IMPACT OF INCREASED INCOME ON THEHOUSING,HEALTH AND
EDUCATIONFACILITIESOF FARMING COMMUNITIES
SumeraTul Hassan
ABSTRACT
The major focus of this study was to determine the Impact of Socio-economic
characteristics of farmers on the adoption of agricultural technologies in Gujranwala, Sialkot and
Hafizabad Districts. A structural interview schedule was used to collect data from the
respondents. The data was analyzed to compute significance among adopters and non-adopters
of agricultural technologies. The major finding of this study was that education and farm size
significantly affect the adoption of most of the improved technologies while age and family size
were not significantly related to adoption. The percentage of adopters was lowest among
illiterate ones, increased as the level of education increased and reached maximum when
education level was intermediate. Similarly the adoption rate of technologies increased with the
farm size, reached maximum among the respondents having 16-20 acres and remained more or
less the same when size of farm further increased.
INTRODUCTION
Agriculture is the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy. It contributes 21% to the GDP,
accommodates more than 45% of country’s labor force. It is a major source of foreign
exchange earnings and provides raw material to agro based industries. About 62% of the
population lives in rural areas and depend directly or indirectly upon agriculture for their
livelihood (Govt. of Pakistan, 2011). Hence, the economic growth and welfare of the
country is dependent on the development of agriculture sector. The development of this
sector is the priority of policies of the country and it would remain in the pivotal position in
the future. Currently the population of Pakistan is estimated as 177 million. With a growth
rate of 2.05% per annum, the economic managers of the country have estimated that by2030
the population will reach 242 million (Govt. of Pakistan, 2011). With...