CPEC can help revitalize the agri industry.

• Author: Aijaz, Urooj
• Position: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Byline: UROOJ AIJAZ

Geo-strategic and geo-economical alliances between nations have been facilitated by the emergence of regional and global strategic movements around the world in the twenty-first century. CPEC, or the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, is among the most successful examples of such alliances. The CPEC's entire launch period ranges from 2014 to 2030. The projects under CPEC are being implemented in three stages. According to estimates, the short-, mid-, and long-term projects will be finished in 2017, 2025, and 2030, respectively. These projects are expected to cost $46 billion to build. It is a system of roads, trains, pipelines, transport, gas, oil, and energy. The CPEC would benefit the agriculture industry both directly and indirectly by advancing both developing and advanced nations.

Agriculture and infrastructure connection

Low-income economies have relied heavily on agriculture. In rural regions, it typically serves as the main source of employment and revenue. Pakistan's agriculture industry has consistently faced a decline during the past ten years. One of the main causes of this downturn may be the worst energy crisis but as CPEC involves a network of infrastructure, so there exists a strong connection between the sector's development and agriculture. If we recall the history then we remember the tool of the Green revolution, which is a package consisting of development programs that support agriculture including infrastructure development because the development of irrigational infra-structure always brought revolutionary changes in agricultural output by enhancing the intensity of utilizing the land and through the provision of incentives to the farmers to use high yielding inputs.

Impacts on technology

History witnesses the fact that infrastructure development sparks a revolution in agricultural technology as infrastructure development reduces the cost of transportation and enhances the input purchasing power of farmers. It is also reported that improvement in road quality leads to an increase in the probability of farmers affording high-yielding input from 29 to 35 percent. It is also noticed that improved returns on investment may be realized through connecting farmers to the extension of services, communication infrastructure, the market, rural services, and rural roads as it will encourage farmers to embrace and invest in improved land technology.

Effect on trade

Trade is one of the tools of any nation that...