ISLAMABAD: The population of donkeys in Pakistan during 2019-2020 has increased from 5.4 million to 5.5 million, the Pakistan Economic Survey released here on Thursday revealed.
According to the survey over the years, cattle population in Pakistan increased from 47.8 million to 49.6 million, buffalo population from 40 million to 41.2 million, sheep 30.9 million to 32.1 million, goats 76.1 million to 78.2 million, camels population remained stagnant at 1.1 million, horses at 0.4 million, asses population increased from 5.4 million to 5.5 million, and mules growth remained constant at 0.2 million.
The survey said livestock as subsector had surpassed the crop subsector as the biggest contributor to value addition in agriculture.
Presently, it contributes 60.6 percent to the overall agriculture and 11.7 percent to the GDP during 2019-2020.
Gross value addition of livestock has increased from Rs1.43 trillion (2018-2019) to Rs1.466 trillion (2019-2020), showing an increase of 2.5 percent over the same period last year.
The survey said livestock over the years had emerged as the largest sub-sector in agriculture.
It is a source of foreign exchange earnings and contributes about 3.1 percent in total exports.
More than eight million rural families are engaged in livestock production and deriving more than 35-40 percent of their income from this sector.
The government has now focused this sector for economic growth, food security and poverty alleviation in the country. The overall livestock development strategy revolves to foster "private sector-led development with public sector providing enabling environment through policy interventions".
The regulatory measures are aimed at improving per unit animal productivity by improving health coverage, management practices, animal breeding practices, artificial insemination services, use of balanced ration for animal feeding, and controlling livestock diseases of trade and economic importance.
The objective is to exploit the livestock sector and its potential for economic growth, food security and rural socio-economic uplift.