KARACHI, June 11: The allocation of Rs1.5 billion to bring “white revolution” through promotion of livestock sector in the budget 2008-09 is very insufficient keeping in view $300 million (about Rs20 billion) of foreign exchange being spent on importing powdered milk annually to meet the demand of the urban areas.

Finance Minister Syed Naveed Qamar in his budget speech told the National Assembly on Wednesday that Rs350 million had been set aside for milk collection/processing and dairy production and development programme.

According to the minister Pakistan is the fifth largest milk producer in the world, but its dairy sector has been neglected by the successive governments. The country is surplus in milk production despite having lowest per cattle yield in the world.

Talking to Dawn Sindh Abadgar Board Chairman Majid Nizamani said that due to lack of proper planning, collection and distribution facilities, a major portion of the total milk production was consumed by the producers in the far-flung areas.

He said the country’s tremendous potential to increase its milk production had so far remained unexplored due to the inactivity of the departments concerned.

The milk production, despite its lowest yield in the world, is even far ahead of the major cash crops of wheat, cotton, rice and sugarcane.

In Pakistan only 3 to 4 per cent of the total milk is processed and marketed through formal channels whereas the remaining reaches consumers through an extensive, multi-layered distribution system of middlemen.

The unprocessed milk passes through the middle persons before it reaches the urban retailer. The price of milk increases by one rupee per litre at every stage of sale.

Pakistan can successfully harness to its advantage if due attention is paid to this sector as there is huge demand of both powdered and packed milk in Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Philippines.

It is estimated that presently only about 22 per cent of milk production is processed in Pakistan, about 57.5 per cent is supplied to urban areas in raw form in most unhygienic conditions causing real health hazards. Rest is consumed by the farmers especially in the far-flung areas for lack of proper facilities to take it to deficient areas.

About 75 per cent of the total production of raw milk is produced in Punjab, 14pc in Sindh 10pc in the NWFP and only one per cent in Balochistan. In Punjab there are more buffalos than cows in about 60-40 ratio, in Sindh it is 50-50, in the NWFP 20pc buffalos and 80pc cows. In Balochistan there are mostly cows.