FEEDING an estimated 185 million population of livestock is a big challenge for Pakistan. Given the fact that the contribution of livestock in the country’s GDP is higher than that of large-scale manufacturing, livestock feeding cannot be taken lightly.

Fodder crops and food crops residues meet about 55pc of livestock feeding, officials of Ministry of National Food Security and Research say.

The remaining 45pc requirement is met through a number of sources, including forage and open-field grazing, by-products of cereals, post-harvest leftovers of food crops like roots and stalks, oilcakes, prepared animal food, animal protein etc.

The industry, unlike other segments of agriculture and livestock, gets little attention of the government and remains dependent on the private-sector investment

Fodder production has been on the decline for years because of several reasons: farmers are switching over to more profitable food or non-food crops, the area under cultivation of fodder crops is being used for growing other crops or for livestock breeding and for rural industries or expansion in village settlements, etc. The situation demands some serious reflections on how to achieve a balance between competing needs of various segments of the rural economy.

On the other hand, domestic demand for value-added dairy and livestock products is also increasing, and so is the need for boosting exports of such products to get out of growing food trade deficit.

At the same time, the development of animal food industry is in its infancy. Even if it grows fast with the help of local or foreign investments, which is becoming quite a possibility, we will still need fodder crops to meet its raw material requirements. The reason is that fodder food maximises the nutritional value of fodder crops and other ingredients, but it cannot and does not eliminate the need for fodder crops altogether.

The share of the livestock sector in GDP is 11.6pc, which is higher than that of large-scale manufacturing (10.7pc). Therefore, a fast and qualitative boost in livestock population can accelerate GDP growth. But shortage of fodder crops is a big constraint.

The output of fodder crops need to be enhanced more through higher yield than by growing them on larger areas of land because arable land is limited and growing key food crops (such as rice, wheat, maize and sugarcane) is a must for feeding the 208m Pakistanis as well as for exports.

The area under cultivation of cotton, oilseed, pulses and vegetable crops also cannot be compromised for obvious reasons: cotton is the mainstay of our textile sector and hence the largest forex earner, oilseed and pulses output has to be increased to cut import bills, and vegetable output needs constant growth both for local consumption as well as for export earnings.

Keeping all this is in mind, both federal and provincial authorities have been trying for some years, often with foreign financial and technical assistance, to boost fodder crops with focus on increasing their per-hectare yield rather than by just cultivating them on larger areas of land.

Sadly though, the results have not been very encouraging on the national scale despite limited gains in some particular districts in one province or the other.

Final data of national fodder output for the last two fiscal years has yet to be published, but production stats for 2010-11 to 2014-15 fiscal years show a declining trend.

Officials of the food ministry say the estimated output for 2015-16 and 2016-17 is slightly above 22m tonnes, but still lower than the five-year average output of 22.6m tonnes recorded between 2005-06 and 2009-10.

There is, therefore, an urgent need for developing improved fodder crop varieties to boost their production. In 2014, the National Agricultural Research Centre (Narc) developed two hybrid fodder crop seeds — Narc-hybrid 2 and Narc-hybrid 4 — under a dedicated fodder research programme. Food ministry officials say that both varieties have since been doing well and led to higher per-hectare yields.

In Pakistan, sorghum, millet, guar and maize, berseem, lucene, shaftal and oilseed rape and mustard are some of the main fodder crops. The above-named two hybrid fodder crops and some SS hybrid varieties, both old and new, are also grown on a limited scale.

Two other fodder crops, also categorised as SS hybrid and developed by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and approved for commercial cultivation in 2015, are also said to be doing well, officials say. The PARC had developed and tested these two varieties in pilot projects before finding them feasible for large-scale cultivation.

The council is providing the seeds of these fodder crops at special rates to growers. Both hybrid varieties were obtained through experiments on the sorghum Sudan grass and were accordingly categorised into an existing head of SS hybrid fodder crops. SS hybrid fodder varieties give higher per-hectare yield and can also be grown even in not-so-friendly climatic conditions, officials say.

Low production of fodder crops is also impacting negatively on the development of animal feed industry. Currently, more than 200 animal feed mills are operating in the country, but only some of them are producing compound feed for livestock.

Apart from fodder crops, food crop residues make up the bulk of raw material for this industry. But as efforts to cut post-harvest crop losses gain momentum, crop residues for making animal feed may also decline.

Low availability of oilseeds and other sources of animal food enrichment also hurt this industry. Industry sources lament that unlike other segments of agriculture and livestock, this industry gets little attention of the government and remains dependent on the private-sector investment.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 20th, 2017