FOR as long as many of us can remember, we were raised on a comforting national belief: that Pakistan is an agricultural country, blessed with rivers, fertile plains, and hardworking farmers who would always keep this nation fed. It was repeated so often, with such pride, that it became part of our identity. But myths, no matter how deeply rooted, eventually collide with reality. And today, as we look across our fields, our markets, and our import bills, we must face a difficult truth. Pakistan may still depend on agriculture, but agriculture can no longer depend on Pakistan.

This decline did not arrive suddenly. In the early decades, especially during the Green Revolution of the 1960s, we saw what real progress looked like. New seeds, expanding irrigation, mechanization, rising wheat yields for a moment, it felt as if we were on the verge of becoming a regional powerhouse. But that momentum faded. Innovation slowed, productivity stagnated, and policy became a revolving door of short-term fixes and political theatrics that rarely survived beyond a single government’s tenure.

The past few years have been especially damaging. Instead of reforming markets, we suffocated them. Instead of empowering farmers, we trapped them in........

© Pakistan Observer