Livestock plays an important role in national economy as it contributes 38 percent to agriculture GDP and makes up 12 percent of the total exports of the country.
Livestock has been raised mainly by small and landless farmers and more than 35 million people in Pakistan are involved in livestock related activities in Pakistan.
Thus livestock production provides the best opportunity to alleviate poverty in the country, official sources told APP here on Saturday.
Pakistan is endowed with a large livestock population, well-adopted to the local environmental conditions. We have some of the best dairy breeds of the tropics.
Pakistan has 2 buffalo breeds, 1 cattle breeds, 24 sheep breeds and 28 goat breeds. This wide genetic potential provides a lot of challenges but at the same time, great opportunities for the improvement of production potentials of these animals, adding he said, with world attention being focussed on utilisation and conservation of indigenous genetic resources. Improvement in genetic potential of the local breeds is the key to enhance livestock productivity in Pakistan. Unlike nutrition and disease control, improvement in genetic potential is permanent change, which is transmitted from one generation to the next. Thus the research in breeding and improving genetic potential of the animal will be real service to the poor.
National Agricultural Research System in Pakistan is very complex consisting of federal, provincial and academic institutions and coordination is the key to success avoiding duplications and learning from each other's experience.