Climate Stress Puts Pakistan’s Crops, Rural Economy and Food Security at Risk

Increasing climate stress is becoming an economic as well as an agricultural challenge for Pakistan, threatening crop productivity, farmer incomes and future food security as the sector confronts water scarcity, deteriorating soil health and increasingly unpredictable production conditions.

Key points

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• The challenge assumes wider economic significance since agriculture accounts for 23.44 percent of Pakistan's GDP.
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• The World Bank has similarly identified improving agricultural water productivity, climate resilience and farmer incomes in Punjab as significant to strengthening the country's agricultural system.
• "Until we empower farmers to make the right decisions, we will never be able to solve food security in Pakistan, " Baig remarked.

Speaking at the Pakistan Agriculture Coalition's Agri-Connections 2026 conference in Lahore, Zeeshan Baig, Country General Manager, Syngenta Pakistan, remarked Pakistan needed to build a more resilient agricultural system as farmers increasingly faced pressures that directly affected their ability to produce food consistently and profitably.

In practice, the challenge assumes wider economic significance since agriculture accounts for 23.44 percent of Pakistan's GDP. Although the sector grew by 2.89 percent during FY2025-26, significant crops recorded expansion of only 0.65 percent, with increases in sugarcane, wheat and rice offset by declines in cotton and maize, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26.

Baig remarked climate-related disruptions were compounding existing pressures on agriculture, particularly declining water availability, weakening soil health and changing pest and disease patterns.

"We don't just need more food, we need more sustainable and resilient food, " he remarked, arguing that Pakistan could no longer look at agricultural productivity independently of the environmental and resource constraints affecting farmers.

Water represents one of the most significant vulnerabilities. Pakistan's agricultural system remains heavily dependent on irrigation, making farm productivity increasingly exposed to declining water availability and changing climatic conditions.

According to Zeeshan, as resources become more constrained, the challenge would be to enable agriculture to produce more while improving the efficiency with which water, land and other inputs were employed.

Notably, the implications extend beyond individual farms. Punjab alone accounts for around 73 percent of Pakistan's total food production, making the resilience of agriculture in the province particularly significant for national food supplies as well as the livelihoods and economic activity backed by the rural economy.

In practice, the World Bank has similarly identified improving agricultural water productivity, climate resilience and farmer incomes in Punjab as significant to strengthening the country's agricultural system.

For context, the pressure is projected to intensify as Pakistan's population continues to grow while agricultural resources remain constrained. "By the next 30 years, our population is projected to rise by almost 50 percent. Today, we are already at a subdued deficit or marginally gathering the food demand of the local economy, " noted Zeeshan. He further remarked, the combination of rising food demand and increasing climate pressure meant Pakistan would need to protect agricultural productivity against both sudden shocks and longer-term stresses.

Climate resilience, he continued, therefore needed to become part of everyday agricultural decision-making, including how farmers apply water, manage soil health, protect crops against emerging pests and diseases, and respond to changing weather conditions.

Baig pointed to laser land levelling as one example of a practical intervention that could improve resilience by helping farmers employ scarce resources more efficiently. Figures presented during his address indicated that the technology could reduce water apply by around 20 to 30 percent while increasing yields by approximately 10 percent.

He remarked such interventions demonstrated that building agricultural resilience did not necessarily depend on complex technologies alone. Greater impact could additionally come from combining improved agronomic practices, digital advisory, crop diagnostics, weather information, crop protection and biological solutions around the specific challenges farmers faced.

He stressed that climate resilience would ultimately require coordinated action from administration, academia, researchers and the private sector to improve farmers' access to knowledge, technology and practical solutions that could protect productivity under increasingly challenging conditions.

Notably, the economic case for such investment is additionally becoming stronger. A recent World Bank assessment for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan region estimates that an extra $12 billion annually in water-efficient irrigation and agricultural innovation, together with policy reforms, could substantially rise domestic food production and raise cereal yields by 72 percent by 2050.

For Pakistan, Baig remarked, strengthening agriculture against climate stress was therefore not simply an environmental priority. It was increasingly linked to protecting crop output, farmer livelihoods, national food supplies and the wider economy dependent on agriculture. Stay Connected with ProPakistani. Obtain the latest news and stories wherever you prefer. Follow on Google Discover.

In short, climate Stress Puts Pakistan's Crops, Rural Economy and Food Security at Risk is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.