LAHORE, July 26: The federal government is said to have agreed in principle to establish a meat and dairy board that is expected to be headed by the federal food minister.

The terms of reference of the board are, however, yet to be framed by a committee set up by federal Food Minister Khair Muhammad Junejo for the purpose.

The committee comprises representatives of dairy farmers, meat exporters and the commissioner of animal husbandry of the federal food ministry.

Officials claim that the government is considering to extend credit to the meat and dairy sectors through the Khushhali Bank.

The dairy industry has appreciated the decision, terming it a step forward in the right direction. However, it has warned that the initiative must not be allowed to collapse because of bureaucratic red-tapism.

The Punjab Dairy Farmers Association representative said in a press release issued here on Friday the country has a huge cattle population of over 100 million heads. But no government has ever paid any attention to this sector for raising production of meat and milk. The new initiative would help this vital sector put on road to development, it said.

“If we succeed in organizing local milk production and process it, Pakistan, being the fifth largest producer of milk in the world, could earn up to $10 billion per year in export proceeds,” he said.

The milk production in the country is estimated to be about 25 billion litres a year and the dairy industry involves some 30 per cent of rural population, directly or indirectly.

Pakistan processes only one per cent of its entire production of milk as compared to 40 per cent processed by India that is now one of the leading nations exporting pasteurized milk, according to an official estimate.

The experts insist that the “worth of the dairy industry could be raised immensely by introducing modern techniques of livestock healthcare, production of cattle feed, processing of milk and the establishment of a cooling chain.”

However, they claimed, it would require consolidation of dairy farming throughout the country and establishment of cooling plants in each district and investment-intensive pasteurization plants for every five districts.