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Milk Supplies in Pakistan: Issues and Challenges Facing the Dairy Economy

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Milk Supplies in Pakistan: Issues and Challenges Facing the Dairy Economy

Umar Farooq
Member (Social Sciences), Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad
Abstract
Milk is an important highly perishable product of livestock farming, produced by
millions of dispersed small sized producers in Pakistan. Commercial dairy farming is
slowly creeping in Punjab province. Pakistan is 3rd largest milk producer on the globe by
producing its 42.4 million tons during 2014-15. The demand for milk is expected to
increase in future due to various underlying factors. Provision of health-safe, hygienic milk
to the consumers is currently a big challenge for the policy makers and development
practitioners. Pakistani consumers spend 26% of the food budget on milk and its products.
About 80% to total milk production takes place in rural areas, 15% in per-urban and 5%
under urban settings. Nearly 40% of total milk production is marketed through formal and
informal channels (i.e. direct selling to consumers and through milkmen).
The current milk production and marketing system is facing a number of serious
challenges like, fragile production base, poor infrastructure (roads, transport, containers
used and virtually no chilling, etc.), financial insecurity, quality assurance, untrained
manpower and seasonality. All these collectively results in unorganized and inefficient
marketing system. Among these the quality concerns are most serious because the entire
value chain starting from production till its consumption is suffered from: poor sanitations
of livestock sheds, non-cleaning of animals before milking, milking by hand, its collection
in small qualities from milk producers, use of non-recommended utensils and containers
for milk handling, long distance between production and consumption points, insufficient
or non-availability of cooling/chilling facilities in view of highly ambient temperature and
use of non-recommended additives & preservatives used for enhancing its shelf to cover
the lag between production and consumption timings generating health hazards on
consumer side. So much so, adulterants like formalin, cane sugar, glucose, benzoic acid
and alkalinity were also found in well reputed brands of UHT milk sold in Pakistan. The
lack of quality checks is the most neglected aspect of the whole system. Unfortunately, the
existing laws seems became obsolete and need to be revised. The latest Punjab Pure Food
Rules is relatively more comprehensive than the previous acts, ordinance and regulations.
On milk processing side, till now four rounds have been made to establish a sound
milk processing setup in the country, but the number of processing units remained between
20 and 30 and it is confined to Punjab only. On the other hand, due to inflation and high
poverty levels, majority of our consumers are price conscious and prefer buying raw loose
milk, making marketing of loose milk, the backbone of milk marketing system in Pakistan.
To correct the system, various recommendations are put forward, like preferring
installation of milk powder making plants in rural areas not touched by any milk marketing
agency and also extending milk processing industries to Sindh province. The cooperative
milk marketing with due chilling facilities for subsistence farmers; strengthening consumer
societies and establishment of “Dairy Development Authority” are needed to formulate
food safety standards & implementing strict regulatory measures for ensuring the quality.
1. Introduction
Milk is universally recognized as complete diet to the presence of essential components
like proteins, lactose, milk fasts, minerals and vitamins, etc. Livestock farming is an integral part
of the rural economy of Pakistan1 as this is the only sector which provides almost regular income
and readily cashable asset to farming families. It is also an important component of Pakistan’s
agriculture sector2 by contributing to 56.3% its total agricultural value added and 11.76% to the
national GDP (Government of Pakistan, 2015a). Livestock products also notably contribute in
exports, as meat and its products worth Rs.23.674 billion were exported, whereas Rs.11.78 billion
worth of milk and milk based products were imported by Pakistan in 2013-14 (Government of
Pakistan, 2015b). Despite the laissez faire type approach from the government for the development
of livestock sector, it has been growing at an impressive rate. More importantly, this sector has
never experienced negative growth rate in the history. More than 8 million families in the country
are directly engaged in livestock farming (Agriculture Census Organization, 2010). The adults, as
well as children are involved in animal husbandry, generation sizeable employment.
Pakistan is the third largest milk producer in the world following India at number one and
the USA at number two (Figure 1). On consumption side, 26% of food budget in Pakistan is spent
on milk and its products (Government of Pakistan, 2015c). The task of reaching various urban and
rural markets is challenging for the dairy farmers. The future demand for dairy products is expected
to rise rapidly due to reasons like: i) the faster growth in population; ii) increased urbanization
and/or rising absolute urban population; iii) the animal based products are required for fulfilling
the protein and calcium requirements of the population on health ground; and, iv) the income
elasticity of demand for milk and meats is also greater than one, implying more than proportionate
increase in demand for dairy products and meats than the rate of rise in income, therefore, better
livelihood opportunities in livestock farming. Furthermore, the change in consumption patterns
induced by globalization, general developments in the country (e.g. better quality milk and meat
shops in urban centres, food streets, proliferation of restaurants and food vendors) are also
expected to generate additional demand for livestock products including milk.
Despite the clear importance of the dairy sub-sector, it has failed to attract due attention
from the policy makers and development practitioners. During last 25 years milk production
increased at the rate of 4.8 percent while the productivity per animal head has improved in cattle
but declined in buffaloes. This implies that increase in animal population rather than milk
productivity per animal head is prime source of growth of milk production in the country.
This paper is organized as follows: section-2 describes the supply and demand perspectives; milk
marketing aspects are covered in section-3; section-4 deals with milk quality concerns with special
emphasis on hygiene and contaminations; section-5 is devoted to milk processing; the issues and
challenges related to milk production, marketing and processing are discussed in section-6; and
finally summary and suggestions conclude the paper.

1
In rural setting, from livelihood perspective, livestock farming serve a number of purposes: i) cash income from sale
of live animals and their products; ii) buffer stock when crop faming and other activities fail; iii) means of savings
as accumulating assets; iv) insurance and collateral for loans; v) farm yard manure and services for crop production;
vi) transport, fuel and food for the household; vi) social status in terms of herd size and quality of breeds kept, etc.
2
The total size of livestock economy of Pakistan is Rs.3609.1 billion (Government of Pakistan, 2015a).
2. Dairy Economy of Pakistan
Production or Supply side: Quality and Quantity Concerns
Pakistan has considerably large livestock population, well adapted to local environmental
conditions. Our national livestock herd constitutes, 41.2 million cattle, 35.6 million buffaloes, 29.4
million sheep, 68.4 million goats, 1 million camel and 932 million poultry (Government of
Pakistan, 2015a). In other words, per capita availability of animals fall at nearly 0.9 animal heads.
Nearly 30% of total cattle and about 37% of total buffalo population forms milk production base
of the country (Government of Pakistan, 2012). Our total national milk production is 42.45 million
tons (Government of Pakistan, 2015a). Its composition by animal species shows that buffalos
provide 61 percent of the total milk produced, followed by cattle at 34.8%, camels at 2.1%, goats
at 2.0%, and sheep as 0.1 percent. According to the livestock census (2006), average milk
production in cattle and buffalo falls at 6.2 litres and 8.2 litres/day, respectively. However, it is
interesting to note that Pakistan is a “milk surplus” country in a “milk deficient” region, and
country imports around 11.78 billion rupees worth of milk and milk products. Three major reasons
underlying these shortages include in situ consumption of produced milk in subsistence households
and within village, even out seasonal supply balance; around 10% to 15% of milk is lost during
transportation and storage due to lack of proper processing facilities (Mascon Associates Ltd.,
2006); and milk loss due to poor handling and management (because of poor knowledge and skills
of the farmers’ and low technology adoption) is estimated at around 6 million tons (Wynn et al.,
2006).
In Pakistan, dairy farming is mainly practiced by the private sector in both the rural and
urban settings. In rural setting, it is mainly taking place in integrated crop-livestock setting by
small farming households and landless families who also rear livestock (Table 1). About livestock
farming in different production systems, domestic consumption, marketing and value chain, given
the nature of geographic spread of the production systems, the collection and marketing systems,
the accuracy of the data cannot be expected to be high (Zia et al., 2011). By farm sizes, marginal
and small sized farming constitute 64.7% and 24.8% of total farming households’ population in
the country. They collectively own 52.2% of cattle, 51.5% of buffalo, 46.1% of goats and 38.1%
of sheep population kept under rural setting. On the other hand, in large ruminants herd sizes up
to 10 animals in cattle and buffalo constitute 67.5% and 70.5%, respectively3 (Table 2). This
implies that crop-livestock farming is highly integrated in Pakistan and small sized farming (both
in terms of agricultural land and livestock herd sizes) constitutes the back bone of the agricultural
economy of Pakistan, particularly of livestock farming. Although no estimates about the animal
population associated with different production systems is available, general classifications of
production systems available in the literature include: i) grazing and stall-fed systems4; ii) rural
subsistence (i.e. milk production for own consumption of the household); iii) rural market oriented

3
In cattle, the marginal (up to 4 animals) and small sized (5 to 10 animals) herds constitute 35.0% and 32.5% of total
cattle population in the country. In buffaloes, the marginal (up to 4 animals) and small sized (5 to 10 animals) herds
constitute 36.3% and 34.1% of total buffalo population in the country.
4
The grazing based livestock farming is the peculiarity of the mountainous, rain fed, saline affected and desert areas
of Pakistan. In this system, goats and sheep farming is quite prominent, when compared with livestock farming in
irrigated areas. The stall-fed livestock farming is mainly practiced in the irrigated areas of Pakistan where some
proportion of the farm area is allocated to fodder crops and crop remains/straws/dry-stalks are fed to the animals
with green fodder (Sharif et al., 2003).
(i.e. small sized herders keeping 5 to 20 milking animals); iv) rural commercial farms having more
than 20 animals; and, v) peri-urban commercial farm (i.e. those settled at the outskirts of the cities
and/or cattle colonies, having herds up to 20 milking animals). In desert ecologies, the animal
production systems available are classified as nomadic, transhumant and sedentary types. As far
as commercial dairying is concerned, there are more than 100 commercial dairy farms and more
than 350 progressive dairy farmers are engaged in this business in the country and almost all are
located in Punjab. Another classification available in the literature pertains to milk production
locations, i.e. urban, peri-urban and rural setting (Figure 2).

Demand Side - Consumption Patterns

Considering consumers’ tastes and preferences, formal dairy products produced and
consumed in the country are pasteurized milk, UHT milk, condensed milk, butter, cream, ice
cream, yoghurt, cheese and milk powder. The informal dairy products 5 consumed in Pakistan
include boiled milk, khoya, rubbery and rubbery milk, ras malai, yoghurt, lassi, butter, qulfi, ice-
cream, and milk based sweets and confectionary items. However, consumers generally like using
fresh liquid milk. Due to higher buffalo and cattle population in Punjab and Sindh provinces, the
milk processing and marketing systems are relatively better established in these provinces, but still
deep rural areas and not approached by the existing milk marketing system. According to Sharif
et al. (2007) about 40 percent of the milk produced in transport-infrastructure approached area is
marketed in both formal and informal manners.
Using per capita monthly consumption of milk and milk products data from Household
Income and Expenditure Survey (2013-14) in urban and rural settings, and transforming it into
Liquid Milk Equivalent in Pakistan, it revealed that about 23 million tons of milk is formally
consumed in Pakistan. Comparing it with national milk production as 41.1 million tons, it came
out that over-supplies of more than 18 million tons is available in the country, which is either fed
to the animals or lost due to mismanagement. This also implies that conversion of this milk into
powder milk can generate about 1 million ton of dry milk – also can save huge amounts of foreign
exchange spent on import of adults and infants milk powder and the whey powder.

3. Milk Marketing
The dairy sector of Pakistan plays a significant role in the national economy. In 2013-14,
41.1 million tons of milk worth Rs.1766.51 billion was produced and its total value is almost
equivalent to the total value of wheat, maize and cotton along with their byproducts produced in
the country. By locations of production, according to Sharif et al. (2003), 80% was produced in
the rural areas, 15% in the per-urban and 5% in the urban settings. About 90% of the total milk
entering into the milk marketing channels is collected by the milkmen from subsistence farmers
(Sharif et al., 2003).

5
These products are not usually packed attractively in food grade quality packing materials. Rather the plastic bags
and containers are used for parceling these products to the consumers.
 The usual concept of markets does not apply as such in case of milk because no milk market
exists like food grains, fruits, vegetables, cloth or livestock markets, etc. Similarly the market types
like primary or secondary milk markets are also not applicable. The small sized farmers, milkmen,
milk processors, milk shops, traditional halwai, sweets and bakers, and tea stalls constitute the
main infrastructure of milk marketing. The milkman6 or dodhi is the main intermediary linking
peri-urban and rural milk producers with the urban consumers. A typical dodhi owns few metallic
containers/cans/canisters or empty plastic drums of imported chemicals. The amount of milk daily
traded by the milkmen vary between 50 and 150 liters, which they either sold as raw to the
consumers at their doorsteps, milk shops, vendors etc. Now Nestle and other big companies have
started milk collection and distribution activities using insulated vans/trucks and their collection
ranges also vary. They have established milk collection centers in the villages where milk is
purchased from producers primarily on the basis of fat contents. This milk is then pasteurized and
sold in loose form through milk shops having refrigerator (Athar and Raja 2002). A typical milk
vendor or halwai shop uses iron made pans and pots for boiling milk, as well as some aluminum
made utensils and big serving bowls (Sharif et al., 2003).
The milk marketing system is facing very serious challenges in areas like fragile production
base, poor infrastructure (roads, transport, containers used, etc.), financial insecurity, quality
assurance, untrained manpower and seasonality. All these collectively results in inefficient
marketing system. Adulterations practiced to cover the time lag between production and
consumption timings further generate health hazards on consumer side. These challenges are quite
serious as far as the overall development of dairy industry in Pakistan is concerned (Zia, 2006).

4. Milk Quality – Hygiene, Contamination and Adulteration

Milk - a highly perishable food item – is produced and consumed by billions of people on
the globe. In Pakistan its production has been taking place in small quantities by dispersed
producers whereas its marketing is relatively more concentrated in urban areas. Fresh milk from
healthy animals is practically free from bacteria and it must be protected against contamination as
soon as it leaves the udder of the animal. Milk is extracted from the animal at about 38oC and is
readily subject to contamination by a variety of micro-organisms capable of spoiling it. The shelf
life of the milk depends on bacterial population initially present in it and the temperature at which
it is stored. If milk is to be kept for any length of time without heat treatment, it must be stored at
below 4oC. In other words, milk must be chilled at below 4oC immediately after milking.
Moreover, due attention must be paid to hygienic condition at every stage till it reaches in the
hands of ultimate consumers (Sharif et al., 2003).
Milk gets easily contaminated if not properly handled. The main sources of contamination
are: i) milking is done by hand, usually after suckling by the calf. Except in a few modern large
farms, milking machines are not used; ii) use of contaminated drinking water for the animals,
bathing animals, washing utensils and cleaning the udder before milking, etc.; iii) unhygienic
conditions of the animal sheds; iv) animals suffering from different diseases, injuries and their

6
The milkmen are classified as kacha dodhi and pucca dodhi. Katcha dodhi is responsible for collecting milk (up to
100 liters/day) from villagers/farmers by personally visiting their farm or houses. Medium-sized or Pucca dodhi
deals with transporting milk to the cities by using various transport means. His quantity varies from 400 to 800 liters/
day. Large dodhies (contractors) purchase mostly from medium sized dodhies, collecting 40 to 70 maunds of milk
per day (Raja, 2003).
unclean bodies; v) dairy farm workers suffering from diseases like diarrhea and typhoid; vi)
contamination of milk due to dairy farms’ proximity to pollutant industries (leather, milk
processing, chemical industry etc.); vii) exposure of milk to dust and flies in both the rural and
urban areas; viii) flies at production places are also potent source of contamination for transmitting
diseases like typhoid, paratyphoid, dysentery and food poisoning; and, ix) the containers used in
transportation are also unhygienic. The predominant types of micro flora present in the milk
available to the urban consumers are coliforms, micrococci, lactic streptococci, and spore-forming
aerobes. The containers and utensils used during milk handling are the prime source of these
bacterial infestations. There is also a high incidence of thermoduric bacteria (Agrihunt.com).
As far as the use of various malpractices during milk storage and marketing is concerned,
generally, the adulteration starts after the milk leaves the dairy farms and rises rapidly until it
reaches the ultimate consumers. Under prevalent conditions, the required care is not observed in
milk handling. Several studies conducted to determine the quality of milk available to the
consumers clearly show that from milk production to retailing, the quality becomes so low that it
fails to meet the relevant legal standards. Unhygienic conditions under which the animals are
milked, small quantity of marketable surpluses sold to milkmen, long distances between the
production and consumption places, poor transportation, insufficient or non-availability of milk
cooling/chilling systems and high ambient temperature are the main quality related problems in
milk production and marketing. These problems not only deny due nutrition to the consumers, they
can create serious health problems, particularly for the children and the elderly largely due to
different chemical contaminations (Sharif et al., 2003; Zia et al., 2007). Unfortunately, due to
unorganized and un-regularized marketing system, the quality of the milk is hardly maintained at
consumer level (Memon, 2000; Ullah et al., 2005; Gilani, 2008; Javaid et al., 2009; Faraz et al,
20137; Awan et al., 20148). The same milk quality problems are also reported in India (CSE-India,
20129; Misra, 2012).
On consumers’ side, though more than 75 percent of urban consumers are aware about the
relatively better quality of pasteurized and UHT milk and the types of adulterations and chemicals
used by market intermediaries, they confine to checking it in terms of its physical look (i.e. color,
thickness, smell), taste and formation of thick layer of top or malai at cooling after boiling (Sharif
et al., 2007).

5. Milk Processing
To meet the demand of the growing population and increased urbanization, the processing
of milk for a higher shelf life is important. Milk processing in Pakistan started in the mid-fifties
but it got a boost as a part of development of the manufacturing sector in the country, somewhere

7
In conclusion section, they wrote like “Thus the milk marketed at these places could not be considered as “Milk”
in its real sense as it was only white milky watery fluid instead of wholesome milk”.
8
They tested chemical composition of 8 tetra pack milk samples, namely Olpers, Haleeb, Good milk, Everyday, Milk
Pack, Dairy Queen, Dairy Umang and Nurpur for the presence of various chemical adulterants (like, formalin, cane
sugar, starch, glucose, ammonium sulphate, salt, pulverized soap, detergents, skim milk powder, benzoic acid,
salicylic acid, borax, boric acid and alkalinity) in Southern Punjab. Adulterants like formalin, cane sugar, glucose,
alkalinity and benzoic acid were present in all samples while salt test was positive only for Olper milk.
9
According to Indian National Survey on Milk Adulteration (2011), 70% sample collected by Food Safety and
Standards Authority India (FSSAI) across the country did not confirm standards.
between sixties and seventies. In the sixties the private sector established 23 milk pasteurization
and sterilization plants around three big cities, i.e. Karachi and Lahore. These plants relied on
supplies of skimmed milk powder imported with the support of World Food program, recombined
and pasteurized before being sold to the consumers. Most of these plants were closed due to various
reasons ranging from technical non-feasibility to very expensive availability of packing material.
Weak acceptance of recombined milk by the consumers and its short shelf life was another causal
factor. There was a renewed interest in the milk processing industry in the late seventies and
eighties when policy support was provided by the government in the form of exemptions in income
tax, duty free import of machinery and equipment, and availability of domestic and foreign
currency financing. The success of Packages Limited in Ultra-High Temperature (UHT) milk
(Milk Pack), in 1977 also attracted new players into the field. As a result as many as 20 plants
were established between 1983 and 1987. The UHT milk received successful introduction in this
period when Tetra Pack Pakistan Limited started producing aseptic packaging material for the
UHT milk. Several UHT plants were set up in eighties while many others were sanctioned leading
to growth in cities. However, due to lack of technical expertise and financial issues, most of the
plants were again closed down. It is worth mentioning here that during 1990s, the per litre price of
UHT milk was twice higher than the loose milk supplied by the milkmen or dodhies, implying
difficult to compete with dodhies in milk marketing and little acceptance from consumers (Niazi
and Farooq, 2005; Sharif et al., 2007).
Milk processing industry got another boost in 2000s when the demand for milk in the urban
centres increased rapidly due to rising urbanization, and improved per capita income. Continued
and lengthy load-shedding also escalated the demand for the UHT milk. On the other hand, the
research and development undertaken by the milk processing and packaging industries has lowered
the costs of milk processing, the price differences between UHT treated and dodhies supplied milk
has reduced to 20% to 30%. Presently, 25 milk processing industries are engaged in the production
of pasteurized milk, UHT milk, UHT cream, milk powders and ice cream. Among these Swiss
Dairy giant, Nestle Pakistan has come into this sector in a big way, i.e. its daily milk processing
capacity ranges from 2 to 3 million litres. It is worth mentioning here that almost entire dairy
processing sector is confined to Punjab province only. But very few processing plants are located
in most buffalo+cattle populated districts like Muzaffargarh, Sargodha, Okara, Rahim Yar Khan,
Faisalabad, Bahawalnagar, Jhang and Kasur. All these districts have more than one million buffalo
& cattle heads and contain about 35 percent of rural large ruminants farming (Government of
Pakistan, 2012).
On the other hand, at milk production sites use of waste water for cleaning sheds, animal
bathing and cleaning utensils along with emission of greenhouse gases all add to environmental
pollution. On the other hand, milk processing is also subject to emission of pollutants in various
forms like liquid waste (waste water from washing and cleaning operations), solid waste (paper
and board for packaging) air emissions (burning of waste, hydrogen per oxide and milk powder
dust), soil pollution and noise. The generation of wastewater is the largest pollutant; a typical dairy
unit generates 6 to 30 cubic-meter of waste water for every cubic-meter of milk processed (ETPI,
2000). Unfortunately, there is little understanding or awareness in Pakistan about dairy-related
environmental damages (Zia et al., 2011).
6. Milk Production, Marketing and Processing --- Issues and
Challenges
Figure 2 characterizes milk production and marketing issues in urban, peri-urban and rural
settings. It is clear that milk collection and marketing system is limited to urban, peri-urban and
rural areas well connected to respective urban centers through good roads and better means of
transport. Villages falling at remote locations are deprived of availing milk marketing
opportunities. Ali and Saifullah (2006) revealed that the milk production is labour intensive and
prone to large number of biological, technical and socioeconomic constraints like poor genetic
potentials, feed shortage, high mortality rate, high inputs cost, scarcity of resources and inadequate
marketing system. Burki et al. (2005) while carrying a preliminary assessment of the state of
Pakistan diary, explored the dairy sector potential in marketing, its impact on the dairy economy
and identified areas where detailed research is needed. They highlighted important aspects related
to Pakistan’s dairy sector. Milkmen or dodhies is the main intermediary exploiting the milk
producers by offering low prices and obtaining high profits by various malpractices (extracting
milk cream, mixing of adulterants10 and chemical contaminations11) into it.
On the issues and challenges side, presently Pakistan’s dairy industry is facing a number
of problems like extensive commercial dairy farming, lack of dairy related education, lack of
financial and infrastructure facilities especially to livestock farmers in deep rural areas. Moreover,
lack of quality checks is the most neglected aspect of the whole system. In other words, there is
no test at any stage along the informal marketing chain. On the other hand, due to increase in
inflation and poverty levels, majority of the consumers in Pakistan are price conscious and prefer
buying raw loose milk compared to processed milk --- making loose milk marketing dominant in
the milk marketing system. Similarly, the milk produced in the urban and peri-urban settings is
insufficient to meet the total urban demand, hence generating enough room for carrying milk from
rural and deep rural areas (Jalil et al., 2009). Similarly, FAO (2011) recognizes seven issues of
Pakistan’s dairy sector as: i) low animal productivity due to lack of proper livestock management
practices and inaccessibility to support services; ii) widespread adulteration due to the absence of
an integrated cold chain; iii) lack of coordination among smallholder dairy farmers in milk
marketing; iv) non-regulation of inputs prices and no control over inflation vis-à-vis control over
milk prices by the local governments; v) lack of reliable dairy sector by production systems and
regions etc.; vi) lack of export competitiveness of Pakistani dairy products; vii) lack of due policy
support on most of the imported equipment for storage and processing.

10
Whey powder, dirty water, ice, water chestnut (singhara) flour, maize flour, guar meal, chalk powder, white cement,
oil, etc. According to Fakhar et al. (2006), addition of water and ice increases milk volume. To counter it, thickening
agents like starch, flour, skimmed milk powder, whey powder are added to it which also extend the solids contents
in the milk.
11
Urea, pesticides, penicillin, formalin, sodium bicarbonate, caustic soda, hydrogen per oxide, detergent powder, hair
removing powder, etc. According to Tariq (2001), materials like vegetable oil, sugarcane or urea are added to
compensate the fat, carbohydrates or protein contents of the diluted milk. Chemicals like hydrogen per oxide,
carbonates, bicarbonates, antibiotics, caustic soda, or even the most lethal chemical formalin are added to increase
the storage period of milk. On the other hand, use of detergents add the cosmetic nature of the milk, which diminishes
foamy appearance and whitening of milk or calcium thioglycolate/potassium thioglycolate/calcium salts of
thioglycolic acid or urea for whitening of milk, or giving milk a genuine look (Walker et al., 2004).
7. Summary and Suggestions
Livestock farming is an integral part of the rural economy of Pakistan. In Pakistan, 42.4
million tons of milk is produced by dispersed producers, mostly in small quantities. Pakistan is 3rd
largest milk producer in the world, despite that, Pakistan imported milk and its products worth
Rs.11.78 billion during 2013-14. On domestic front, due to various underlying factors, the demand
for milk and its products is likely to increase in future. However, the dairy sector has failed to
attract the attention of the policy makers and development practitioners.
On production side, 80% was produced in the rural areas, 15% in the per-urban and 5% in
the urban settings. Therefore, the milk produced in the urban and peri-urban settings is insufficient
to meet the total urban demand, hence providing enough room for carrying milk from rural areas.
Commercial dairy farming is slowly creeping in, but it is confined to mixed cropping system of
Punjab. Nearly 40% of the milk produced in the country is marketed through formal and informal
channels. About 90% of the total milk entering into the milk marketing channels is collected by
the milkmen from subsistence farmers. On consumption side, 26% of food budget is spent on milk
and its products produced by modern and traditional/informal sectors.
The milk marketing system is facing very serious challenges in areas like fragile production
base, poor infrastructure (roads, transport, containers used, etc.), financial insecurity, quality
assurance, untrained manpower and seasonality. All these collectively results in unorganized and
inefficient marketing system. Adulterations practiced to cover the time lag between production
and consumption timings further generate health hazards on consumer side.
Considering the quality of milk and its products available to the consumers, the unhygienic
conditions of livestock sheds, not bathing animals before milking, milking by hand, its collection
in small qualities, use of non-recommended utensils and containers for its handling, long distance
between production and consumption places, poor transport facilities, insufficient or non-
availability of milk cooling/chilling systems, highly ambient temperature, additives &
preservatives used for enhancing its shelf life are main quality related problems in the milk
production and marketing systems of Pakistan. So much so, adulterants like formalin, cane sugar,
glucose, benzoic acid and alkalinity were found in 8 well reputed brands of UHT milk sold in
Pakistan. All these problems collectively generate health related concerns, rather than addressing
the nutrition of the consumers. Turning the legal framework, the existing laws seems became
obsolete and need to be revised. The latest Punjab Pure Food Rules is relatively more
comprehensive than the previous acts, ordinance and regulations.
Turning to milk processing, till now four rounds (in mid-1950s, 1960s, late 1970s and
2000s) have been made to establish a sound milk processing setup in the country. In all these
rounds, the number of industries established remained between 20 and 30 and it confined to the
Punjab province only.
On the issues and challenges side, presently Pakistan’s dairy industry is facing a number
of problems like extensive commercial dairy farming, lack of dairy related education, lack of
financial and infrastructure facilities especially to livestock farmers in deep rural areas. Moreover,
lack of quality checks is the most neglected aspect of the whole system. In other words, there is
no test at any stage along the informal marketing chain. On the other hand, due to inflation and
high poverty levels, majority of our consumers are price conscious and prefer buying raw loose
milk, making marketing of loose milk, the backbone of milk marketing system in Pakistan.
 Suggestions and Recommendations
Considerable opportunities are present for the investment in dairy farming and dairy
processing related industrialization in the country. For providing health safe milk and its products
to every consumers, for the entire dairy value chain, the following suggestions are hereby put
forward:
 The milk products production patterns of current milk processing industries shows that
majority of them also produce milk powder along with producing UHT milk. It is suggested to
encourage installing milk powder producing industries in deep rural areas.
 There is a need to extend the establishment of milk processing industries to Sindh province as
nearly one-fourth of the total cattle as well as buffalo population is present in the province.
 Along with enforcing food safety standards in line with international standards at milk
producing, marketing and processing levels, the electronic and print media should be
effectively used for discouraging the use of non-recommended utensils and containers for milk
handling. The small farmers should be educated to employ every possible care for hygienic
milk production and its handling.
 Cooperative milk marketing may also be promoted in rural areas by extending chilling facilities
to such cooperatives. Moreover, there is also a need to strengthen urban consumer societies
and establishing such societies in rural areas.
 Strict regulatory frameworks need to be formulated and implemented along with fast
processing of adulterations related cases at the courts.
 There is also a need to establish “Dairy Development Authority” by making the progressive
dairy farmers, processors and government stakeholders as its board members.

8. References
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Ather, I., H. and Rafaqat H. Raja, 2002. “Milk Production, Collection, Preservation and Processing
in Pakistan”, Animal Sciences Institute, National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad.
Awan, A., M. Naseer, A. Iqbal, M. Ali, R. Iqbal and F. Iqbal, 2014. “A Study on Chemical
Composition and Detection of Chemical Adulteration in Tetra Pack Milk Samples
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January 2014. 183-186.
Burki, A.A., M.A. Khan and F. Bari., 2005. “The State of Pakistan’s Dairy Sector: An
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CSE-India (Centre for Science and Environment, India), 2012. “Adulterated Milk is What Indians
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Adulteration, Chemical Composition and Hygienic Status of Milk Supplied to Various
Canteens of Educational Institutes and Public Places in Faisalabad”, The Journal of Animal
and Plant Sciences, 23(1-Supplement): 119-124.
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Accessed on 24-03-2016.
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47(2): 229-242.
Javaid, S.B., J.A. Gadahi, M. Khaskeli, M.B. Bhutto, S. Kumbher and A.H. Panhwar, 2009.
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Veterinary Journal, 29(1), 27-31.
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W. Malik and M. Ashraf (Eds.) “Socioeconomic Research Studies 2003-04: Federal - SSI”,
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Production and Composition of Milk and Protein”, Australian Journal of Agriculture, 55:
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Pakistan”, Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, Australia.
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 Figure – 1: Top Five Milk Producing Countries of the World

140

120

100
Million Tons

80

60

40

20

0
India USA Pakistan China Russian Fed.

Source: www.veterinaryhub.com/top-milk-producing-countries-of-world

Figure – 2: Trends in Total Milk Production and it Composition by Species in Pakistan

120 45.0
40.0
% share in total milk production

100

Milk Production (Billion tons)

35.0
80 30.0
25.0
60
20.0
40 15.0
10.0
20
5.0
0 0.0
1971-72
1973-74
1975-76
1977-78
1979-80
1981-82
1983-84
1985-86
1987-88
1989-90
1991-92
1993-94
1995-96
1997-98
1999-00
2001-02
2003-04
2005-06
2007-08
2009-10
2011-12
2013-14

Years
Camel Goats Sheep Buffaloes Cattle Total Milk
 Figure 2: Milk Production, Marketing Channels, Issues and Challenges

Med.-to-large production units Mostly small production units

Good milk yield per animal Low milk yield per animal
Major proportion sold out Major proportion self-consumed
farm-dodies-shop/halwai/cons. Farm-dodies-coll.centers-cons.
Low marketing costs High transport, cooling, process
High producer prices costs --- high marketing costs
Easy access to services Low producer prices
Higher feed costs Difficult access to services
Higher animal replacement cost Rural commercial farms vary in Low feed, fodder & land costs
Severe Hygiene & Disease size, functions & road access Low animal replacement cost
Manure Disposal!! Challenges Low Disease Challenges
Serious Quality-Adulteration No Quality-Adulteration Issues
Issues Peri-Urban
Mainly self-consumed, some sold in

Mainly self-consumed, some sold in

Dairying
village, remaining to dodhies

village, remaining to dodhies

Mainly supplied to
Mainly supplied to

urban markets
urban markets

Urban
Markets /
Cattle
Colonies

Peri-Urban
Med.-to-large production units Dairying
Good milk yield per animal
Major proportion sold out
farm-dodies/collect-center-
urban shop/halwai, consum. Rural commercial farms vary in
Medium marketing costs size, functions & road access
Medium producer prices
Easy access to services
Medium feed costs
High animal replacement cost Poor roads and transport infrastructure and
Moderate hygiene & Disease long distances.
Manure Disposal!! Challenge
Moderate Quality- Farmers not organized and have low bargaining
Adulteration Issues power, therefore, exploited by dodies.
Chilling facilities at farm level, competitive
procurement system (coll. centers) & localized
processing plants can improve situation.

Source: Developed by the author in the light of literature review carried out for this study.
 Table 1: Crop-Livestock Integration in Farming of Pakistan
Farm HH Farm Area Cattle Buffaloes Goats Sheep
Marginal (upto 5 acres) 64.7 19.2 32.4 29.6 28.6 21.1
Small (5 to 12.5 acres) 24.8 28.8 19.8 21.9 17.5 17.0
Medium (12.5 to 25 acres) 6.8 17.7 7.4 7.6 6.5 7.3
Large (25 – 50 acres) 2.6 12.7 3.6 3.6 3.2 3.4
Landlord (>50 acres) 1.1 21.5 2.2 5.3 2.4 7.8
Livestock holders - - 34.6 31.9 38.2 42.7
Non-agricultural HH - - - - 3.6 0.8
Total Population 8264515 52910399 24114435 23468169 45738230 15025647
Source: Agriculture Census of Pakistan, 2010.

Table 2: Livestock composition by species in Pakistan

Herd sizes Cattle % Buffalo % Herd sizes Goats % Sheep %
All Pakistan 29558815 27707048 ALL PAKISTAN 53752533 26487737
1-2 animals 4405026 14.9 4292147 15.7 1-5 animals 11970291 22.27 1955099 7.38
3-4 animals 5938712 20.1 5769695 21.1 6-15 animals 15537625 28.91 3870360 14.61
5-6 animals 4555836 15.4 4364217 15.9 6-30 animals 8646574 16.09 4083541 15.42
7-10 animals 5063009 17.1 5095652 18.6 31-50 animals 4870032 9.06 3198506 12.08
11-15 animals 2594914 8.8 2734047 10.0 1-75 animals 2864065 5.33 2287475 8.64
16-20 animals 1237386 4.2 1330597 4.9 76-100 animals 1680117 3.13 1722835 6.50
21-30 animals 1132350 3.8 1081067 3.9 101-150 animals 2039666 3.79 1957995 7.39
31-50 animals 923394 3.1 764382 2.8 151-200 animals 1163153 2.16 1127537 4.26
50 and more 3708188 12.6 1902328 6.9 201-350 animals 1638253 3.05 2098018 7.92
351animals and more 3342757 6.22 4186371 15.80
Source: Livestock Census of Pakistan, 2006.

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