LAHORE, Sept 22: The field operation (enumeration) of the first phase of the Livestock Census has begun in 20 districts of the country, it is learnt. Officials told Dawn on Thursday the two-month census enumeration work would be carried out in the 11 selected districts of Punjab and 10 Sindh districts and would be completed by the end of October this year.

The Punjab districts where the census would be conducted are Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Cholistan, Rahim Yar Khan, Khanewal, Lodhran, Vehari, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Kasur and Okara, while the Sindh districts are Khairpur, Naushero Feroze, Nawabshah, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allah Yar, Thatta, Sanghar, Umerkot, Tharparkar and Badin.

The field operation in other parts of the country would be completed by the end of July 2006 by the Agriculture Census Organization (ACO) of the Statistics Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, officials said.

“The census is based on sampling in the districts whereas complete enumeration will be carried out in Greater Cholistan and Tharparker because livestock moves to the desert for grazing after summer rains from Cholistan area in the Punjab, to Tharparkar and its all adjoining districts in Sindh,” they said.

“Primarily, the census covers the head count of commercially important livestock — cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats — by sex, breed and age groups, besides the head count of horses, mules, donkeys and camels by sex and age groups.

“Two separate surveys on milk production, especially in the far-flung rural areas of Sindh and Punjab, and the number of animals slaughtered will be conducted simultaneously with the census,” officials said.

The milk production capacity and its proportion to increasing demand would also be assessed for making valuable planning for the dairy development in the country, they said.

“The district staff of the provincial livestock and dairy development departments are the executing agencies. All the staff deputed for the census has been trained by the master trainers of the ACO,” they said.

The data collected would be of utmost importance for the planning and development of this very important agriculture sub-sector and would be helpful for the uplift of rural economy, they added.