Determinants of Farm Revenues from Rainfed Agriculture in the Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan faces a widening domestic food gap, while the country's farm sector is caught in a vicious circle of low farm incomes, lack of investment and outmigration of a young labour force. Hence, increasing farm revenues is essential for enhancing food security. Significant disparities between crop yields attained in experimental fields of research stations and actual yields in farmers' fields demonstrate a clear potential for revenue augmentation, particularly in rainfed agriculture. The authors explore the reasons for the low productivity of rainfed agriculture determining farm revenues. Based on a field survey in Punjab province, they show that farm revenues per acre are inversely related to the size of operational landholdings and positively related to irrigated area, off-farm income, livestock, hired labour and tractor ownership.