LAHORE: Import of dry milk is destroying local milk farmers, said University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Vice Chancellor Prof Talat Naseer Pasha.
The VC, in an exclusive talk with the state-owned news agency here, said that European Union was giving subsidy to their farmers to produce milk, that’s why their farmers were growing and they had acquired a strong position in milk production.
About the potential of agriculture and livestock sectors, Prof Pasha said that Pakistan is an agricultural country with world’s one of the best irrigation systems, fertile lands and all four seasons.
Agriculture sector contributes about one fourth to the country’s GDP and is believed to be the backbone of the rural economy, as it provides employment to 45 per cent workforce of the country, he added.
While livestock is an integral part of the agriculture sector, it contributes 55.1 per cent to the agricultural value added, and approximately 12 per cent to the national GDP, he said.
Responding to a question about the rise and fall of investment in the dairy sector, the VC said that milk is largely the single most commodity of the livestock sector and the value of milk alone exceeds combined value of wheat, rice, maize and sugarcane in the country.
More than 8 million farming families are associated with livestock sector and majority of them are small-holders and landless. This depicts the critical dependence of 40 to 50 million rural people on the livestock sector.
Selling milk for meeting day-to-day needs has become a visible phenomenon in the country during the last two decades and hence livestock farming has become vital in generating instant cash flows for the rural population.
Historically, majority of the livestock farming has been fragmented into small holders, as smaller herd size is 1-6 animals. As a result of various dairy development initiatives since 2005, tremendous improvement had been witnessed in dairy farming where commercial and corporate sector in dairy farming emerged. The country has seen phenomenal growth in investment in dairy farming during the last one decade.
The VC said that import of SMP&WP, according to the United Nations database, Pakistan imported 35 million kilograms of milk powder in 2012 worth $102.1 million, 22 million kilograms in 2013 worth $70.8 million and 34 million kilograms in 2014 worth $117 million.
At the same time, Pakistan imported 19.5 million kilograms, 18.3mkg and 20.2m kg of whey powder in 2012, 2013 and 2014 worth $13.4 million, $15 million and $16.9 million, respectively.
From 2007 onwards, there has been a shift in focus of Pakistani dairy processors from selling milk to selling recipe products made out of SMP&WP and vegetable fat etc. These products are generally called tea whiteners and dairy liquids.
According to estimation by dairy industry experts, in 2014, the share of recipe products (other than milk) in litre-age term has gone up to 59 percent in total sales while plain white milk is only 41 percent.