According to the government of Pakistan, the agriculture sector demonstrated resilience during FY2025-26, reflecting the impact of continued strategy support and timely initiatives by the federal and provincial governments. Recovery in the crop sub-sector, sustained growth in livestock, enhanced availability of key inputs, and targeted support measures assisted the sector maintain momentum despite pressures from climate variability, floods, water stress, input costs, and market situations. Improved performance of major crops, mainly wheat, rice, and sugarcane, supported overall growth, while other crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries also contributed positively. For promotion of agricultural financing, some of the major initiatives taken by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in collaboration with federal and provincial governments are as follows:
a) PM’s Youth Business and Agriculture Loan Scheme (PMYB&ALS):
The first successfully completed, with banks attaining 100 percent of their assigned targets. In FY2025, 20 banks disbursed Rs 32 billion to young agriculture entrepreneurs under the scheme. For FY2026, 21 banks were assigned a higher agricultural financing limit of Rs 65 billion under PMYB&ALS. During Jul-March FY 2026, the banks have disbursed Rs 40 billion to agriculture sector under the scheme.
b) Implementation of Electronic Warehouse Receipt Financing (EWRF):
To reduce post-harvest losses and stabilize prices, SBP introduced EWRF in 2022, enabling farmers, traders, and processors to store produce in accredited warehouses and access bank financing against stored commodities. During July-March FY 2026, the number of accredited warehouses grew to 35, with a combined storage capacity of almost 380,000 metric tons. During the same period, the banks extended financing of Rs 3.0 billion to 507 farmers through EWRF.
c) Adoption of Digital Land Records for Agriculture Financing:
Efforts for adoption of digital land record systems are underway in all provinces of Pakistan. In Punjab province, 30 banks are integrated with Punjab Land Records Authority (PLRA) and using Land Record Management Information system for processing of agriculture financing. During July-December FY2026, 70,347 fards were generated by bank users and 25,291 charge creation cases were processed using PLRA’s system. Other provinces and regions, like Sindh, KPK, Balochistan, AJK and GB are also on various stages of digitizing land records.
d) Revised Crop Loan Insurance Scheme Plus (CLIS+):
To strengthen the resilience of the agriculture sector and provide enhanced risk protection to farmers against climate induced shocks, the SBP, in collaboration with the government, SECP, ADB, Insurance Association of Pakistan (IAP), and SUPARCO, launched the revised Crop Loan Insurance Scheme Plus (CLIS+) on April 20, 2026.
The upgraded scheme expands the scope and effectiveness of risk coverage by including;
- Potato as a notified crop,
- Establishing a co-insurance consortium to enhance claim-paying capacity,
- Introducing technology-based calamity assessment through SUPARCO for greater efficiency and transparency, and
- Providing one-time income loss support of Rs. 15,000 for male farmers and Rs 17,500 for female farmers, along with enhanced personal accident coverage of Rs 250,000 for male and Rs 275,000 for female farmers.
The government of Pakistan during FY2025, reimbursed premium claims amounting to Rs 400 million each under CLIS and LISB. During July-March FY2026, the government reimbursed premium claims amounting to Rs 200 million under CLIS and Rs 140 million under LISB.
e) Risk Coverage Scheme for Small Farmers & Underserved Areas:
In August 2025, SBP, in collaboration with the Government introduced a comprehensive ‘Risk Coverage Scheme for Small Farmers & Underserved Areas’. The scheme provides first-loss risk coverage of up to 10 percent to banks for lending to small farmers. The scheme also offers a subsidy of Rs 10,000 per borrower to banks, to the extent of the net increase in number of borrowers each year, in order to help meet the operational costs of on boarding new borrowers. The scheme will remain valid for three years (FY2026-FY2028), during which, disbursements of Rs 100 billion per year are expected, along with addition of 250,000 new borrowers yearly. Thus, a cumulative disbursement of Rs 300 billion and 750,000 new borrowers is anticipated over the scheme’s duration.
| Disbursement To Farm & Non-Farm Sectors In Pakistan (Rs billion) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sector (Land Holding/Farm size) | FY 2025 (July-March) | FY 2026 (July-March) | % Growth over the Period | ||
| Disbursement | % Share in Total | Disbursement | % Share in Total | ||
| A Farm Sector | 1,031.62 | 54.86 | 1,193.92 | 55.23 | 15.73 |
| i Subsistence Holding | 391.72 | 20.83 | 554.66 | 25.66 | 41.60 |
| ii Economic Holding | 120.78 | 6.42 | 170.06 | 7.87 | 40.81 |
| iii Above Eco. Holding | 519.12 | 27.61 | 469.20 | 21.71 | -9.62 |
| B Non-Farm Sector | 848.80 | 45.14 | 967.72 | 44.77 | 14.01 |
| i Small Farms | 217.39 | 11.56 | 319.93 | 14.80 | 47.17 |
| ii Large Farms | 631.41 | 33.58 | 647.79 | 29.97 | 2.59 |
| Total (A+B) | 1,880.42 | 100.00 | 2,161.64 | 100.00 | 14.96 |