03 May 2004	Monday	12 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

The horse and cattle shows, organized to boost the agrarian economy of Punjab, are traditional components of provincial rural populations. These are arranged to sustain animal wealth and encourage farmers to breed and maintain those animals which provide us with poultry, milk and meat , thereby, endowing additional income to the farming community whose returns from the land produce have been depleting over the years.

Cultivation of most crops has become uneconomical as input costs are continuously escalating with incomparable increase in crop price. Moreover, farmers are deprived of their due profits because of the middlemen who take the cream away.

Combining birds and animals with agriculture is a time-honoured practice determined by the farmers' need to augment their financial resources and obtain quality food for themselves and their families.

Lately, the farmers have been forced to lean heavily on poultry and livestock because of reduced returns from their crops. They take pride in their livestock while their communities admire those possessing high-yield animals. This, along with adding to their incomes, also enhances their social status in a segment that places premium on productivity.

For centuries, one or the other version of horse and cattle show has been a vehicle for the promotion of livestock along with rewarding breeders for quality poultry and livestock flocks. Main players in these shows are cows and buffaloes.

Such shows are being regularly held at district/division levels which became a manifestation of rural culture and economy for the urban population of Punjab by the end of the fifties. There have been discontinuations in holding the 'Annual Horse and Cattle Show' in Punjab, and the one organized in February this year took place after a lapse of eight years.

A closed window was thus reopened and breeders were again accorded an opportunity to introduce and publicize their livestock assets and their achievements. Statistics provide a fair idea of livestock's worth.

It counts for 39 per cent of the income from the agriculture sector and provides 9.4 per cent of the country's total annual produce. Their contribution to exports was placed at Rs51.5 billion or 11.4 per cent in 2001-02.

Practically, the entire rural population is linked with the poultry and livestock but roughly 30 to 35 per cent is wholly dependent on birds and animals. People placed low in the economic structure of the rural society earn 30 to 40 of their income by breeding sheep, goat, cows and buffaloes.

The show in Lahore in February was the right move but support for the sector needs to be strengthening. For instance, the top prize for the highest milk yielding buffalo was Rs400,000.

This is not a small amount but the categories and number of winners should be expanded. Incentives need to be offered to generate enhanced interest among breeders.

Breeders' foremost problem is marketing the milk, a highly perishable item. The Punjab's Department of Dairy Development and Livestock is collaborating with the Idara Kisan (IK), a non-profit organization active in the procurement and marketing of milk to ensure fair rates.

Their efforts now cover 13 districts in Punjab and reports inform that the move has improved the price of milk per litre by one to two rupees. The breeders now have a firm and reliable market in these areas and are free from the fear of exploitation by contractors or wastage of their produce.

The impact of the IK has been tremendous. A regular and reliable market lacing premium on quality, that is, high fat content, has been instrumental in greater attention by breeders on the feed, veterinary care and other requirements of their stock with the result that the yield from many animals has increased.

Breeders are benefiting from this initiative in other ways, also. They are receiving help for fodder crops, animal feed, veterinary cover for stocks, artificial insemination to add to elite animals, social sector facilities like population planning, child-care, adult education, free treatment for poultry and other areas where breeders need assistance and guidance.

This is a welcome development for a largely neglected sector and one hopes that the intervention is consolidated and institutionalized, not abandoned midway like many other policies of the government when officials or administrations change and the new set of sector leaders start indulging in experimentation.

Higher milk yield is indeed a notable aspect of the milk sector. According to an expert, yield per animal has gone up from 700 litres per year to 1,200 litres in the last six to seven years. This is significant in more than one way and opens the door of success wide for the livestock sector as also for national economy.

On the one hand, it informs that the dangerous trend of adding to the number of animals has been curbed by the realization that obtaining more milk from fewer animals is a profitable proposition and, on the other, it releases land and crops for use for building food security for the populace.

The result of this change is not yet concretely on view at this point in time but if the pattern builds a momentum, benefits could be of far reaching nature. Higher livestock population places pressure on resources that are needed by the people of Pakistan (though this does not imply that efforts to control population can be abandoned).

Livestock is vast sector whose full potential is still far from exploited. Support for the sector can be vital for countering poverty. Hopefully, the current policies would continue to be followed and more initiatives would be taken to ensure that the breeders get a better and more equitable deal and are given the right opportunities for improving their own lot and making contribution to the national economy that is within them but has been unfortunately denied so far. The sure way of doing that is holding horse and cattle shows for encouraging and rewarding breeders.