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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal launched the findings of the 7th Agricultural Census 2024 on Wednesday, showing a marked increase in the country’s population of livestock, agriculture farm households and cultivated area, state media reported. 

Pakistan conducts its agricultural census every 10 years, with authorities conducting the last one in 2010. The main purpose of the census is to provide information about the agrarian structure of the country for baseline data for food security and better livelihood of the population, and to share estimates for the population of livestock. 

As per the findings of the census launched by Iqbal, Pakistan’s agriculture farm households have risen to 11.7 million households in 2024 from 8.3 million in 2010.

“As per the 7th Agricultural Census 2024 data, livestock increased to 251.3 million in 2024 from 143 million in 2006 with the growth of 3.18 percent per annum,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

The broadcaster said Pakistan’s cultivated area increased from 42.6 million acres in 2010 to 52.8 million acres in 2024, adding that 79 percent of the cultivated area in the country is irrigated by canals and tube wells. 

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Iqbal said agriculture remains the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, noting that it contributes significantly to the country’s GDP, exports and employment. 

“He commended the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics for introducing innovation, transparency, and precision in data collection, which is vital in planning for the country’s economic growth and prosperity,” Radio Pakistan said. 

Agriculture constitutes the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy, as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), with the majority of the country’s population, directly or indirectly, depending on it.

As per the PBS, agriculture contributes about 24 percent to the GDP and accounts for half of Pakistan’s employed labor force. It is also the largest source of foreign exchange earnings.

PESHAWAR: Pakistan has started to deport documented Afghan refugees ahead of its deadline for them to leave, according to the United Nations, in a move that could see more than one million Afghans expelled from the country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that it had received reports of arrests and expulsions of legally registered Afghans across the country before Pakistan’s September 1 deadline for them to leave.

The UNHCR said that sending the Afghans back in this way was a breach of Pakistan’s international obligations.

“UNHCR is calling on the government to stop the forcible return and adopt a humane approach to ensure voluntary, gradual, and dignified return of Afghans,” it said in a statement.

The voluntary return of the documented refugees shall commence forthwith, said a Pakistan’s interior ministry order seen by Reuters. It said the formal deportation process will start after the deadline.

But Qaisar Khan Afridi, a spokesman for the UNHCR, told Reuters on Wednesday that hundreds of legally registered Afghan refugees had already been detained and deported to Afghanistan from August 1 to August 4.

The interior ministry did not respond a Reuters request for a comment.

More than 1.3 million Afghans hold documentation known as Proof of Registration cards, while 750,000 more have another form of registration known as an Afghan Citizen Card.

Many Afghans have been settled in Pakistan since the 1980s, to escape cycles of war in Afghanistan.

“Such massive and hasty return could jeopardize the lives and freedom of Afghan refugees, while also risking instability not only in Afghanistan but across the region,” UNHRC said.

Pakistani authorities have said that Islamabad wants all Afghan nationals to leave except for those who have valid visas.

The repatriation drive by Pakistan is part of a campaign called the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan launched in late 2023.

Pakistan has in the past blamed militant attacks and crimes on Afghan citizens, who form the largest migrant group in the country. Afghanistan has rejected the accusations, and has termed the repatriations as forced deportation.

In addition to the repatriation from Pakistan, Afghanistan also faces a fresh wave of mass deportations from Iran.

Aid groups worry that the influx risks further destabilising the country.