Overview
The Agriculture Sector contributes 21% of GDP of Pakistan, which consumes 46% of direct labour force, coming from 67% of population. Out of Agriculture, the share of livestock sector is 56%. However, the head count involved in both sectors is same as livestock and agriculture supplement each other in the rural landscape. Livestock’s value exceeds the combined value of all the major and minor crops by about 6.1%. The share of livestock products in the generation of foreign exchange is about 13%. More significantly, livestock is an integral part (30-40%) of livelihood of about 30 to 35 million rural farmers. Presently, the reported gross value addition of livestock stands at PKR 1,172 billion, whereas livestock share in export is 8.5%.
Background
Livestock is a rising sector as its contribution to the national economy is growing continuously. Apart from this livestock is an active employer of thousands of landless poor, subsistence and semi- subsistence small farmer families. In short, livestock and its products are directly linked with the economy of small and medium sized farmers. It is a major source of active food and adds significantly to the health, nutrition and wellbeing of rural as well as urban consumers. Despite rising and critical importance of the sub-sector, there is no corresponding emphasis on analyzing its achievements, problems, as well as future prospects in the overall developmental plans.
In a country like Pakistan, data regarding livestock is not readily available and is mostly scattered. Livestock and Dairy Development Department, Punjab is rendering different services to the Livestock sector of the province through its infrastructure network in the field. In this report an effort has been made to compile and present the performance of different Directorates of the Department during the year 2012-2013. A report, such as this, can serve as a useful reference and hopefully will be used by planners, advisors, extensionists and Researchers working for the livestock sector. In addition to the efforts being done at government level, more emphasis is required to promote the Livestock Sector on a market oriented and demand driven basis both in the public and private sectors for socio economic uplift of the rural masses to achieve the ultimate goal of poverty alleviation.
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