Agricultural in Pakistan

Water
Proper distribution of water for farming has alwa~s, been a problem. As the output of farms increases, so the need for more water becomes very important. Irrigation from the rivers is at its limit, and the government has many schemes for improved water supplies from tube wells. But demand will always be more than supply. Better distribution of water, as required by the -farmers, will help to improve crops.
Fertilizers
In the past, when there were fewer people and the demand for crops was less, the manure from animals was usually enough to keep the fields fairly fertile. Climatic conditions and continuous farming have reduced the natural ,fertility of the soil, so artificial fertilizers are needed for better crops. Pakistan is fortunate in having some of the raw materials for these, such as limestone and natural gas, but there still has to be a huge import of fertilizer - Rs 14 000 000 000 in 1996 - and other agricultural chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides (weed and insect killers); these are very expensive indeed.
Salinity
All natural water has some salt in it, but the amount is so small that we cannot taste it. When irrigation water covers the fields, however, the hot sun evaporates much of it and the salt is left behind. Year after year, this goes on until the salt in the soil is so strong that plants will not grow in it. The only answer is to 'wash' the soil with pure water from deep, underground wells, or put special chemicals on it. Both are expensive, and many poor farmers cannot afford either solution. Twenty-six per cent of Pakistan's farmland is affected by salt, eight per cent so badly, that it becomes a desert unless treated.