Dr. Sadia Khattak
Pakistan’s agricultural future depends not merely on expanding cultivated acreage, but on how land, water, capital, and technology are governed and deployed. The Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) represents a structural response to this challenge, anchored in transparency, precision agriculture, and inclusive growth. Its objective is to convert underutilised state land into productive assets that strengthen food security, exports, and rural livelihoods.
Incorporated under Section 16 of the Companies Act, 2017, GPI operates as a mission-driven, not-for-profit corporate platform mandated to undertake modern agriculture, livestock, and afforestation projects in partnership with provincial governments, farmers, and investors. A central concern surrounding corporate farming is land ownership and displacement. GPI’s framework addresses this directly. Land remains the property of provincial governments and is allocated strictly on a right-to-use basis for up to 30 years, with no transfer of ownership or sub-leasing permitted. Revenue sharing is contractually defined: 40% to provincial governments, 40% to infrastructure development, and 20% to research and development, ensuring reinvestment into public goods.
Since 2023, GPI has facilitated the establishment of 60 large-scale corporate farms, contracting 188,627 acres and bringing over 116,000 acres under cultivation for the first time—an unprecedented scale in Pakistan’s agricultural history.
The CEO of DayZee Farms Private Limited remarked: “Collaboration with GPI enables climate-smart agriculture and livestock development, improving productivity, conserving resources, creating rural employment, and strengthening Pakistan’s food security and economy.”
Another common misconception is that corporate agriculture sidelines small farmers. GPI’s model is explicitly farmer-integrative. Through Green Agri Malls and FFC Sona Centres, GPI has developed a nationwide service and market-access platform connecting farmers to quality inputs, finance, mechanisation, advisory services, and emerging buy-back mechanisms.
To date, 38 Green Agri Mall sites, 100 Sona Centres, and 144 Sona Stores are operational, sales have crossed Rs 2 billion, with a 78% repeat farmer engagement rate, and Rs 2.84 billion in agricultural loans have been extended for cooperative and smallholder farming. Capacity building is a core pillar of this integration. Over 6,000 agricultural and irrigation officers have been trained in Punjab, 380 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and more than 2,000 officers from ZTBL, FFC, 4Brothers, and Gilgit-Baltistan. Regular farmer seminars and workshops promote mechanisation, precision agriculture, and climate-resilient practices.
GPI’s Land Information & Management System (LIMS) supports this ecosystem by generating 3,500–4,000 daily farm-specific advisory reports on soil, water, crops, and pest management.
The CEO of Green Impex Farms added: “Through GPI, barren land has been converted into productive farms growing export-quality fodder, generating employment, and contributing directly to the national economy.”
Today, a combination of modern technology, infrastructure development, and farmer-focused support is rapidly changing the agricultural landscape. Muhammad Mansha, a local farmer, recalls how difficult it once was to work on such large tracts of land. “With old tractors and traditional tools, cultivating this area was almost impossible,” he says. “Now, modern machinery and drone technology have completely changed the way we work.”
Another farmer, Muhammad Shabbir Bhutto, highlights the importance of affordable agricultural inputs. He explains that the land had remained barren for decades, but access to quality seeds, fertilisers, and diesel at controlled prices has provided much-needed financial relief. “More than the savings, it has restored farmers’ confidence,” he says.
Improved infrastructure has been another key factor in the region’s transformation. Rana Abdul Qayyum, a resident of the area, notes that what was once a remote and difficult terrain now features wide roads and modern facilities. “This project is not only improving agriculture but also creating employment and changing the destiny of the entire region,” he says.
GPI has established strategic partnerships with China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and South Korea to accelerate technology transfer and capacity building. Key initiatives include high-efficiency water-saving demonstration centres, agricultural R&D collaborations, seed and irrigation manufacturing, cold storage integration for exports, carbon credit registration, and large-scale corporate farms in Cholistan and Bhakkar.
GPI’s investment architecture spanning Build-Operate-Transfer, Joint Venture, and Managed Investor models is governed by staged agreements, feasibility studies, and performance guarantees. Over Rs 30 billion has been committed by JV partners, with annual agricultural and allied economic activity exceeding Rs 100 billion.
Importantly, investments are tied to production and value addition, not speculative landholding. Export-oriented projects in aquaculture, fodder, and horticulture have already generated foreign exchange.
Chairman Tara Group Pakistan added: “Professional management, timely facilitation, and sound execution have enabled rapid progress despite local challenges. Strengthening water resources will further accelerate productivity and Pakistan’s green revolution.”
Beyond farming, GPI is driving long-overdue structural reforms: livestock transformation through IVF labs, tag-and-trace systems for 400,000 animals, and grassroots dairy development in 68 districts, seed sector reform via the Seed Amendment Act, establishment of NSDRA, approval of over 200 improved varieties, and delisting of non-performing entities, and human capital development with over 65,000 jobs created and employment of 500+ agriculture graduates.
The Green Pakistan Initiative is best judged by outcomes: land brought under cultivation, water conserved, farmers integrated, technology deployed, and food security strengthened. It represents a shift from fragmented interventions to institutional agriculture aligned with Pakistan’s climate, economic, and demographic realities.
As one expert summarised: “GPI is not an experiment; it is an operating system for modern agriculture in Pakistan.”
The writer earned her PhD in Agriculture from Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University, China.
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