'Productivity of livestock sector low'

Productivity of the livestock sector in Pakistan is low compared with international markers, in terms of both meat and milk output. However, given the wide participation of small operators, developing this sector could provide an important source of increased incomes for a substantial part of the rural population, says 'strategy for accelerating economic growth and improving service delivery' prepared by the Planning and Development Board of the Punjab.
According to the strategy Pakistan's livestock population, estimated at 125 million in 2006, was one of the largest in the world. Punjab had 52 percent of the total livestock population of Pakistan in 2006. Livestock population was divided roughly equally between small and large ruminants and was growing at about 4 percent per annum.
Almost 75 percent of the Punjab's population was involved in the livestock sector-this was not surprising, as small ruminants and other animals form part of rural households' food basket, provide a cushion in case of crop failures, and can be sold to meet emergency expenditures.
The sector was dominated by small operators; in 2006, over 90 percent of those involved possessed less than four animals, and only 5 percent of the operators owned more than 100 animals.
Productivity of the livestock sector was low compared with international markers, in terms of both meat and milk output. However, given the wide participation of small operators, developing this sector could provide an important source of increased incomes for a substantial part of the rural population.
Failure to adequately develop the livestock sector rests on a combination of financial and governance issues. On the financial side, more investment was needed in this sector. On the institutional and governance sides, the province had been slow to create collection centres for milk for delivery to urban areas, to set up marketing chains, to conduct adequate research in to the improvement of breeds, to move towards market-determined prices that would provide incentives for the growth of the sector, to set standards for health and quality (both of animals and of output), and to develop public-private partnerships for the development of this very large and potentially very profitable sector.
The strategy while discussing the measures to improve the livestock sector suggests that to enhance meat production, the government was drawing up a programme that will emphasise on induction of beef breeds and improvement of local animals, promotion of a programme to save calves that were being slaughtered in the first month of their lives, modernisation of slaughterhouses, provision of storage facilities and improvement of cattle markets.
It said that the government would also take measures to boost milk production. The strategy entails building up a dairy supply chain on a co-operative basis; developing a private sector led animal feed industry; facilitating commercial farming and encouraging genetic improvement.