Milk sector needs infrastructure improvement

Despite being an agrarian economy, Pakistan lacks the essential infrastructure that is needed for safe storage and transportation of farm produce. Since almost all of the agriculture produce is perishable the unavailability of infrastructure results in heavy losses. Apart from this, poor research facilities, technological backwardness and lack of processing facilities have resulted in Pakistan generating very few jobs and adding almost no value to its agriculture produce. A substantial proportion of the total milk production in the country is lost due to such infrastructural constraints. According to the Livestock and Dairy Development Board (LDDB), 20 percent of the current milk production is lost due to poor infrastructure. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2010-11, the gross milk production of Pakistan in FY11 stood at 46.4 million tons. This huge amount makes Pakistan the fourth largest milk producer of the world; however, its share in the global milk market is negligible. Similarly, no Pakistani company has emerged internationally with dairy product offerings. Industry members believe the reason behind this negligible share is that Pakistan lacks processing facilities. According to LDDB only three percent of the milk produced in Pakistan is processed. Whereas most of the produce is collected by using primitive collection methods and most of the transport is done by "Gawalas". Despite being amongst the top milk producers none of the Pakistani milk processing companies is ranked amongst the worlds largest milk processors. The 2011 edition of the World Dairy Map released by the International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN) ranks Indias Amul as the 18th biggest milk processor. "Amul" sets the best example for Pakistan. The cooperative dairy system of Amul is highly integrated as it uses an automated milk collection system that avoids manual testing, accounting and manual disbursement to milk collectors. Amul also has a breeding centre, 36 veterinary centres and chilling plants that help curtail milk losses. The company produces milk, flavoured milk, chocolate, cheese, butter and a lot of other milk products. Livestock accounts for more than 10 percent of Pakistans GDP and milk constitutes more than 50 percent of this sector. What adds to livestocks significance is the fact that among the rural population 35-40 million people are dependent on it. The sector holds immense potential for growth. However, infrastructure development must be initiated by the government.