Livestock is now sharing by more than 53 percent of total
agricultural value added in Pakistan. Identifying and developing the
potential areas of livestock production is part of the overall
development strategy for this sector while rural poverty alleviation is
a major concern of Pakistan’s overall development policy. Our major
livestock production systems are grazing, stall-fed and
grazing-cum-stall-fed based. Grazing based livestock farming is
economical and customary system in mountainous, rainfed, deserts and
salinity affected areas. The livestock herders of desert areas deserve
special attention of the policy-makers because of their most deprived
living conditions as majority is living below poverty line by all
poverty measuring standards. The present study is aimed to generate an
updated synthesis based on empirical knowledge about status of livestock
farming in desert ecologies of Pakistan. The results show that the
average herd sizes maintained by the herders is fairly large to cover
losses due to drought, disease and other epidemics. The human and
physical capital endowments of the farmers are generally poor. Other
common characteristics are: major dependence on natural vegetation with
limited supply of fodder, more physical exertion of animals during
grazing, poor animal health, practicing natural method of breeding, low
milk and meat productivity, highly limited livestock and milk marketing
opportunities, etc. The stall feeding is mainly composed of dry stalks
and straws of different crops along with a small quantity of food
grains. On marketing side, because of location and lack of
infrastructure support, milk marketing opportunities are meager,
therefore, it is converted into desi ghee—a value added and preserved
form which is sold in nearby town markets. In marketing of live animals,
the farmers are always exploited by beoparies. On average herd size, the
net monthly income in Cholistan desert from cattle (for milk), sheep and
goats farming (for meat purpose) was Rs 10128, Rs 990 and Rs 508,
respectively; for Thal desert the corresponding estimates were Rs 457,
Rs 359 and Rs 552, respectively; and for Tharparkar, the corresponding
estimates are Rs 918, Rs 3221 and Rs 331, respectively. There is a
strong need of prioritising development efforts for desert ecologies.
High priority areas include efforts for increasing availability of
rangeland vegetation and green fodder, improvement in the genetic
potential of local livestock breeds, provision of more efficient
livestock health coverage, and establishment of milk collection centres
of milk processing plants. The low priority areas include designing
regulatory framework for milk and livestock marketing, programs for
human capacity building, facilitating through institutional credit, and
different incentives for the veterinary staff posted in such areas. JEL
classification: Q130, Q190, Q200 Keywords: Desert, Tharparkar, Thal,
Cholistan, Livestock Farming, Livestock Feeding Patterns, Feed
Composition, Livestock Trade Intensity, Priority Setting.
Organic Livestock Production: A Bibliometric Review
