The livestock sector has been performing well below its potential. Research has shown that overcoming the weaknesses of this sector can reduce income variability and provide better employment for women. Government of the Punjab will create a policy environment that helps farmers by smartly deploying public investments in core public goods and inducing private capital in the sector. To improve service delivery under this sector, Livestock and Dairy Development Department, Punjab is aimed at:
- Increasing per animal productivity, via a number of measures including genetic improvement, cross breeding and compliance to international standards
- Increasing the coverage and results of extension services
- Improving animal husbandry
- Improving regulation in livestock sector and focus on transformation of livestock business from subsistence to commercial ventures
- Developing and implementing a Livestock Export Strategy
- Providing nutritious food and improving the quality of semen
- Bringing livestock farmers into formal sector through collective services
- Adoption of modern techniques such as e-monitoring while encouraging farmers to use modern technology
- Adoption of revolving fund measures to decrease reliance on the ‘gawala’ system
The agriculture sector contributes 19.3% of GDP of Pakistan, which consumes 46% of direct workforce, coming from 67% of the population. Out of agriculture, the share of livestock sector is 60.6%. However, the headcount involved in both sectors is same as livestock and agriculture supplement each other in the rural landscape. Livestock’s value exceeds the combined value of all the major and minor crops by about 6.1%. The share of livestock products in the generation of foreign exchange is about 13%. More significantly, livestock is an integral part (30-40%) of livelihood of about 30 to 35 million rural farmers. Presently, the reported gross value addition of livestock stands at Rs. 1466 billion, whereas livestock share in export is 8.5%. Poultry sector is one of the most vibrant sub-sectors of the livestock. The current investment in poultry industry is more than Rs. 700 billion. This industry is progressing at an impressive growth rate of 8% per annum over last few years. Pakistan has become the 11th largest poultry producer in the world with the production of 1163 million broilers annually. This sector provides employment (direct/indirect) to over 1.5 million people.