Data on crop production are assembled for four provinces - Punjab, Sindh, North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan - for the period from 1980/81 to 2005/06 to examine inter-provincial differences in productivity growth rates. Propositions are put forward and examined to explain the superior productivity performance of Punjabi crop producers over those in Sindh and North-West Frontier Province, and the unusual productivity trends in Balochistan. The major factors relate to economic infrastructure and human capital. The impact of agricultural research is difficult to discern, and further work is required to assess the lagged effects of research expenditures on TFP growth.

Data on livestock production for four provinces of Pakistan, namely Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) and Balochistan, for the period 1980-81 to 2008-09 were used to examine inter-provincial productivity growth rates. It was noted that the types of livestock products across the provinces are not similar, e.g. livestock is kept mainly for milk purpose in Punjab and Sindh, while in KP and Balochistan it is reared generally for meat. Total factor Productivity (TFP) estimates for livestock are lower than those for crops (Ellahi et al., 2010). Further, KP scored the highest estimate of 0.98% growth in TFP per annum showing its better efficiency than others. Major determinant causing divergence in the growth of livestock TFP is road development, impacting positively in Punjab and Sindh, and opposite of this for KP and Balochistan due to difference in the type of services required. The effect of water resource development has a negative impact on livestock TFP, except for water-scarce Balochistan. The coefficient estimates for animal treatment and vaccination for various provinces are mostly negligible, except partially for Balochistan.