ISLAMABAD
Pakistan Bureau of Statistic (PBS) has plans to conduct integrated census for agriculture and livestock during the current financial year 2021-22 after a gap of more than 15 years.
According to the people familiar with the development, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government last month concluded a livestock baseline survey, as the federal government is set to conduct an integrated census for agriculture and livestock. Accurate baseline information is a prerequisite to gauge sectoral dynamics and prospective planning of a sector, which has been outdated for livestock.
National economy significantly relies on agricultural production, which in the previous fiscal year contributed 19 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Finance Ministry’s Economic Survey 2020-21. Livestock is its largest subsector having a 60 percent share in agriculture value addition.
More than 8 million rural families are engaged in livestock production and derive some 35-40 percent of their income from it. Gross value addition of livestock was Rs1.5 trillion in the fiscal year 2020-21. Despite this huge contribution, no livestock census has been carried out since 2006.
While the Economic Survey 2020-21 recorded 51.5 million cattle, 42.4 million buffaloes, 80.3 million goats, 5.6 million donkeys, 400,000 horses and 200,000 mules, the figures are estimates based on the 1996-2006 inter-census growth rate which, experts argue, does not represent the country’s actual animal population growth.
According to the experts, no census has been conducted after 2006 and the estimates are being made while sitting in offices, which have no value. They said that policy-making in the absence of actual data may be inaccurate and does not allow the sector to realise its growth and export potential.
Due to lack of actual data, neither can the policy making and allocations for the animal related project be made properly, nor can the country harness the full potential of the country’s livestock, they added.
Dr Mohammad Israr, the secretary of KP’s agriculture, livestock, fisheries and cooperative department, said that livestock baseline survey was a long awaited activity as the last livestock census was carried out during 2005-06. He said that a preliminary analysis of the data gathered as a result of the survey was already carried out, which indicated some variance in the livestock population and production parameter as compared to the projected figures that were previously used and relied on. “It will further add value to prospective interventions in the sector,” said Israr.
It is necessary to have a true baseline indicating the factual situation faced by the peripheral subsistent livestock farmers, progressive farmers, market players, investors and other stakeholders to realistically utilise the available natural resources and propose coherent interventions to the government for implementation in the livestock sector.
