Agriculture plays an important and vital role in any economy especially for a country like Pakistan. Basically Pakistan is an agricultural country with the world’s sixth largest population. The current population of Pakistan is more than 160 million which is growing at the rate of almost two percent annually. The major portion of population (67%) lives in rural areas and depends totally on agriculture. Approximately 32% of the population lives below the poverty line. GDP growth depends upon crops production. Industrial sector of Pakistan is also agricultural based. Thus the improvement in industrial sector also depends upon the improvement of agriculture sector. So, if the agricultural production is not satisfactory, the foreign investors shift their capital to other countries where they can get better inputs for their industries. The use of fertilizer in Pakistan has been increased during last five decades. The government of Pakistan imposed a 15 percent GST (general sales tax) on all fertilizers in 2001, thus prices increased. Now prices of major fertilizers, Urea and DAP are 3500 and 700 per 50Kg bag respectively. The main objective of fertilizer use is to improve the efficiency of land and to increase the crop productivity. The overall aim is sustainability and growth in agricultural sector that should match the growing population for food security and the promotion of economic growth. The average farm size in Pakistan is quite small. Farmers have become so dependent on fertilizers for their crop production that they have been left with no other choice without the balance use of fertilizer. With increasing prices the farmers cannot afford to purchase these inputs.
Agriculture plays an important and vital role in any economy especially for a country like Pakistan. Basically Pakistan is an agricultural country with the world’s sixth largest population. The current population of Pakistan is more than 160 million which is growing at the rate of almost two percent annually. The major portion of population (67%) lives in rural areas and depends totally on agriculture. Approximately 32% of the population lives below the poverty line. GDP growth depends upon crops production. Industrial sector of Pakistan is also agricultural based. Thus the improvement in industrial sector also depends upon the improvement of agriculture sector. So, if the agricultural production is not satisfactory, the foreign investors shift their capital to other countries where they can get better inputs for their industries. The use of fertilizer in Pakistan has been increased during last five decades. The government of Pakistan imposed a 15 percent GST (general sales tax) on all fertilizers in 2001, thus prices increased. Now prices of major fertilizers, Urea and DAP are 3500 and 700 per 50Kg bag respectively. The main objective of fertilizer use is to improve the efficiency of land and to increase the crop productivity. The overall aim is sustainability and growth in agricultural sector that should match the growing population for food security and the promotion of economic growth. The average farm size in Pakistan is quite small. Farmers have become so dependent on fertilizers for their crop production that they have been left with no other choice without the balance use of fertilizer. With increasing prices the farmers cannot afford to purchase these inputs.