Charter of the Economy Table 20.1: Index of Food Security(2005-06= 100) Output of Food Crops* Index 2005-06 100.0 2009-10 106.0 2014-15 113.4 2019-20 119.8 Source: PES Population Index 100.0 110.0 123.8 139.4 Per Capital Food Availability Index 100.0 95.4 91.6 85.9 The tragedy is that, for many years now, it has remained a largely neglected sector. The emphasis of Governments and planners has shifted to power generation, highways, and industry. Consequently, the growth rate of the sector has plummeted badly with the inevitable negative impact on the GDP growth rate. The buoyancy of the sector was at its peak in the three decades of the 60s, 80s and 90s. During the 60s, the Green Revolution substantially raised yields, especially of wheat and rice. The impetus to high agricultural growth of 5.4 percent annually in the 80s was provided by the Tarbela Dam , which increased the availability of water for agriculture by almost 10 percent. The high growth rate in the 90’s, of 4.4 percent, was the result of pro­agriculture policies, especially related to the pricing of inputs and outputs. By 2000, food self-sufficiency had been attained. During these three decades, the growth rate of agriculture ranged between 4 to 5.5 percent. Since 2000, the growth rate has plummeted to between 2.5 to 3 percent. During the last five years, it has been as low as 1.9 percent, as shown Table 20.2. In fact, since 1999-20, the average annual growth rate has been below 3 percent. Table 20.2: Growth Rate of The Agricultural Sector(Annual Growth Rate,%) Crops Other c Agricultural Sector 1999-2000 to 2004-05 1.8 3.6 d 2.8 2004-05 to 2009-10 0.1 a 2.8 2.0 2009-10 to 2014-15 1.7 3.7 2.5 2014-15 to 2019-20-0.3 b 3.2 1.9 2020-21 2.5 3.0 2.8 a Negative impact of floods on crops in 2009-10. b Decline in 2019-20 due to heavy monsoon rainfall and locust attack. c Includes livestock, forestry and fishing. d There is strong evidence that the growth rate of the livestock sector is overstated. Source: PBS The acreage and output growth of crops is given in Table 20.3. 194