LAHORE: Dairy sector experts while expressing concern over only three percent of processed milk being marketed in the country out of the total production of 65 billion litres have called for developing the whole sector on scientific lines to ensure the provision of hygienically secured milk to the masses.
Pakistan is the third largest producer of milk in the world, according to government figures, but its resources are hugely untapped due to multiple reasons. “We have 97 million plus animals but the average milk yield of a cow is less than 14 litres per day as against the global standards of 30 litres,” said Zeeshanur Rub, the General Manager milk procurement unit of FrieslandCampina Engro (FCE) Pakistan while talking to a group of journalists on Tuesday.
He believed that billions of dollars could be earned by developing even one-third of the livestock sector on scientific lines.
Out of the total production, 35 percent is being sold as loose milk, 15 percent are the losses in this value chain and rest goes to the sweet markets and farmers’ retaining etc. Small farmers, he said, made 97 percent of the total market and there was a dire need to focus on them. Over 50 million people are directly linked to the dairy sector and their lives can be revolutionized if both the public and private sectors join hands to bring improvement to the sector, he claimed.
The delegation visited the company’s milk collection factory, collection units and dairy farms in Sahiwal where GM Quality Adnan Ishtiaq and Plant Manager Muhammad Ali also briefed about the entire operation and network of FSC.
Zeeshan said the deaths of over 0.7 million cattle in recent floods and Lumpy Skin Disease posed a major challenge to the sustainability of the existing milk market. Feed scarcity was feared to hit the cattle badly in Rabi season, particularly in Sindh, he said.
The Company launched Engro Foods in 2006 with the first production facility established in Sukkur entered into a partnership with a Dutch company in 2016 and is now working in collaboration with thousands of farmers in Punjab, Sindh and KP.
Besides the low milk yield, the sale of loose milk was the main hurdle in the progress of the dairy sector; he said, and added: “We have bigger herds even than the US but the milk production is far lower.”
Zeeshan regretted that the research to improve the calving circle and milk production was not done in the country for decades. The local breed of cows produced even less than half of the imported cows, he said, adding it was the primary reason the farmers prefer to keep the western breeds.
Adnan Ishtiaq said over 90 percent of the population in the country still relied on untreated loose milk. “Due to a lack of proper cold chains during supply, this loose milk often gets contaminated and becomes unhealthy for human consumption.”
“We conduct multiple tests at three stages to ensure the packing of healthy and hygienic milk for consumers. We are the biggest milk distributor in the country.” They said Pakistan has great potential to export value-added products made from milk.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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