The role of livestock in the national economy can be further elaborated by considering the following useful functions performed by these animals.
Food Production:
This the most important function performed by farm animals. Annual milk production in the country exceeds 17 million tonnes, while meat (beef, mutton, and poultry meat) production is approaching 1.8 million tonnes. It has been estimated that over 5 billion eggs are produced per annum in Pakistan. These food products help to meet the protein requirements of a sizeable part of the human population of this country. The quality of foods of animal origin such as milk, meat, and egg is superior to those of plant origin. Foods of animal origin are called protective foods because they contain the essential nutrients vital for sustaining normal health. Some of the essential amino acids which are supplied by animal protein are not present in plant protein. Livestock are instrumental in saving billions of rupees worth of foreign exchange which would otherwise be spent to import essential foods.
Draught Power:
Despite the increasing mechanization of farming in Pakistan, millions of acres of land are still being cultivated with bullocks (including male buffaloes), camels, horses and other farm animals. A complete transformation to mechanized farming does not yet appear feasible throughout the country because of increasing fuel costs, the high initial cost of tractors and related implements, the small size of land holdings, and the topography of the land.
Therefore bullocks, camels, horses, and other farm animals will continue to provide traction power for ploughing land and working grain grinders, chaff cutters, cane crushers etc.
Carts driven by bullocks, camels, horses, or donkeys are commonly used for haulage even in cities. Donkey carts are popular in thickly-populated urban centres such as Faisalabad, Lahore and Karachi because of the low initial and maintenance costs of both the cart and the donkey. Donkeys are commonly used for moving earth from one place to another, for example, in canal digging or erecting embankments, road building, etc. A horse driven carriage called a tonga is still popular for intra-city transportation of passengers. It is also used in the countryside on roads connecting small villages. There are nearly 5000 tongas in Lahore city alone. This number would be much higher if the metropolitan authorities had not restricted the growing use of tongas on city roads. Animal driven carts/carriers are no doubt slow moving, but apparently they will continue to be used for some time to come.
Animals are thus bolstering the national economy by providing a mode of transportation that does not involve the use of fuel. The benefit derived annually in the form of draught power from several species of our farm animals is worth over 6 billion rupees.
Conversion of feed into valuable products:
Buffaloes, cattle, goats, sheep, camels, poultry birds, and other animals are rendering highly useful service by converting feeds such as green fodder , dry forages, crop residues, damaged grains, agro-industrial waste, fruit pulp and peelings, and vegetable/fruit market wastes into valuable foods like milk, meat and eggs. These feeds which cannot be used for direct human consumption are thus gainfully utilized. Each animal assumes the role of an independent factory where raw material in the form of feed ingredient is converted into finished products for human use. Most of the animal feeds, being inedible for humans, could not have been put to good use without the animals. The estimated value of milk, meat and eggs produced annually is Rs. 75.5, Rs. 53.8, and Rs. 5.5 billions, respectively. In addition to food products, wool and hair worth Rs. 0.75 billion are also being produced each year.
Soil fertility:
Dung, urine, and refused feed constitute farmyard manure (FYM). Properly collected and protected in manure pits, FYM can usefully serve the purpose of soil fertilizer. It has been estimated that, on average, a tonne of FYM contains 4.5Kg N, 0.8 Kg P, 3.0 Kg K, and 230 Kg of organic matter.
This establishment of a synthetic fertilizer factory involves expenditure of hundreds of millions of rupees, whereas FYM is a natural product obtained constantly from all types of farm animals without any extra financial burden on the livestock producer. The combined use of FYM and chemical fertilizers not only reduces the demand for synthetic fertilizer in the coutry, but is also economical. In addition, it helps in keeping the surroundings of the livestock farm clean and free of pollution.
Employment:
The livestock industry is an important source of jobs for skilled and non skilled workers. According to a recent estimate, 51% the labour force in Pakistan is employed in agriculture. Of this force, at least 35-40% owe their jobs directly or indirectly to the livestock/poultry industry. These jobs pertain to various stages of the cycle involving livestock and poultry husbandry, i.e. handling, processing, and marketing of livestock and poultry products and by-products. A few examples of specific jobs are; food, fibre and draught animal producers; milk collectors and producers; milk dealers and retailers; dairy plant and creamery workers; khoia and ghee producers; meat animal market and slaughter house workers; meat retailers; poultry retailers; poultry meat and egg dealers; slaughter house by-product manufacturers; hide and skin dealers; tannery workers; leather goods manufacturers; shoe factory workers; leather goods dealers; wool and hair shearers, collectors and dealers; woollen fabric manufacturing mill workers; wool and woollen product dealers; carpet manufacturers, dealers, and exporters; veterinarians and staff; veterinary and animal husbandry educators and researchers; veterinary medicine manufacturers and dealers; government livestock and poultry farm workers; feed mill, poultry breeding farm, and hatchery workers; weekly, monthly quarterly, semi-annual, and annual animal fair market contractors.
These examples indicate the magnitude of the potential of the various components of the livestock industry for providing hundreds of thousands of jobs, thus contributing substantially to the national economy.
Foreign exchange:
The bulk of foreign exchange earned by the livestock sector is through the export of processed and manufactured products such as leather goods, woolen fabrics, carpets and rugs. Carpets and rugs alone fetched over 5 billion rupees during the year 1992-93. The export of other items such as raw wool, animal casings, and some live animals of various species collectively earned 7 billion rupees.Some fluctuation in this amount due to demand and varying international market rates is always there. Over 12 billion rupees per annum are contributed by this sector even by using primitive husbandry practices and marketing methods. Thus theree is considerrable unexploited potential in this industry which could be tapped by making use of manpower trained in the field of animal production and by enhancing annual budgetary for its scientific development.
Pharmaceuticals:
More than a hundred useful drugs are made from animal by-products. Insulin, a protein hormone which helps the body use sugar and other carbohydrates and is used in the treatment of diabetes, is extracted from the pancreas of animals. Cortisone is secreted from the adrenal glands and is used for the treatment of rheumatoidd arthritis, adrenal insufficiency, some allergies, connective tissue diseases, and gout. The hormone epinephrine is also secreted from the adrenal glands and used in the treatment of certain types of allergies and asthma. Corticotropin is obtained from the pituitary gland. It is used for the treatment of severe allergies, breathing problems, and leukemia. Rennet is obtained from the stomachs of calves and is used in cheese making. It can also help babies to digest milk. Thrombin is extracted from the blood of animals and is used in surgery as a coagulant to help make blood clot. It is also used in skin graft operations as well as for treatment of ulcers. Heparin is obtained from lungs and is used to prevent blood clotting during operations. It also helps prevent heart attacks.
Bio-gas production:
The dung excreted by large animals, especially buffaloes and cattle, is dumped into specially designed shallow wells. As a result of microbial fermentation in the dung, gas is produced. This gas can be harnessed and channelled, but because pressure is often low, it cannot flow to distant places and must be used nearby at the farm or the village where it is produced. In Pakistan the use of bio-gas plants is still in formative stages. It has been reported that bio-gas is used extensively in China. Because of increasing fuel prices., some large farms and feed-lots in the USA and some other countries have build bio-gas plants to utilize animal manure. After the production of bio-gas the residual dung can still be used as fertilizer.
