Government's price control policy, its failure discussed

Speakers at a conference discussed the government's price policies and its failure to reform the regulatory framework for agricultural markets. Due to government policies, the profitability in this sub-sector is extremely low and farmers have neither the resources nor the incentive to invest in increasing agricultural productivity.
They expressed these views while talking on 'importance of reviving agricultural growth in Pakistan' on the second day of the 14th international conference on the Management of Pakistan Economy organized by the Lahore School of Economics (LSE). The theme of this year's conference is "Accelerating Economic Growth in Pakistan: Key Macro and Sectoral Drivers". The session was chaired by Secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research Fazal Abbas Maken.
Director Centre for Research in Economics and Business (CREB) LSE Dr Naved Hamid and Mahniya Zafar, M Phil Student LSE, presented their paper in which they discussed the constraints in the growth of agricultural sector in Pakistan. In their papers, they focused on the crop subsector which accounts for about 40 percent of the value added to the agriculture sector. They said low profitability in agriculture sector was due to trade and exchange rate policies. The other reason of the low profitability was a wide gap between prices received by farmers and those paid by consumers or received by exporters.
In his paper, Agriculture Economist, The World Bank Dr Johannes (Hans) Jansen discussed an ambitious transformation program to restore agriculture sector's competitiveness and dynamism in Punjab.
He discussed rapid shift in domestic demand from food grains to high-value agricultural products, large unexploited comparative advantage for products which can provide opportunities to generate export revenue and jobs and the exhaustion of options for new sources of irrigation water. He said production systems should be more resilient as climate change progresses.
Vice Chancellor University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Professor Dr Talat Naseer Pasha discussed in detail the existing constraints and potential policy reforms for promoting growth in the livestock sector. Reliance on traditional marketing systems, little value addition in the livestock value chains, and high processing costs were identified as major constraints to growth in this sector.
The session on determining industrial strategy and optimal locations for industrial clusters and special economic zones was chaired by Secretary Industries, Government of the Punjab, Dr Mujtaba Paracha.
Professor and Dean of the Economics Faculty, LSE, Dr Azam Chaudhry provided a brief overview of the sessions on industrial policy. The aim of this session was to explore the current industrial environment of Punjab to identify synergies and opportunities arising from China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and establishment of special economic zones.