By Khalid Saeed Wattoo | Dr Waqar Ahmad
The recently released report of Pakistan’s 7th Agricultural Census 2024 reveals a noticeable trend of shrinking farm sizes. The average size has fallen from 6.4 acres in 2010 to 5.1 acres in 2024. Over the same period, the number of farms increased by 42 per cent — from 8.26 million to 11.7m. This shift is hardly surprising in a country with the region’s highest population growth rate of 2.55pc.
Among several factors, generational inheritance and the unchecked sprawl of housing colonies across cities and towns are two major drivers of farmland fragmentation. Therefore, one thing is certain: the trend is likely to intensify in the years ahead, due to exponential population growth and growing urbanisation.
However, the fundamental question is whether the continuing reduction in farm sizes aligns with the natural evolution of Pakistan’s agriculture sector.
Until just a few decades ago, farming in Pakistan relied heavily on oxen for almost every task — from ploughing fields and lifting water from wells t