistently remains below them with the exception of war-torn Afghanistan. It trailed Nigeria and Rwanda, while it has performed only slightly better than Sudan, Eritrea and Ghana, all chronically low performers. A closer look shows that Pakistan particularly went down in expected years of schooling for both females (from 8.1 to 7.3 years) and males (from 9.2 to 8.4 years)."
"The recent report also provides a look at the performance trajectory from 2015 to 2022. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the Saarc region whose human development status plunged during these seven years. Afghanistan dropped by eight levels, while Pakistan descended three rungs. This should be a real cause of concern for our policymakers, ie, it is not just a transitory decline in a single year but a continuous downslide. On this scale, all other Saarc countries have performed progressively. Maldives (+13), Bhutan (+10), and Bangladesh (+12) have demonstrated impressive gains in human development. Sri Lanka, India and Nepal ascended by six, four and three steps respectively."
Pakistan's GDP grows 2.09% in Q3 supported by higher growth in agriculture | World News - Business Standard
https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/pakistan-s-gdp-grows-2-09-in-q3-supported-by-higher-growth-in-agriculture-124052100666_1.html
Pakistan's economy grew 2.09 per cent in the third quarter of the financial year 2023-2024, supported by higher growth in agriculture, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said in a press release on Tuesday.
The estimated provisional growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the financial year ending June 2024 is 2.38 per cent, the bureau said in a statement. That compares with a revised 0.21 per cent economic contraction in the 2023 year when political unrest, a combination of tax and gas tariff hikes, controlled imports, and a steep fall in the rupee currency rapidly pushed up inflation.
Last week in its half yearly report, Pakistan's central bank projected real GDP growth of 2-3 per cent for the fiscal year 2024.
There was no comparable year-ago third quarter GDP data as Pakistan only began releasing quarterly growth numbers from November. That was done in compliance with the structural benchmarks of the current $3 billion bailout programme agreed with the International Monetary Fund and completed last month.
The bureau revised the first and second quarter GDP estimates for financial year 2023-2024 to 2.71 per cent and 1.79 per cent respectively, compared to earlier estimates of 2.5 per cent and 1 per cent.
The provisional 2024 financial year growth in agriculture was estimated at 6.25 per cent, and 1.21 per cent for both industry as well as services, it added.
"The healthy growth of agriculture is mainly due to double-digit growth in important crops", the bureau said, adding that bumper crop of wheat, cotton, and rice contributed to the positive result.
In contrast to 12.4% growth in government spending in the July to September period, growth in farm output, which contributes about 15% of GDP and employs more than 40% of the workforce, slowed to 1.2% in the second quarter of this fiscal year, the weakest since fiscal 2018/19.
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-growth-likely-slowed-66-last-quarter-agriculture-lagged-2024-02-26/#:~:text=In%20contrast%20to%2012.4%25%20growth,weakest%20since%20fiscal%202018%2F19.
Asia's third-largest economy grew 7.8% and 7.6% on an annual basis in the first two quarters of the current fiscal year that ends in March.
But momentum likely slowed last quarter, as none of the 63 economists surveyed from Feb. 16-26 expected similar growth rates in the October to December quarter. Forecasts ranged from 5.6% to 7.4%.
Official GDP growth releases for the preceding three quarters have broadly surpassed economists' predictions.
"The slowing is predicated both on softer agricultural production and government spending," said Sajjid Chinoy, chief India economist at JPMorgan.
"Government spending was heavily front-loaded this year and is slowing to meet budgeted targets... It remains to be seen how agricultural GDP is impacted by the patchy and uneven monsoon."
The monsoon accounts for about 75% of India's annual rainfall and is the lifeblood of its agriculture-dependent economy.
In contrast to 12.4% growth in government spending in the July to September period, growth in farm output, which contributes about 15% of GDP and employs more than 40% of the workforce, slowed to 1.2% in the second quarter of this fiscal year, the weakest since fiscal 2018/19.
Although the latest government survey estimated rural consumer spending to have more than doubled since 2011-12, large parts of the population living in rural areas face stagnant incomes and high inflation.
To Understand India’s Economy, Look Beyond the Spectacular Growth Numbers - The Wall Street Journal.
https://www.wsj.com/world/india/to-understand-indias-economy-look-beyond-the-spectacular-growth-numbers-31f5dd11
But the way India calculates its gross domestic product can at times overstate the strength of growth, in part by underestimating the weakness in its massive informal economy. There are also other indicators, such as private consumption and investment, that are pointing to soft spots. Despite cuts to corporate taxes, companies don’t appear to be spending on expansions.
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BENGALURU, India—India is set to be the world’s fastest-growing major economy this year, but economists say the country’s headline growth numbers don’t tell the whole story.
The South Asian nation’s gross domestic product grew at more than 8% in its fiscal year ended in March compared with the previous year, driven by public spending on infrastructure, services growth, and an uptick in manufacturing. That would put India well ahead of China, which is growing at about 5%, and on track to hit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
But the way India calculates its gross domestic product can at times overstate the strength of growth, in part by underestimating the weakness in its massive informal economy. There are also other indicators, such as private consumption and investment, that are pointing to soft spots. Despite cuts to corporate taxes, companies don’t appear to be spending on expansions.
“If people were optimistic about the economy, they would invest more and consume more, neither of which is really happening,” said Arvind Subramanian, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former chief economic adviser to the Modi government.
Private consumption, the biggest contributor to GDP, grew at 4% for the year, still slower than pre-pandemic levels. What’s more, economists say, it could have been even weaker if the government hadn’t continued its extensive food-subsidy program that began during the pandemic.
The problem is driven in part by how India emerged from the pandemic. Big businesses and people who are employed in India’s formal economy are generally doing well, but most Indians are in the informal sector or agriculture, and many of them lost work.
While India’s official data last year put unemployment at around 3%, economists also closely track data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a private economic research firm. It put unemployment at 8% for the year ended March.
At a small tea-and-cigarette stall in the southern city of Bengaluru, 55-year-old Ratnamma said many of her customers in the neighborhood, which once bustled with tech professionals and blue-collar workers, have moved out of the city and returned to rural villages. Some have come back, but she has fewer customers than she once did.
“Where did everyone go?” she said.
She makes about $12 a day in sales, she said, compared with as much as $100 on a good day in the past. It isn’t enough to cover her living expenses or repay a business loan she took out six months ago.
Economists say that the informal sector has been through three shocks in a decade—a 2016 policy aimed at tax evasion called “demonetization” that wiped out 90% of the value of India’s paper currency, a tax overhaul the following year that created more paperwork and expenses for small businesses, and the pandemic.
John Oliver on Narendra Modi: ‘India seems to be sliding toward authoritarianism’
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/jun/03/john-oliver-narendra-modi-india
“Over the course of Modi’s rise, he’s chosen to be strategically quiet about his pseudo-authoritarian, pro-Hindu vision of India,” Oliver explained. “But there’s been a noticeable shift in his rhetoric this election season” toward anti-Muslim statements, such as a recent campaign speech in which he falsely claimed that his rival party would redistribute wealth to Muslims and referred to Muslim citizens as “infiltrators”.
“That’s already ugly enough,” Oliver noted, “but it’s also coming at a time when Modi and his party have seemed increasingly comfortable threatening democratic institutions by, among other things, stifling political opposition and freedom of the press. In fact, on multiple fronts, India seems to be sliding toward authoritarianism.”
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Modi has built his popularity in part on infrastructure and food distribution programs, delivering grain in bags with his face on it. “Which feels a little egotistical,” Oliver deadpanned. “It would be like if Lyndon Johnson signed the Food Stamp Act of 1964 but insisted that the food stamps be rebranded as ‘Lyndon’s Lucky Yum-Yum Voucher’. Good program but I don’t know, man, maybe turn it down a notch.”
Modi especially likes to brag about the economy, which under his watch has become twice as big as it was, though Oliver noted that those numbers were suspect, and that Modi’s government had also changed the definition of poverty. “Anyone can get rid of all poverty if you just change the definition of poor people to something else,” Oliver quipped.
The economic gains have been widely unequal; by some estimates, about 1 million people now control about 80% of the country’s wealth. “And as they’ve gotten richer, much of the country has gotten poorer – even with all those bags of grain with his face on them, under Modi, the country has fallen in the Global Hunger Index, and now sits behind North Korea and war-torn Sudan,” Oliver said. “And you would think that all of this would be fertile ground for Modi’s critics to exploit, but it’s actually hard to do that in India.” Modi hasn’t held a press conference in India in 10 years of rule, and the interviews he does grant are, as Oliver put it, “the opposite of hard-hitting”. News networks critical of his government have faced police raids for tax evasion.
“Basically, if you criticize Modi, there’s a good chance that things are going to be very unpleasant for you,” Oliver said. “Meaningful criticism of Modi is scarce on TV in India.”
Oliver also surveyed the BJP’s work to suppress opposition; weeks before the election began, tax agencies froze an opposition party’s bank accounts, and the head of another opposition party was arrested. “Those could be more lucky, complete coincidences for Modi, except for the fact that over the years, multiple politicians who opposed the BJP have found themselves facing charges of fraud or financial malfeasance, only for those charges to suddenly stall or be dropped when they switch parties and join the BJP instead,” Oliver said. “In general, to put it mildly: it is good to be on Modi’s good side, and very, very bad to be on his bad side.”
That’s particularly true for the nearly 200 million Muslims in India, as Modi espouses the once fringe idea of Hindu supremacy in India, leading to an increase in anti-Muslim violence and destruction of Muslim sites and property colloquially referred to as “bulldozer justice”.
“With anti-Muslim hate speech and violence on the rise, it is no wonder many are feeling increasingly targeted, in incredibly grim ways,” Oliver said before a clip of a police officer kicking Muslim men as they knelt in prayer; another officer was arrested for killing three Muslims on a train, and praising Modi while standing over their bodies. “It’s worth remembering: that is not a bug of Modi’s leadership, it is a feature,” Oliver noted.
John Oliver on Narendra Modi: ‘India seems to be sliding toward authoritarianism’
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/jun/03/john-oliver-narendra-modi-india
“But as an international community, it seems past time to stop the uncritical, fawning praise of a man who is, to put it mildly, a deeply complicated figure,” he concluded. “So maybe we could at least stop comparing him to Bruce Springsteen.”
“And when you talk about what he’s done for India, at least acknowledge that yes, he’s responsible for giving bags of grain to people, he’s also responsible for some getting sent bulldozers,” he added. “It should be possible to acknowledge the good things that Modi has managed to do for India, while also acknowledging that many Indians live in active fear of what he seems more than happy to represent.”
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John Oliver on Modi:
This video is banned in India. Please don’t share coz it will embarrass everyone from the govt to the Media
https://x.com/Azycontroll_/status/1797637824096936398
Pakistan onion exports amounted to $210 million In first 10 months of FY2023-24
https://www.freshplaza.com/asia/article/9628959/pakistan-onion-exports-amounted-to-210-million-in-first-10-months-of-fy2023-24/
In the first 10 months of FY2023-24, Pakistan achieved onion exports amounting to $210 million, as reported by local media. The All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association anticipates this figure to escalate to $250 million by the closure of FY24. Despite the flourishing export figures, the local populace has been subjected to elevated prices for onions, a fundamental kitchen staple. An association representative attributed the price hike to market dynamics rather than the export activity itself, noting a discrepancy between wholesale and retail prices.
Overall vegetable exports during this period reached 1.044 million tons, generating $371 million in revenue, marking an increase in the average price per ton from $233 to $354, attributed to stable currency rates. Onions constituted a significant portion of these exports, alongside potatoes and other vegetables.
The export landscape was also influenced by the import of onions from Iran and Afghanistan and the exploitation of an Indian export ban by Pakistani exporters. Despite efforts to regulate the market, including setting a minimum export price for onions at $1,200 per ton in January 2024, domestic prices have remained high, benefiting exporters significantly. Pakistani onions have found their way to various international markets, notably in the Far East, with potential growth hinging on resolving trade issues with countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
Economic Survey 2023-24: Agriculture’s ‘best performance’ in two decades helps drive economic growth - Business - DAWN.COM
Cotton, rice and wheat grow by 108.2 pc, 34.8pc and 11.6pc, respectively
https://www.dawn.com/news/1839339
LAHORE: Notwithstanding the challenges of lack of finance, quality inputs, efficient market systems, research and development, and extension services, the agriculture sector grew 6.3 per cent in 2023-24 compared to 2.3pc last year, driven by healthy growth in important crops, reveals the Pakistan Economic Survey 2023-24 released on Tuesday.
Rallied by a significant growth of 16.8pc in the production of wheat, cotton, and rice crops, the sector improved its share in gross domestic production from 23.2pc in FY23 to 24pc in FY24.
The agricultural sector growth of 6.3pc was the highest in 19 years, according to the research firm Arif Habib Ltd.
Wheat output witnessed a record growth of 11.6pc from 28.2 million tonnes last year to 31.4m tonnes this year, the survey said. Cotton, severely damaged by floods and rains last year, recorded 10.2m bales compared to 4.9m bales last year, growing by 108.2pc. Rice output also saw a significant increase — up by 34.8pc — reaching 9.9m tonnes compared to 7.3m tonnes.
Cotton ginning, with 0.3pc share in the GDP, grew by 47.2pc due to the significant increase in cotton production.
Sugarcane and maize, however, declined by 0.4pc and 10.4pc, respectively, mainly due to a drop in acreage. Sugarcane production came down from last year’s 88m tonnes to 87.6m tonnes, and maize came down from 11m tonnes to 9.8m tonnes. Though the sugarcane production area decreased, its yield increase (kg per hectare) is encouraging, highlighting the optimal agriculture policy mix.
Other crops have also shown a 0.9pc growth compared to a decline of -0.92pc last year. There was 8.4pc growth in fruits, 5.8pc in vegetables, and 1.5pc in pulses.
The survey reveals that water availability during Kharif 2023 increased to 61.9 million acre-feet (MAF) from 43.3 MAF in Kharif 2022 (flood year), meeting crop requirements. For Rabi 2023-24, water availability was recorded at 30.6 MAF, showing an increase of 4.1pc over Rabi 2022-23.
Overall domestic production of fertilisers during FY24 (July-March) increased by 17.3pc to 3.25m tonnes compared to 2.77m tonnes in the same period of FY23. Fertiliser imports also increased by 23.7pc, reaching 524,000 tonnes. Consequently, the availability of fertilisers increased by 18.1pc to 3.77m tonnes.
The total offtake of fertiliser nutrients also saw an 18.7pc increase, reaching 3.95m tonnes. This was attributed to the extraordinarily low offtake during the previous year due to floods. Although gas prices for urea plants increased, the rise in average prices of urea and other nitrogen-containing fertilisers was disproportionately high compared to the increase in gas prices.
Agricultural lending during July-March FY24 went up by 33.3pc from Rs1.22 trillion disbursed during the same period last year to Rs1.63tr. It achieved 72.7pc of the annual target.
The outstanding portfolio of agricultural loans increased by Rs105.8 billion to reach Rs818.7bn by March 2024, compared to Rs712.9bn at the end of March 2023, reflecting a 14.8pc growth.
Livestock, which accounts for 60.8pc of the agricultural sector and 14.6pc of GDP, grew by 3.9pc in FY24, up from 3.7pc last year.
The forestry sector, contributing 2.3pc to agricultural value addition and 0.56pc to GDP, flourished by only 3.05pc compared to a significant 16.63pc growth last year.
The fishing sector, which claims 1.30pc of agricultural value addition and 0.31pc of GDP, grew by 0.81pc, up from 0.35pc the previous year.
During July-April of FY24, total fish production reached 720.9m tonnes, comprised of 410.9m tonnes from marine fisheries and the remainder from inland waters fisheries. The major fish buyers included China, Thailand, Malaysia, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, and Japan with 207,000 tonnes of fish and fish preparations exported, earning approximately $534.22m.
Empirical results of the study reveal that agricultural growth and other important variables of the study such as cash crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry are significantly affecting poverty head count rate in Pakistan.
Agriculture is considered a key tool for reducing poverty in developing countries like Pakistan. It employs almost half of the rural workforce, contributes around 20% to the country's GDP, and provides raw materials for agro-based industries. However, some studies suggest that agriculture may only help mitigate rural poverty in the long term, while other sources say that sustainable agriculture practices can significantly improve agricultural production and reduce poverty.
Here are some ways that agriculture can help the rural poor in Pakistan:
Employment
Agriculture provides jobs for millions of people in rural areas, including both skilled and unskilled workers. This can help reduce unemployment and poverty.
Sustainable practices
Studies have shown that sustainable agriculture practices can significantly improve agricultural production, which can help reduce poverty. For example, one project in Pakistan advised farmers on applying gypsum to water channels, which allowed them to grow rice and wheat in alternating seasons.
Crop-related advice
Some organizations have provided small-scale farmers with crop-related advice tailored to each stage of the cropping cycle. This advice can help farmers prepare their land, select seeds, apply fertilizer, irrigate their fields, and control disease.
However, the agriculture sector in Pakistan faces several challenges, including unequal land ownership, which is a major cause of poverty. About 75% of households in Pakistan own no land, and poverty levels are highest among landless households.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6974416/#:~:text=Methods,Conclusion
Let me state my proposition right off the bat – we Indians are the most racist people on earth! I was reminded of this stark truth when Sam Pitroda made that controversial statement regarding the physical characteristics of people from different parts of the country.
by Mathew John
https://thewire.in/society/why-indians-are-the-most-racist-people-on-earth
Pitroda belongs to that incorrigible species of individuals who refuse to abide by the tried and tested dictum that it is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool rather than open it and remove all doubt. Clearly lacking the acumen to anticipate that in this heated election season, even the most benign statements will be misconstrued by political opponents, Pitroda drew a simple racial, but certainly not racist, comparison among our people from different regions: “We could hold together a country as diverse as India – where people on East look like Chinese, people on West look like Arabs, people in North look like maybe white and people in South look like Africans. It doesn’t matter. We are all brothers and sisters.”
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The ugliest racist reaction was that of the Prime Minister of the country who demonstrated the lowest common denominator of racist thinking with his denunciation of Pitroda for equating people from the South with the African. The self-proclaimed divine being/thespian/politician expressed thunderous outrage that the “Shehzada (Rahul)” and his Congress acolytes were “disrespecting our countrymen based on the colour of their skin. Modi will definitely not tolerate it”. By implication, he was insinuating that to be compared to the dark-skinned Africans amounted to disrespect of our countrymen. For Modi, black is not beautiful. And he further exposed his crude racism by accusing the Congress of not supporting Draupadi Murmu’s candidature for President because they thought she was African – “her skin is dark so she must be defeated”. Significantly, Modi seemed okay with the other comparisons drawn by Pitroda. To be associated with the Whites, or the Chinese or the Arabs is kosher but in Modi’s reckoning, to be linked to the Africans is an insult. How appallingly racist is that?
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On the issue of racism, we have a lot to be ashamed of. In her profoundly insightful book on racism titled Caste, Isabel Wilkerson describes the hierarchies of power that sets the presumed supremacy of one group against the supposed inferiority of another, that harnesses race, class and colour to divide and subjugate people. We in India have the dubious distinction of not only providing the moniker for the book but being linked with Nazi Germany and America as the dominant locations that have bolstered the racist power structures and hierarchies that divide us today
Wilkerson points to uncanny similarities between India and America. Both have adopted social hierarchies that reinforce the differences between the highest and the lowest, keeping the dominant castes separate, apart and above those deemed lower. Both exiled their indigenous people – the Adivasis in India, the Native Americans in the United States – to remote lands and to the unseen margins of society, apart from using terror and force to keep them there.
To put it bluntly, our centuries-old, iniquitous caste system is the mothership that has provided the inspiration for Nazi Germany and racist America. This egregious concept of social hierarchy goes back millennia and is thousands of years older than European racism and division by skin colour. But caste is not our only social deformity. Our racism is a many-coloured monster that goes beyond caste, embracing discrimination based on religion, on the colour of one’s skin and even one’s facial characteristics.
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