On Tuesday, 22^nd July 2025, Mr. Afaq A. Tiwana, Chief Executive of Farmers Associates Pakistan, delivered a high-impact presentation, “Agriculture Development: A Farmers’ Perspective” to participants of the 38^th Senior Management Course (SMC) at the National Institute of Public Administration, Lahore.

Mr. Tiwana during his discussion explained Pakistan’s agricultural trajectory as a narrative of missed opportunities. Beginning with the nation’s reliance on foreign food aid in the 1950s, he moved through the Green-and Gene-Revolution decades, before arriving at today’s data-intensive frontier. Whereas advanced economies now deploy big-data analytics and Al to optimise planting decisions and supply chains, Pakistan, he observed, has yet to capitalise on these technologies.

He further illustrated the sector’s present constraints. With just 2.5% of bank credit reaching agriculture, compounded by climate shocks, water scarcity, distorted subsidies, and child malnutrition rates of 40% stunting and 30% underweight, Pakistan’s farm sector is caught in a deepening food-security crisis. To reverse this trajectory, Mr. Tiwana proposed a shift from subsidy-driven support to strategic investment. Priority should go to on-farm water management, rural roads and reliable energy, accompanied by produce-market deregulation and a diversified portfolio of agricultural credit instruments. He also called for the development of tradable water-storage “markets” to avert an impending scarcity crisis, alongside stronger international technology partnerships, scaled-up R&D funding and incentives for corporate farming. Such measures, he argued, could bridge an estimated USD 140 billion output gap.

In Q&A session, participants posed exploratory questions. Mr. Tiwana concluded that a science-led, market-enabled strategy could transform agriculture into Pakistan’s leading growth engine while safeguarding nutrition and rural livelihoods.