Charter of the Economy There is a need to identify the set of reforms and policies to restore the buoyancy of agriculture. Otherwise, consequences will be high inflation in food prices and less food security, big rural-urban migration due to the lack of agricultural absorption of the incremental rural labor force, rising pressure on the balance of payments because of larger agricultural imports and greater poverty. Successful implementation of the reforms proposed in the next section can lead to early gains in agricultural productivity. The‘ yield gap ’ of Pakistan is large. The wheat yield in the country is only 47 percent of the yield of the largest global producer, while it is 51 percent in the case of rice and 32 percent only in cotton. 20.3. Strategy for Promoting Agriculture Based on the above description of the plight of agriculture in Pakistan, there is a dire need for agricultural revival. Reforms and measures are recommended below for early and effective implementation. The target as identified in Chapter 1 is to raise the growth rate of the agricultural sector from under 2 percent to 4 percent by 2024-25. Providing More Effective Protection The agricultural sector has been receiving little protection from imports. There is a need for a proper tariff wall to insulate the farming population and enable the realization of a moderate level of income per acre. Items with Import Tariff currently of 0% New Import Tariff 0% or 5% The tariff policy on agriculture imports is 3% 5% recommended to be changed as follows: 11% 15% 20% 25% The new recommended tariff is 5 percent on cotton, wheat, pulses, vegetables. Two important other changes are, first, reduction in the import duty on sugar from 20 percent to 15 percent and transition, in the case of palm oil, from a specific to ad- valorem tariff of 15 percent. Changing the Domestic Price Regime Currently there is only a procurement price of wheat and a support price for sugarcane. A support price should also be given to cotton once again, corresponding to the landed cost of cotton import. The support price for sugarcane should be withdrawn henceforth, given that the water requirement per acre of this crop is three times that of cotton. A minimum 198