I). a Value Chain Analysis of the Meat Sector in Pakistan

Research Studies completed

i). A Value Chain Analysis of the Meat Sector in Pakistan

Meat value chain is comprised of five segments namely “Inputs”, “Production of Meat Animal”, “Marketing of Meat Animals”, “Processing (Slaughtering)” and “Meat Distribution (Domestic and Export Markets)”.
“Inputs” 1st segment includes genetic (breeds of meat animals), feed (green, dry fodders, concentrates and pastures) and veterinary services (medicine, vaccination and artificial insemination). There are transboundry breeds namely Sahiwal and Thari cattles, Nili Ravi buffaloes and Beetal goats. There are no beef breeds of cattle in Pakistan and therefore beef is at best a by-product. Haphazard breeding is prevailing along with traditional unscientific management that is compounded by the low genetic ceiling of the livestock. Fodder availability/adult animal unit has declined 1.5 ton from 1996 to 0.80 ton in 2006. Likewise wheat straw availability per adult animal unit has declined from 0.323 ton in 1996 to 0.307 ton in 2006.
Concentrates availability per adult animal unit has declined from 0.04 ton in 1996 to 0.036 ton in 2006. Rangeland per adult animal unit – small ruminants is only 4.76 ha/annum – low productivity of rangeland due to over grazing and exploitation. During the current era these children prefer to go for daily wage work rather than grazing and grass cutting due to social status of herders. The decline in feed resulted to high cost of feeds. Number of nomadic from Afghanistan has also disappeared due to war and terror. Such decline of availability for green and dry fodders and concentrates overtime led to poor and inadequate nutrition which resulted in low animal productivity. Large and small ruminants are performing much below their genetic potential due to poor and inadequate nutrition which lead to compounded by the low genetic ceiling of livestock.
The availability of veterinary services (a veterinary hospital, a veterinary dispensary and a artificial insemination centre is available for 86575, 13852 and 69260 adult animals unit respectively during 2006 Livestock Census. A veterinary professional and a sub-professional is available for 34630 and 13852 adult animal unit during 2006 livestock census) is limited due to which high disease and high mortality are occurring. The veterinary medicines are also very expensive in the view of livestock and level of farmer’s satisfaction is poor.
The binding constraints/obstacles facing first segment of meat value chain are (i) haphazard breeding and traditional unscientific management (ii) the decline of availability for green and dry fodders, concentrates and pasture overtime led to poor and inadequate nutrition (iii) limited availability of veterinary services and expensive medicines, livestock herders are using at low level of veterinary services (iv) earlier, the children of small farmers were involved in grazing animal and cutting of grasses for animal. During the current era these children prefer to go for daily wage work rather than grazing and grass cutting due to social status. Due to limited availability of genetics, feed and veterinary services along with expensive medicines, livestock herders and flock owners are using these at low level resulting poor management and productivity of meat animals in the country.
Under the “Production of Meat Animals” segment of value chain, meat animals produced were 24.493 million heads with a value of Rs.266.557 billion during 2008-09 in the country. Out of which beef animals were 7.673 million heads with a value of Rs.173.5965 billion including cattle (3.973 million heads with a value of Rs.93.172 billion) and buffaloes (3.676 million heads with a value of Rs.79.6245 billion). The mutton animals (sheep and goats) were 16.82 million heads with a value of Rs.92.960 billion including sheep (4.8993 million heads with a value of Rs.36.0768 billion) and goat (11.927 million heads with a value of Rs.56.8834 billion). Analysis of cost of production of large ruminants at feed lot farming revealed that farmers are earning net income of Rs.436/- per animal. Similarly, cost of production of small ruminants with feed lot farming revealed that farmers are earning net income of Rs.103/- per animal. This implies that feed lot farming (raising beef and mutton animals) with concentrate to bring them to slaughter weight and feed lot farming is profitable enterprise. A portion of meat sub-sector is made up of dairy meat and mutton that comes from in-milking cows and buffaloes, female sheep and female goats culled from dairy herds because for age and other reasons, they are not productive for dairy purposes and reproductive potential.
The major factors contributing towards low productivity are (i) weak and unhealthy stock and breeding lines because no beef breeds of cattle (ii) no concept of herd health management (iii) low output due to low input system (iv) raising meat animal with traditional system is not profitable enterprise and (v) social system has broken due to inflation and ag-inflation is even higher. All these factors translate into a existing very weak livestock extension services in the country.
Under “Marketing of Meat Animals” segment of value chain, meat animals marketed was 24.493 million heads during 2008-09 which includes domestic marketing (24.495 m.h) and animal exported (33477 with a export value of Rs.309.01 million). Traditional farmers, feed lot fattening farmers and exporter own farm marketed 23.764, 0.514, and 0.220 million heads were marketed respectively during 2009. Meat animals were marketed through five channels. Channel-1 includes farmer to beopari (80%), farmer to live animal market (5%), and farmer to rural butcher (15%). Channel-2 deals with beopari to live animal market (98%), and beopair to rural butcher (2%). Channel-3 includes animal market to contractors (52%), animal market to traveler traders (15%), animal market to urban butcher (31%), and animal market to rural butcher (2%). Channel-4 includes contractor to traveler traders (27%), contractor to exporters (1%), and contractor to urban butcher (72%). Channel-5 includes traveler trader to slaughter house (16%), and traveler trader to urban butcher (84%).
On the marketing side, the livestock markets are suffered from shortage of basic facilities like watering, shelter, feed and fodder. A number of other arrangements like loading/unloading, communication, services of veterinary doctor, weighing, market boundaries etc. are absent despite 3-5 percent commission is charged as market fee in Punjab whereas in other provinces various practices are followed. The contract money of these markets is not invested back for provision of such facilities. But the most crucial aspect of the marketing system constraining meat development is the sale of animal on per head basis and not on their live weight basis. This militates against the success of any meat development program. The meat production is entirely in the private sector. Delay in live animal delivery is due to non-availability of specific transport and overloading without refrigeration. However, the government intervention in fixing the price at the retail end is neither rational nor fair. It makes the situation worse because this retail price fixation is not applied to the corporate sector.
The binding constraints of this segment of meat value chain are (i) inadequate basic facilities at live animals market (watering, shelter, feed and fodder, absence of weighing machine and market committee) (ii) non-availability of specific transport and overloading without refrigeration (iii) delay in live animal delivery and (iv) faulty pricing mechanism of meat animals (per head basis rather than weight basis).
Under “Meat Production” segment of value chain, total meat produced during 2008-09 was 2.192 million ton by slaughtering 24.493 million heads of meat animals. Total beef production originates from beef animals produced by general farmers slaughtered (1.187 million tons), feed lots (0.016 million tons) and Eid-ul-Azha (0.40 million tones). Similarly, total mutton production comes from mutton animals produced by general farmers slaughtered (0.341 million tons), feed lots (0.012 million tons) and Eid-ul-Azha (0.236 million tones). The estimated meat production for the year 2008-09 in Pakistan is 2.192 million tones. Out of this 1.603 and 0.588 m. tones are beef and mutton respectively. The production of cattle, buffalo and camel beef was 0.638, 0.543 and 0.006 m. tones respectively. Production of mutton from sheep and goat was 0.588 million tons. The overall productivity of all the species in terms of meat is low. The overall increase in meat over the years was due to the increased inventory and not because of any increase in their productivity.
The binding constraints of this part of meat value chain are (i) abattoirs in disrepair with limited current expenditure (ii) small number of regulated slaughterhouses (iii) Abattoirs have rudimentary disposal system of byproducts (iv) limited private sector participation (v) code of practice not operational (vi) weak ante mortem and post mortem inspection (vii) no chilling facilities except in few private abattoirs and (viii) no veterinary and plant health authority (ix) because of fixing the price of meat by the tehsil municipal administration, the slaughtering of weak, diseased and old animals is very common (x) absence of meat grading and pricing (affecting meat quality) (xi) illegal slaughtering (xii) lack of specialized skills in flaying and meat handling and un-hygienic meat transportation are serious concerns in the meat production chain
Under “Meat Marketing” segment of value chain, the total meat marketed during 2008-09 was 2.192 million ton out of which beef and mutton were 1.603 and 0.588 million ton respectively. The meat marketed from recognized slaughter house to domestic market was 1.097 million ton (49%) which includes beef (0.782 m.t) and mutton (0.285 m.t). The meat marketed from urban butcher to domestic markets was 0.653 million ton (30%) which includes beef (0.479 m.t) and mutton (0.174 m.t). The meat marketed from rural butchers was 0.457 m.t. which includes beef (0.335 m.t) and mutton (0.122 m.t).
The meat marketing channels observed are as under: (i) from recognized slaughter houses to wholesaler (30%) and retailers/butchers (70%) (ii) wholesalers to retailers (90%), hotel and restaurants (5%), food services and suppliers (3%) and super markets (2%) (iii) retailers to consumers (100%) (iv) urban butchers to consumers (93%), food suppliers (3%), hotel and restaurants (4%) (v) rural butchers to consumer (100%) (vi) offals retailers receives (50%) from offals contractors and sell all of it to consumers (vi) hotel and restaurants, food services and suppliers and super markets to consumers (100%) and (viii) offals processors receives (50%) offals from contractors and sell all to offals exporters. The meat transported cost for domestic markets Rs.7.076 billion during 2008-09 which includes the transportation cost of beef (Rs.4.752 billion) and mutton (Rs.2.324 billion).
The estimated cost of production of beef and mutton was Rs.169.49/kg and Rs.263/kg respectively at feed lot fattening producer respectively. The marketing costs of beef and mutton at producer level is Rs.169.49 and Rs.262.75/kg. The marketing costs of beef and mutton at contractor/beopari level is Rs.7.50 and Rs.14.71/kg. The marketing costs of beef and mutton at commission agent level is Rs.0.64 and Rs.4.83/kg. The marketing costs of beef and mutton at butcher/retailer level is Rs.11.06 and Rs.21.73/kg respectively.
The sale price of beef and mutton at producer (feed lot fattening) level is Rs.184.17 and Rs.280/kg. The sale price of beef and mutton at contractor/beopari level is Rs.200.18 and Rs.302/kg. The sale price of beef and mutton at butcher/retailer level is Rs.220.81 and Rs.327/kg respectively.
The net profit margin of beef and mutton at producer at feed lot fattening level is Rs.14.68 and Rs.17.25/kg. The net profit margin of beef and mutton at contractor/beopari level is Rs.8.51 and Rs.7.29/kg. The net profit margin of beef and mutton at commission agent level is Rs.0.61 and Rs.2.60/kg. The net profit margin of beef and mutton at butcher/retailer level is Rs.9.57 and Rs.3.27/kg respectively.
The exported meat was 0.01436 million ton during 2008-09 (assuming the same as exported in 2007-08) which includes beef (0.00697 m.t.) and mutton (0.0739 m.t) respectively. The value of synthetic RCA for beef fresh/child/frozen, meat nes./fresh/chld/froz, meat/offals preserved, meat/offals preserved n.e.s etc. is greater than 1 which implies Pakistan has comparative advantage in meat and meat preparation.
The main inefficiencies of meat marketing are (i) controlled retail price of meat causing slaughtering of unhealthy and old animals (ii) absence of meat grading and pricing by quality (iii) illegal slaughtering leads to poor quality meat (iv) lack of specialized skills in flaying and meat handling (v) un-hygienic meat sale (retail outlets) (vi) no chilling facilities at butchers shops and (vii) few operations for export and poor regulation for export.
The opportunities for meat export increase the source of foreign exchange and it may also increase the income of farmers if facilitation from government/research institutions and farmers interest to raise meat animals as a business on commercial basis. Moreover, the export of meat offals has a potential like intestines of small ruminants for European countries and “Patjori” export to China. There is a need to create awareness at local level for export of offals. The threat for export meat is related with the exploitations local consumers in the form of price and quality. Likewise illegal smuggling reduces foreign resources and also exploits the local consumers. There is need of compulsion for exporters to produce a reasonable export quantity at their own farms to avoid market distortion and protect domestic consumers.
The proposed strategy/requirements for 1st segment of meat value chain namely “Inputs” are (i) need improved breeding for meat animal programme with modern and scientific management (ii) farmers awareness about low cost quality feed for ensuring adequate nutrition and (iii) policies for cheaper inputs (feed and veterinary services) for higher use of “inputs” .
The proposed strategy/requirements for 2nd segment of meat value chain namely “Production of Meat Animals” are (i) farmers awareness about raising meat animals on commercial basis (ii) shift to feed lot fattening or farmer production groups in rearing yards (iii) effective disease monitoring and control for enhancing animal productivity (iv) need a special focus on social system and (v) policies for reducing ag-inflation.
The proposed strategy/requirements for 3rd segment of meat value chain namely “Marketing of Meat Animals: are (i) channeling of Contractual money for provision of basic facilities (ii) encouraging Pvt Sector for developing markets with basic facilities (iii) redesigning vehicles suitable for animal transport (iv) awareness to traders (v) enforcement of pricing by weight and awareness campaign and (vi) proposed legal authority with regulatory coverage.
The proposed strategy/requirements for 4th segment of meat value chain namely “Processing (Slaughtering) and further Meat Processing” are (i) privatization of state owned slaughter houses (ii) foreign/local investment (iii) SPS management through Veterinary plan (iv) health authority (v) Meat standards and an industry Code of practice (vi) HACCP for meat processing (vii) meat inspection laws and (viii) for enhancing legal slaughtering, there is a need for de-skinning machines may increase efficiency for slaughtering large ruminants in the country with the consideration of employment concerned of manually slaughtering workers
The proposed strategy/requirements for 5th segment of meat value chain namely “Meat Marketing” are (i) a robust value chain, improved linkages with producers (ii) regulated outlets – open price policy like chicken & fish (iii) cut-based pricing under free market forces (iv) strict compliance of the legal slaughtering (v) awareness, provision of institutional training & Registration (vi) awareness & implementation of SPS sanitary measures (vii) consumer awareness of the benefits of a hygienic product (viii) investment-driven incentives and effective regulation and standards and (ix) exposure visits for exporters.

Greater product diversification by the processors is needed. Processing of meat can be as simple as preparation of retail cuts of meat, or it may involve grinding, flaking, sectioning, seasoning, salting, curing, forming, smoking, heating, fermenting, drying or combination of these treatments. The improvement of packaging utilizing food grade materials and the greater use of vacuum packing are also required. Greater research or collaborative research with other countries into food safety and veterinary and plant health, for example (i) improved detection and screening techniques for residues of antimicrobials and their metabolism in animal products (ii) the presence of drug metabolites in animal products destined for human consumption (iii) the role that antimicrobials or their residues play in food sensitization and subsequent hypersensitive reactions in humans (iv) the associations and frequency of antibiotic resistance and (v) detailed studies to assess the microbiological contamination at different stages of processing.

ii). Fertilizer Use Assessment during Rabi 2008-09 in the Pothwar Region of Punjab, Pakistan

The main theme of this study was to assess the fertilizer use situation in Pothwar region of Punjab, after, first – record high wheat procurement prices announced by the government for the upcoming season that might enhanced fertilizer and other input use in the current Rabi season, and second – high prices of both nitrogenous and phosphatic fertilizers from the last Kharif season that might decreased fertilizer use.
This study was conducted in Pothwar region of Punjab which, account for about one quarter of the total cropped area of the Punjab. This tract is one of the poorest and food deficit areas of the province. The small farmers, especially those in dry parts of Pothwar, are on the average deficit in all the subsistence products. Majority of the farmers (90%) operate below subsistence land resources of less than 5 hectares.
So when this is the situation then the early described factors (high procurement prices of wheat and high prices of fertilizers) are less important as compared with other so many important factors. Important other factors like economic status of the farmers, timely rainfall and moisture, soil structure and texture, and next best alternatives might affect the use of fertilizer in this region.
However, results reveal that nearly a bag of Urea and DAP each along with substantial amount of FYM was applied to wheat crop on per acre basis while rest of the crops are grown with negligible quantity of organic as well as inorganic fertilizers.
It was also found through farmers’ perception that fertilizer use was reduced up to 50 percent this season as compared with previous season with the major argument of high prices by more than two third sample farmers.
Other interesting results depicted that urea use is directly related with wheat area and inversely with total cropped area. Also Urea use increases as DAP use and FYM use increases.
So it is verified that high wheat procurement prices induce fertilizer use to wheat and high fertilizer prices reduce its use. But at the same time timely rainfall and economic conditions of the farmers supported this scenario. Therefore in rainfed conditions, where farmers get benefit at four months early investment wit high uncertainty, fertilizer should be provided at low prices.

iii). Feasibility of Inorganic, Orgaic Open Pollinated and Hybrid Vegetables Seed Production in Pakistan