With finite land and dwindling water resources, Pakistan must feed a rapidly growing population. Of the various solutions on the table, the most promising is raising agricultural productivity, since the country’s crop yields remain below those of several comparable countries for major crops.

But raising agricultural productivity is easier said than done. Every prescription for raising productivity includes strengthening agricultural extension services — known as crop advisory services for farmers. Historically, extension was conceived as a public service, delivered by provincial agriculture departments through thousands of field assistants and agriculture officers working within a multilayered hierarchy.

Yet a big question mark has always hung over the outreach, effectiveness and impact of these services. Multiple reports and research papers indicate that this supply-driven model suffers from conceptual, design, and implementation flaws and has bitterly failed to deliver results.

The shortcomings of this traditional model have grown more consequential as the agriculture sector undergoes rapid changes, demanding highly specialised advice far beyond the conventional one-size-fits-all approach. At least three major changes in recent years have reshaped farmers’ advisory needs.

Provincial government’s extension services have become so ineffective that their presence or absence makes little practical difference

First, climate change is demanding climate-resilient agriculture. Erratic rainfall, heatwaves, and rising temperatures are altering the production technology of several crops, including seed variety selection, sowing times, irrigation practices, and the application of pesticides and fungicides.

The choices available to farmers in the name of climate resilience have multiplied. Dozens of seed varieties of cotton, rice, maize and vegetables are now available in the market. For example, more than 50 cotton varieties are recommended by the Punjab Agriculture Department alone. Under such conditions, farmers cannot make the right choices without effective and dependable crop advisory services.

Climate change has increased the incidence and spread of pests and diseases, which is raising input requirements and production risks for farmers. This makes timely and frequent technical advice more critical than ever.

Second, flawed government policies — including heavier taxation and withdrawal of subsidies — have sharply increased the cost of agricultural inputs such as seed, fertiliser, pesticides, electricity and diesel. With input costs continuing to erode farmers’ margins, extension services must step in — helping farmers cut production costs through affordable input alternatives and more efficient farming practices.

Consider Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertiliser, now priced at more than Rs17,000 per bag. Its high price has made it increasingly unaffordable, and as a result, its use has declined significantly over the past two years. In such circumstances, extension workers should equip farmers with the knowledge and skills to produce and use compost from animal manure, crop residues, and fruit and vegetable waste. Vermicomposting — producing nutrient-rich compost using earthworms — is another low-cost soil-fertility option worth considering, one that is already gaining ground in India.

Similarly, with diesel becoming increasingly expensive, promoting regenerative agriculture — minimum soil disturbance through no-till or low-till practices — has become necessary to reduce fuel consumption while improving soil health.

With cropping intensity rising sharply — reaching three crops a year in some parts of Punjab – farmers also need guidance on maintaining soil fertility and conserving water to compensate for the increased nutrients removal and additional groundwater pumping.

Third, the sharp rise in input prices has increased the incentive to produce and sell counterfeit and substandard seeds, fertilisers and pesticides. Over the past two years, even well-known maize varieties from multinational companies, priced at more than Rs20,000 per bag, have been widely counterfeited. Thousands of farmers have complained of being sold such seed by dealers.

The problem is not confined to seed. Spurious DAP fertiliser is also being reported. Pesticides present another serious concern, with substandard and expired products, often manufactured by small, poorly established companies, finding their way into the market. All this necessitates advisory services that can guide farmers in procuring genuine and quality inputs.

The question, therefore, is whether the current delivery model can meet the expanding role and evolving demands of agricultural extension. Unfortunately, it has failed to deliver results even under its traditional mandate. With its role now expanding, agriculture departments lack the human and institutional capacity to address farmers’ changing advisory needs, particularly when farm sizes are shrinking.

Moreover, a large share of extension staff’s time and attention is increasingly diverted toward administrative and enforcement duties — inspecting seed, pesticide, and fertiliser markets for adulteration and black marketing, prosecuting farmers who burn crop residue, and performing various other unrelated duties — rather than providing advisory services.

These assignments offer opportunities for the exercise of power and rent-seeking. As a result, the provincial government’s extension services have become so ineffective in Punjab that their presence or absence makes little practical difference for the majority of farmers.

In this situation, to fill the vacuum, development organisations such as rural support programmes, NGOs, cooperatives, and private-sector companies engaged in contract farming can step in to provide extension services. These organisations are generally more efficient, transparent and accountable, and many have extensive experience of working directly with farmers at the grassroots level.

To make such services financially sustainable, the government could fund them partially or fully through an outsourcing model, as recently adopted in Punjab’s education and health sectors. Alternatively, organisations could recover the cost of specialised advisory services through volume discounts on agricultural inputs procured for beneficiary farmers, commissions on machinery hired for sowing and harvesting, and margins from facilitating the bulk marketing of farmers’ produce — all without placing an additional financial burden on farmers.

In conclusion, Pakistan cannot raise agricultural productivity with an extension system designed for the agriculture of the past. The system must evolve to secure the country’s food future.

Khalid Wattoo is a farmer and a development professional. Dr Waqar Ahmad is a former Associate Professor at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 14th, 2026