Pakistan’s first Digital Agriculture Census has provided a comprehensive picture of the country’s farming landscape, revealing significant shifts in landholding patterns, livestock numbers, and irrigation practices. The data shows that around 17,000 farmers with holdings of 100 acres or more collectively own 3.65 million acres, representing 6% of the nation’s total cultivated land. The census, conducted by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), reports that the country’s total cultivated area now stands at 52.8 million acres.
Medium-sized farms continue to make up a notable share, with 20% of holdings falling between 7.5 and 12.5 acres, accounting for 10.6 million acres. The census also documents Pakistan’s livestock population, which exceeds 251 million animals across provinces. Over the last 14 years, the cultivable area has increased by 10.2 million acres, while the share of non-irrigated farmland has declined from 8.4 million acres in 2010 to 4.9 million acres in 2024.
The number of farms has risen sharply from 8.26 million in 2010 to 11.7 million in 2024, although the average farm size has decreased from 6.4 acres to 5.1 acres, largely due to population growth. In total, 19.8 million households are now associated with agriculture. Punjab holds the largest share, with 5.05 million farms covering over 31 million acres. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa follows with 4.17 million farms spanning 8.83 million acres, while Sindh’s 1.82 million farms cover 9.19 million acres. Balochistan has 633,000 farms over 8.83 million acres, and Islamabad contributes 17,000 farms to the national total.
The census breaks down farm sizes further: 1.29 million farms are under one acre, 4.04 million are up to 2.5 acres, 2.24 million reach up to 5 acres, and over one million are up to 7.5 acres. Larger operations include 783,000 farms with 12.5 acres, 357,000 with 25 acres, 99,000 with 50 acres, and 33,000 with 100 acres or more.
Speaking at the census launch, Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal stressed the importance of these figures for economic planning. He pointed out that Pakistan’s per-acre crop yield remains below international benchmarks and said corporate farming could help address productivity gaps. Highlighting the drop in cotton production from 15 million bales to 5 million bales, he noted the urgent need for reforms to strengthen the sector, which contributes 24% to GDP and is key to the country’s economic targets, including the ambition to become a $1 trillion economy.
The data also highlights a reduction in reliance on rain-fed agriculture despite the availability of canal systems, tube wells, and water pumps. Rain-dependent farmland has decreased significantly since 2010, underscoring the necessity for improved irrigation infrastructure.
Livestock statistics show Punjab leading with 26.9 million cows, 29.5 million buffaloes, 13.3 million sheep, and 31.3 million goats. Sindh has 11.2 million cows, 13.4 million buffaloes, 4.7 million sheep, and 19 million goats. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hosts 13.5 million cows, 3.9 million buffaloes, 7.6 million sheep, and 22.4 million goats, while Balochistan records 4.07 million cows, 664,000 buffaloes, 18.8 million sheep, and 22.8 million goats. Islamabad also maintains livestock, with over 1 million cows, 120,000 buffaloes, 5,000 sheep, and 127,000 goats.
Interestingly, the figures differ from those in the recent Economic Survey, pointing to the need for consistent, technology-enabled data collection to ensure accuracy and standardisation across government reports.
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