ISLAMABAD: The federal government has proposed a nationwide digital system to maintain farmers’ and agricultural land records, including soil and water testing data, as part of a broader effort to modernize Pakistan’s agriculture sector and strengthen agricultural exports.
The Digital Farmers’ Diary and AgriStack proposal was discussed during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on agricultural development, productivity and export promotion.
Under the proposed system, information on farmers and agricultural land across the country would be digitized alongside data from soil and water testing. The initiative is expected to provide a stronger information base for agricultural planning, farm management and targeted support to farmers.
The meeting also considered introducing the Pakistan Good Agriculture Practices (Pak-GAP) system to encourage improved farming methods and raise agricultural productivity. The prime minister stressed that increasing per-acre yields, modernizing agriculture, developing the livestock sector and expanding exports would require stronger coordination between federal and provincial governments.
Shehbaz Sharif also emphasized the importance of value addition in agricultural products to improve Pakistan’s export potential. He directed commercial officers at Pakistan’s overseas missions to promote agricultural products, expand access to international markets and identify new destinations for Pakistani exports.
The government is also planning a media campaign to promote a mobile application for crop monitoring. Officials discussed agricultural value chains and highlighted China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Gulf countries as important markets for Pakistani agricultural products.
Officials told the meeting that Pakistan’s agricultural exports reached $5.18 billion during the previous financial year, with rice, fisheries, halal meat, potatoes, sesame, tobacco, mangoes and maize among the major export commodities. Financing facilities for agricultural exporters were also discussed.
The government’s agricultural modernization agenda comes alongside efforts to expand access to finance for farmers. Earlier, the prime minister directed banks and financial institutions to increase agricultural lending and provide financing to farmers on favorable terms.
Agricultural lending reached Rs1.268 trillion in August 2026, while the government has set a target of increasing lending to Rs2 trillion by June 2028 under the Access to Finance Plan 2026–2028.
The meeting was also informed that 35,838 applications had been received through the Zarkhez e-app for agricultural loans. Of these, Rs7.35 billion had been approved, while Rs1.96 billion had been disbursed.
The proposed digital agricultural infrastructure could also support climate-smart farming by making soil, water and farm-level information more accessible for better resource management. With Pakistan facing growing pressures from water scarcity, extreme weather and changing agricultural conditions, improved data and technology could play an important role in building a more productive and resilient farming sector.
