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Increasing population and decreasing on farm resources are threating the future food security. In this scenario, the cropping systems which can meet the increasing demand of food, feed and forage are needed. Intercropping is an eco-friendly option for sustaining and increasing the productivity of farmlands. Therefore, a field study relating to sunflower-mungbean intercropping intensities under irrigated conditions was conducted at Agronomic Research Farm, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during the spring season, 2014 in RCB design with triplicate run. The treatments included viz. Four sunflower plants m-2 + 30 mungbean m-2, 6 sunflower plants m-2 + 30 mungbean plants m-2, 8 sunflower plants m-2 + 30 mungbean plants m-2, 4 plants m-2 of sunflower alone, 6 plants m-2 of sunflower alone, 8 plants m-2 of sunflower alone and 30 plants m-2 of mungbean alone. Plant population was maintained by keeping 75 cm apart single rows of sunflower and 50 cm apart double rows of mungbean both in sole and in the intercropped plots. The results indicated that sole sunflower grown in the pattern of 6 sunflower plants m-2 produced significantly higher achene yield than rest of the planting patterns under study. As regard sunflower-mungbean intercropping system all intercrops gave more economic returns than sole cropping of sunflower and mungbean and planting 6 sunflower plants + 30 mungbean plants m-2 proved to be superior with respect to grain yield and net economic return per unit area. Sunflower appeared to be dominant crop as was indicated by its higher values of competitive ratio and positive sign of aggressivity. However, on the basis of land equivalent ratio, maximum yield advantage was recorded in in 4 sunflower plants m-2 + 30 mungbean plants m-2 intercropping system. These results suggested that farmers may adopt 6 sunflower plants m-2 + 30 mungbean plants m-2 in intercropping system for increased productivity and economic return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on forecasting the production and yield of food crops in Pakistan. Utilizing the "Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average" (ARIMA) model and data from 1948 to 2011. The data was obtained from Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Islamabad and various Economic Surveys of Pakistan. The result predicts that wheat (production and yield) forecast for 2029-30 to be about 37188 thousand tons and 3454 kg ha-1, respectively. The rice (production and yield) forecast for 2029-30 will be about 7176 thousand tons and 2630 kg ha-1, respectively. The maize (production and yield) forecast for 2029-30 will be about 5784 thousand tons and 6088 kg ha-1, respectively. In short, the production growth rate of wheat, rice and maize was higher in 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth in agricultural production along with low variability is highly desirable. The objective of this study was to investigate growth and variability in area, production and yield of selected fruit crops including apple, peach, pear, and plum in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The study is based on secondary data from 1975-76 to 2011-12 which is further bifurcated into three periods; period-I (from 1975-76 to 1990-91), period-II (from 1991-92 to 2011-12), and period-III (from 1975-76 to 2011-12). Cuddy-Della Valle index has been used for variability analysis. The findings of the study revealed that growth in production of selected fruit remained positive with area under fruit as a major contributor during period-I. Period-II witnessed either low or negative growth in fruit production except peach. Variability in fruit production was higher in period-II as compared to period-I. Main contributor to fluctuations in fruit production during period-I was variability in area under fruit, whereas, both area and yield variability were mainly responsible for variability in fruit production during period-II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fisheries as a sub-sector of agriculture, is considered as one of the most important economic activity along the coastline of provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. This paper assesses current stock of seafood production, seafood exports, direction and future prospects of seafood exports from Pakistan. The production of inland and marine fish was 729,000 t in 2012-13. Not only seafood output in the country is low but dwindling to the disastrous level. Export of seafood has increased from 131,620 t (a value of US$ 315.5 million) in 2011-12 to 136,360 t (a value of US$ 333.13 million) in 2012-13, with an annual increase of 9.5% in term of quantity and 4.5% in term of value. Decline in seafood resources, lack of shrimp culture, insufficient facilities at fish markets, inadequate fishing policies and low export prices of seafood are major challenges faced by fisheries sector of Pakistan. Sustainable conservation of marine resources, promotion of shrimp culture, enhancement of the fish processing for export, provision of adequate facilities at fish markets and formulation of sustainable fishing policies are ways forward for the sustainable development of seafood resources development in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sugar industry in Pakistan is the second largest agro-based industry after textile. The calculation of ex-factory production cost of sugar supports the sugarcane support price programme in the country. The present paper aimed at up-dating the financial profitability of white sugar on the basis of recent data in the country. The total cost of white sugar production was Rs. 50.11kg-1 in Pakistan. The estimated financial profit of white sugar production was Rs. 2.47 kg-1 in the country in 2012-13. The estimated supply and demand of white sugar was worked out as 6.62 and 5.01 m t, respectively during the same period. The per capita availability (consumption kg person-1 year-1) was 27.18 in Pakistan. Urgent research efforts are required to ensure development of improved varieties of sugarcane with higher sucrose recovery. Effective measures are needed for disease control and optimal pesticide use. Adequate supply of water, optimal use of fertilizer and judicious use of pesticides can improve yield and hence higher financial profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]