Climate Resilience: Pakistan’s Agriculture Sector Shrugs Off Floods to Register 2.89% Growth.

Pakistan’s agriculture sector displayed strong resilience during 2025-26, achieving growth of 2.89% compared to 1.53% in the previous year, despite facing severe disruptions caused by the 2025 monsoon floods.

The sector’s performance is particularly noteworthy as widespread flooding threatened agricultural activity across key farming regions.

According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26, timely policy measures and government support enabled farmers to overcome the challenges, allowing the sector to perform better than initially anticipated.

Agriculture remains a cornerstone of Pakistan’s economy, contributing 23.4% to the national GDP and employing 33.1% of the country’s workforce.

The sector’s recovery also reflects an improved policy framework, supported by the establishment of the National Agriculture and Food Security Council (NAFSC), which has strengthened strategic planning for food security at the national level.

The crop sector, which contracted by 1.01% during 2024-25, returned to positive territory with growth of 1.44% in the current fiscal year.

The country’s five major crops—cotton, rice, sugarcane, maize, and wheat—collectively recorded growth of 0.65%, a significant improvement from the 13.19% decline reported last year. Strong output from sugarcane, wheat, and rice helped compensate for weaker performances in cotton and maize.

According to the survey, sugarcane emerged as the top-performing crop, with production increasing by 6.2% to 89.45 million tonnes from 84.24 million tonnes a year earlier.

The increase was driven by expanded cultivation and a 3.7% improvement in crop yields. Wheat, the country’s primary staple crop, also posted encouraging results, with production rising by 4.3% to 29.61 million tonnes from 28.40 million tonnes.

Growth was supported by the Interim Wheat Policy 2025-26 and improved access to certified seeds and fertilizers.

Rice production increased by 2.8%, reaching 9.99 million tonnes from 9.72 million tonnes, largely due to a 6.6% rise in yield despite a reduction in cultivated area.

Cotton and maize remained the weaker performers among major crops.

Cotton output declined by 0.5% to 7.05 million bales as growers shifted towards more profitable crops, while maize production fell by 2.7% to 8.79 million tonnes due to flood-related impacts on productivity.

However, the broader category of other crops expanded by 2.43%, supported by a 31.4% increase in pulses, a 12.6% rise in vegetable production, and a 2.8% increase in fruits.

The livestock sector also delivered strong results, expanding by 3.75% in 2025-26 compared to 2.95% in the previous year. Livestock now contributes 62.4% of agriculture’s total value addition and accounts for 14.6% of the national GDP.

Gross value addition in the sector increased from Rs6,004 billion to Rs6,229 billion. Notably, the sector achieved this growth despite a 4.5% reduction in green fodder availability, with improved livestock management practices and government support helping raise overall output by 3.46%.

Milk production reached an estimated 74.69 million tonnes during 2025-26, up from 72.34 million tonnes a year earlier.

Total meat production also increased to 6.31 million tonnes, with poultry recording the strongest growth and reaching 2.83 million tonnes.

Pakistan’s poultry industry, which ranks the country among the world’s leading poultry producers, has maintained an average annual growth rate of 8.1% over the past decade and provides employment to more than 1.5 million people.

The survey noted that the government is increasingly focused on developing livestock as a major export-oriented sector.

Meat exports have grown substantially, rising from $196 million in 2015 to more than $500 million in FY25.

To accelerate this momentum, the National Meat Sector Transformation and Export Council, established under the Prime Minister’s leadership, has set a target of increasing meat exports to nearly $700 million by 2028.

Other allied sectors also recorded positive growth. Forestry expanded by 2.02%, while the fishing sector grew by 1.66%, contributing further to overall agricultural performance.

On the input side, fertilizer nutrient offtake during July-March 2025-26 reached 3.795 million tonnes, representing an increase of 11.4% compared to the previous year.

Nitrogen offtake rose by 14.8%, while potash consumption increased by 26.2%, indicating greater farmer confidence and investment in crop production. Phosphate usage, however, declined by 1.9% due to higher market prices.

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