Pakistan’s imports of agricultural machinery and implements fell by 66.31% in the first seven months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period of the previous year. According to figures from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country’s imports of agricultural machinery and implements totalled $23.926 million between July and January 2022-2023 as opposed to $71.019 million during the same period in the previous year.

The imports of agricultural and other chemicals also fell by 35.45% from $9.025 billion during the study period to $5.826 billion in the same period of the previous year. In contrast, 772,167 metric tonnes of fertiliser worth $507.870 million was imported to meet local demand during the review period, a 12.19% decline from 996,528 metric tonnes worth $578.362 million during the same period of the previous year.

Over the last seven months of the fiscal year 2022-23, the country imported roughly 21,286 metric tonnes of medicinal products worth $838.580 million as opposed to 36,171 metric tonnes worth $3.397 billion during the same period of the previous year. As comparison to the imports during the same period of the previous year, the imports of medicinal items decreased by 75.32% during the study period.

Nevertheless, compared to the imports of 19,154 metric tonnes worth $103.004 million during the same period last year, the imports of insecticides increased by 11.15 % during the last seven months to 22,212 metric tonnes worth $114.522 million.

Compared to the $3.206 billion in imports during the same period last year, other agricultural chemicals worth $2.873 billion were also imported from July through January of 2022-2023 to meet local demands. The imports of other agricultural chemicals decreased by 10.40% year on year during the study period.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk