IMPACT OF MAJOR FARM INPUTS ON TOBACCO PRODUCTIVITY IN PAKISTAN: AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS (1960-2006)

The study conducted during 2008 evaluates the impact of area under tobacco crop and fertilizer off-take on its productivity in Pakistan during 1960-2006 using econometric techniques. The findings revealed that one-hectare increase in area under tobacco cultivation brings 2.47 tonnes increase in total tobacco production. 1% increase in the fertilizer off-take leads to increase tobacco production by 0.05 tones. The coefficients of the explanatory variables are statistically significant at both 5% and 1% level of significance. Due to high value of the coefficient of area under tobacco crop, it is recommended that the government should bring more and more area under tobacco cultivation in the country. Distribution of the fertilizer should be properly managed.