Deaf ears, blind eyes.

OUT of the total budget of Rs2.2 trillion, Punjab allocated Rs15.50 billion (0.68 per cent) for the agriculture sector in its annual development programme (ADP) this year.

If taken in the backdrop of Rs337bn ADP, the sectoral share is 4.45pc.

Interestingly, even this money would be spent on 34 carry-forward schemes and only five new unspecified projects will be launched next year for this sector`s development. And this is an allocation for a sector that contributes 18pc to Punjab`s GDP and employees 37 million.

The sector is facing additional threats this year due to the pandemic. According to Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, its vulnerability stands at 87.7pc for Punjab. As per another estimate, the size of the sector may shrink by two to seven per cent because of compromised sowing abilities of the farmers. Both these figures are part ofthe ADP document.

However, despite its contribution and new vulnerabilities, the budgetary allocation for the sector, as put by most of the farmers and their representative bodies, is: `more of a routine ritual rather than an attempt at mitigation and revival.` As a matter of principle, any agriculture budget should be judged on three cardinal principles: does it incentivise production, does it encourage investment (with public sector investment leading and attracting the private sector to follow suit) and finally does it recognize current challenges to the sector and offer any solution? This year`s budget fails on all three accounts, say most of the farmer leaders.

The crop sector revived in 2016-17 when the Rs200bn Kissan Package brought a paradigm shift and the provincial focus shifted to the revival of wheat, long-grain rice and sugarcane (with indicative price), notes Fazal Wattoo, afarmer from central Punjab. With official investment diminishing in the last two years, the sector has receded again.

This year, as official records show, wheat missed its target and cotton continues to fail both are vital crops as one provides food security and the other contributes towards 70pc of exports. Some respectability (2.7pc growth in the crop sector) was led by maize, rice and canola this year. All three of them are going to face huge challenges next year.

The largest maize consumer (poultry) is in massive trouble because of declining sales. Rice faces a slide in exports as Covid-19 hits markets and canola loses official patronage as shown by the reduction in the budget. The farmers were expecting...