Milk: Pakistan
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Milk
Untapped potential
Pakistan, despite having a huge potential for dairy sector development and registering an increase in total milk production over the years, has failed to meet the needs of the growing population. Along with the widening gap between demand and supply, two major public concerns are — rising cost of milk and its quality. There is no quality check at any level of milk production in the public sector, writes Faiza Ilyas
Over the years, successive governments have spent billions of rupees to alleviate poverty. Yet, little seems to have changed on the ground. One such neglected sector with a huge productivity potential in the country is livestock.
This sector contributes almost 50 per cent to the value addition in the agriculture sector, and almost 11 per cent to Pakistan’s GDP, which is higher than the contribution made by the crop sector (47.4 per cent in agriculture and 10.3 per cent in GDP). Foreign earnings of the livestock sector exceed Rs35 billion annually.
According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan, about 30 to 35 million rural population of the country is engaged in this sector for livelihood. The total number of livestock in 2005-06 was 136.5 million.
Within the livestock sector, milk is the largest and the single most important commodity and the total value of milk produced is higher than the value of two major crops, i.e. wheat and cotton. Despite decades of neglect, Pakistan is the fifth largest milk producer in the world. Punjab has the largest share, followed by Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan.
Pakistan produced 31.3 million tonnes of milk during 2005-06. Out of the total milk produced, 68 per cent is contributed by buffaloes, 27 per cent by cows and the remaining five per cent by sheep, goats and camels. This significant contribution in milk production makes buffalo, often called the black gold or black jewel of Pakistan, an important animal. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has termed buffalo as important but ‘an undervalued asset.’
M. Q. Bilal, M. Suleman and A. Raziq from the Department of Livestock Management, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, in their research, Buffalo: Black Gold of Pakistan write that Asian buffaloes hold the greatest promise and potential for production and Pakistan is fortunate that it has the best milch buffaloes in the world. There is considerable genetic variation, which could be judiciously exploited by selective breeding for higher variation.
Some breeds of Nili Ravi, the best breed at national and international levels in term of production capacity, have the potential of giving over 5,000 litres of milk per lactation through efficient breeding, feeding and healthcare programmes (average milk yield per lactation is 2,430 litres).
However, this is not to undermine the importance of milk production of other domesticated animals. In Balochistan, for instance, cows, sheep, goats and camels play a vital role in livestock farming and 70 to 80 per cent people are directly or indirectly involved in this business.
From a national perspective, Pakistan, despite having a huge potential for dairy sector development and registering an increase in total milk production over the years, is failing to meet the needs of the growing population. Along with the widening gap between demand and supply, two major public concerns are: rising cost of milk and its quality. There is no quality check at any level of milk production in the public sector.
Besides, livestock experts argue that the increase in milk produced is not due to improvement in per animal production, but rather due to the increase in total number of milk producing animals over the years and partially due to the adoption of modern husbandry practices by farmers on a very limited scale. Otherwise, our average annual milk production is far below the world average.
“The productivity is 1,333 litres per animal in our country whereas in the developed world it is 6,000 litres per animal. The growth demand is increasing by six to seven per cent while the supply is increasing by 3.2 per cent per annum; therefore you see imported milk. Livestock is a means of sustenance for the poorest of the poor and there are areas like Thar where 90 per cent of the people are involved in this business. In most of the areas, the major problem is marketing of produce,” says Mahmood Nawaz Shah, General Secretary, Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB).
He claims that about 16 million tonnes of milk out of the total produce is ‘wasted’ in the sense that there is no organised system for collection and marketing of milk in the country. Other problems include poor feed, lack of veterinary cover and shortage of water.
Though urban dairy colonies like the one in Landhi, Karachi, are fulfilling the needs of millions of people, they have a share of only two per cent in national milk production. The backbone of the dairy sector are the rural dairy farmers and they can be divided into three categories; small subsistence farmers with three to four buffaloes, market-oriented farmers with 30 to 40 animals and commercial farmers. Small farmers, about eight million in the country, have a share of 70 per cent of the total milk produce. Over one million of these farmers are landless and own 80 per cent of the animals.
“All over the country these small farmers have almost no livestock extension services. They are exploited by milk collectors, have no credit facilities and training opportunities, especially for women. Since they lack resources to get better feed and fodder, animal health suffers and consequently milk production is on the lower side. Their plight needs to be highlighted,” says Dr Haleem ul Husnain, head of Pakistan Livestock Foundation who has also worked with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN, Pakistan Agriculture and Research Council (PARC), Punjab Livestock Board and Sindh Milk Board.
He feels livestock farming is the most effective tool in poverty alleviation and rural development. It would also empower rural women who are involved in all aspects of animal care and milk production, except marketing of large animals.
“Livestock farming can transform rural life and there are lessons to learn from Amul, a dairy farmers’ cooperative in India. Though the cooperative system couldn’t take off in our country for many reasons, there is one organisation working on similar lines in the Punjab whose model can be replicated in other villages,” he says.
The only farmer's cooperative society in the country, Idara-e-Kissan operates in 500 villages along the river Ravi. It purchases milk from farmers and sells it in urban markets. Farmers are entitled to six-month free of cost animal husbandry services if they supply 300 litres of milk for six months to the society which has 22,000 associate members.
Commenting on how to increase milk production, Dr Mohammad Younus, Chairman Livestock Department, Faisalabad Agriculture University, and Dr Husnain feel that the genetic potential of animals needs to be tested. There has been no work on genetic breeding, they say, and observe that this area needs extensive investment.
“Instead of importing animals from Australia and other countries, some of whom have reportedly died in Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur, the government should invest in genetic improvement and preservation of local breeds. Over the years, a serious shortage of good quality bulls has been created because they are considered uneconomical and are slaughtered,” Dr Husnain maintains.
In this respect, Dr Younus gives the example of the Sahiwal cow that has become an endangered breed in the country today due to neglect. “It’s the best milch breed in the country,” he claims and adds, “we used to export it, but today the pure breed can only be found at some private farms. Its population has reduced from 1.17 million in 1996 to 140,000 in 2004,” he says.
Dr Husnain thinks that the government needs to focus upon small subsistence farmers whose animals graze in open fields and they don’t incur any labour or feeding costs. But, these poor farmers are being exploited by middlemen who get an exorbitantly high price for milk in the market and give farmers virtually nothing.
Criticising the government’s ‘liberal’ policy towards Tetra Pak milk companies, he says that these companies buy milk at Rs15 to 17 per litre from the rural areas and after skimming three per cent of the fat, processing and packaging, sell it for Rs42 per litre, while sellers of fresh milk are asked to follow the fixed price, without any regard to the cost of production. The total share of Tetra Pak companies in milk production is not more than five per cent.
Dr Younus stresses the need to establish feedlots and salvage farming in places where cattle colonies are established. He uses the term milk producer rather than dairy farmer for people working at these colonies on the grounds that they don’t have the facility for animal grazing to raise cattle or keep animals during dry period. “Their problems are quite different from those in the villages,” he says.
In these colonies, one alarming factor is the slaughter of newly-born calves and of animals as soon as they go dry. “The productive life of a buffalo is 10 years, but at Landhi’s cattle colony, farmers sell their animals for slaughter as soon as they go dry, often after their first lactation. There was a time when some trains had bogies reserved to transport these animals to villages where they regain strength and become productive again. This service was later suspended,” observes Jamil Memon who owns 7,000 animals along the Super Highway.
According to him, this depletion of cattle is a huge loss and is responsible for increase in milk prices as the price of animals are also increasing along with the cost of feed and fodder in Karachi.
Realising the significance of livestock in the national economy, the government has set up Livestock and Dairy Development Board (LDDB) and Dairy Development Company in recent years. Dr Mohammad Afzal, head of LDDB, admits that the collection and marketing of milk from small farmers is a major issue in Pakistan and there is a need to empower them so that they get a fair price for their produce.
“The government has launched many dairy sector programmes and if support remained consistent for 10 to 12 years, there would be a major change in the milk production scenario. A project has already been initiated in Punjab for artificial insemination and genetic improvement that would be extended to Sindh. Besides that, the government plans to introduce milk collection centres for landless farmers and establish feedlots. It also plans to hand over slaughter houses to the private sector for proper management,” he says, adding that there is a dire need to educate the farmers, too, about proper animal care practices.
