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ENHANCING DAIRY SECTOR EXPORT COMPETITIVENESS IN PAKISTANcompletion and for the provision of high quality semen doses. 111 This initiative can potentiallylead to the export of semen doses as there is demand for indigenous breed in the internationalmarkets as per industry and governmental sources.Feed and Nutritional Management(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)Currently imported feed prices are quite low as compared to the ones locally produced.According to industry estimates, 1 kg of imported corn feed costs PKR 20 (USD 0.2) ascompared to local corn feed at PKR 30 (USD 0.2). This price difference makes a huge impacton the small-scale farmer. 112 Therefore the government should continue its policy of openingup imports of all required types of feed and zero-rate them as much as possible. 113To cater to the large domestic demand of animals feed and fodder and to decrease the price ofhigh quality concentrates produced locally, the government needs to encourage privateinvestment in this industry. There is high potential to earn profits by the private sector in silageproduction due to increased efficiency as even the government is earning profits on its silageproduction project. 114Simultaneously, the spreading of awareness amongst the farmers’ community is an importantaspect of making them realize the importance of providing nutritional values to the milchanimals and in order to get more production from them and therefore become commerciallyand economically better off. 115 The same can be ensured in the dairy hubs through theprovision of low-cost technology, silage production training and imparting relevant knowledgeto the opinion leaders and progressive-minded farmers in the villages. 116As value of land is very high, government may lease land on reasonable rates to farmersinterested in growing crop for fodder. Based on the huge gap in the demand and supply offeed, there is a very profitable opportunity for competition in the industry.A national strategy is required to be adopted where awareness programmes should belaunched for the farmers on the importance of food and nutrition according the Total MixedRation (TMR) technique. 117The root cause of lack of proper feed and nutrition and water supplies provided by small-scalefarmers is their unawareness of its impact on the animal welfare. These can only be overcomethrough model practises in the dairy hubs. For example, the acceptability of silage productionand provision was very low amongst the small-scale farmers, however, under the Dairy Hubconcept by Tetra Pak, when farmers were made aware of the nature of feed, methods of itsproduction, and consequential benefits of increasing their animals’ productivity motivated themto use silage instantly. In another incidence, when farmers were taught the importance ofkeeping their animals loose to reach available water sources on their own and as per theirnatural requirement, its adoption resulted in an instant increase in the milk productivity of theiranimals by 1 litre each. 118111 Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development Board (PLDDB) and Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT) would be required totake a proactive role in this aspect.112 According to government estimates, about 25 kg of silage is required to fulfil the daily dietary requirements of 1 mature milchanimal113 SMEDA114 The cost of production of 1 kg currently stands at PKR 5, while it is being priced at PKR 6.5 (Corn Silage) and PKR 7 (WheatSilage) to cater to the local farmers, especially when there is a shortage in local fodder production during the winter months. Thecosts do not include depreciation on the imported machinery and the profits are being reinvested into the project. (Source: PunjabLivestock and Dairy Development Board (PLDDB)115 Local farmers generally provide low cost wheat straw to their animals which has very low nutritive value and a subsequent negativeeffect on their productivity levels. (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, SMEDA and Punjab Livestock and DairyDevelopment Board, PLDDB)117TMR ensures that the daily feed quantity provided to the animal should be 3-3.5% of its weight to acquire maximum productivity.118 Solve Agri Pak (Private) Limited75
ENHANCING DAIRY SECTOR EXPORT COMPETITIVENESS IN PAKISTAN(vii)The animal health needs to be linked directly to public health and this concept has to beinculcated in the minds of the dairy farmers and producers to raise the significance of properveterinary care and animal welfare. If the concept can be streamlined into the generalveterinary policy of the country, the same can be used as an effective marketing tool in tradewith the partner countries. The cause needs to be championed by the Ministry of FoodSecurity and Research and the relevant provincial departments and needs to be projected tothe local farmers and consumers.Veterinary Support and Animal Health(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)National and provincial level government should activate its available infrastructure. There area number of animal healthcare hospitals in the country whose effectiveness is far below therequired levels. Human resource hiring policy for these hospitals and veterinary care centrehas to be ensured with preference to the local inhabitants so that their interest in posting attheir home stations should be used as a motivational tool to retain them for provision of qualityservice to the stakeholders.The extension workers and veterinary specialists posted at various divisions should becompensated against the level of their performance. This method would provide monetaryincentive to increase their veterinary outreach efforts. It is proposed that a bonus may beawarded to those officials having the lowest disease incidence rate in their respective hubs.Use of resources of local Panchayat and Daira 119 facilities of local village heads can be usedwhile appropriate trained personnel from within the local community can be posted asveterinary attendants under the supervision of the village heads. UC centres under thedivisional hub headquarters at union council levels should be established, which can monitorthe performance of these medical attendants and also can provide medicines to them. Thiseffort will greatly facilitate healthcare efforts in the farmers’ communities and enhance theoutreach to the nooks and corners of the country.As suggested above, there is urgent need to form veterinary training institutes and universitiesin the country to overcome the dearth of trained medical staff in the veterinary field. Thisrequires medium and long term strategy. The government should form veterinary academies inmajor Tehsils as a first step and afterwards may form colleges and universities to overcome ashortage of trained medical professionals. Again, a consortium of medium and large farmersas well as international agencies with the local governments would greatly facilitate this effort.Trade Potential of Dairy ProductsGenerating Exportable SurplusAs discussed above, whilst Pakistan is the fourth largest milk producer in the world, it has not been able touse its comparative advantage in the milk production to explore trade opportunities in this sector. Largelythe sector encounters issues relating to productivity, integration of value chain to produce value addeddairy products, awareness on enhancing productivity and healthcare, compliance to domestic regulationsand international standards, and above all generating exportable surplus that can earn better value formoney that the stakeholders put into the dairy and ancillary industries.The geographic dispersal of the milk producers and many other factors explained in the preceding sectionsmake the task difficult for the policy makers when it comes to the question of exporting milk and dairy119These are usually formed by the medium and large size farmers in their agricultural lands. These Dairasare also used as guesthouses for guests coming from outside. Storage of grains and other agriculture implements is also done here. Besides, in almost allDairas, the farmers also house certain animals including cows, bulls, dogs etc.76
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