The CPEC Unit of Agriculture Department Punjab-Pakistan has been assigned the responsibility to become a resource centre for the public and private sector, for creating awareness among key stakeholders including farmers, producers, exporters, general public and Government officials on the opportunities and implications of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on the agriculture.
CPEC offers a lifetime opportunity to improve the socio-economic position of the region. Much larger than its bilateral benefits, it is a corridor of peace and prosperity for the people of Pakistan and China, and also for the region and beyond. It will bind nations together and bring about an economic transformation through enhanced connectivity. A number of projects are being introduced under the umbrella of CPEC on infrastructure, energy, agriculture, etc. offering growth and development opportunities to a large array of stakeholders.
 |
 |
| Figure 1. Punjab's Agriculture Production Distribution in Major Crops | Figure 2. Cropped area of Punjab Crop-wise distribution |
Pakistan is an agriculture-based economy. Agriculture accounts for 20.9% of GDP and provides employment to 47% of the workforce. Agriculture GDP is derived from four sub-sectors, i.e. Livestock, Crops, Fishing and Forestry. Almost 42%, 14%, 11.3%, 4.1% and 4.3% of the cropped area is under wheat, cotton, rice, maize and sugarcane cultivation, respectively. High value crops like pulses, oil-seeds, fruits, flowers and vegetables are also grown across Pakistan, representing the highest potential for growth and profitability in the crops subsector.
To benefit from CPEC’s opportunities, The Agriculture Department, Government of the Punjab has established a CPEC Unit vide notification order number 6(CPEC)/P&EC/2016 dated 09-11-2016. The Agriculture Department has designed a wide range of projects to promote high value crops, along with allied inputs industries, crop support services and agro-processing sector to encourage development of agriculture along the CPEC route. The primary objective of these intiatives is to improve socio-economic status of farming communities, and promote exports of agriculture to China, other regional countries and the World.