Country Report on State of Animal Genetic Resources of Pakistan Prepared for Submission to FAO for First Report on the State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources (SoWAnGR) March 2003 i CONTENTS Abbreviations................................................................................................................ii Introduction.................................................................................................................. 1 1. State of Agricultural Biodiversity in the Farm Animal Sector in Pakistan......... 1 1.1 Overview of Pakistan’s Animal Production Systems and Related Animal Biodiversity......................................................................................................... 3 1.2 State of Conservation of Farm Animal Biodiversity............................................ 8 1.3 State of Utilization of Farm Animal Genetic Resources ................................... 10 1.4 Critical Areas of AnGR Conservation and Utilization ....................................... 14 2. Changing Demands on Livestock Production and Their Implications for Future National Policies, Strategies and Programmes Related to AnGR ...... 14 2.1 Review of Past Policies, Strategies, Programmes, and Management Practices .......................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Analyzing Future Demands and Trends .......................................................... 17 2.3 Alternative Strategies in Conservation, Use and Development of AnGR ......... 18 2.4 Future National Policy, Strategy and Management Plans for the Conservation, Use and Development of AnGR................................................. 19 3. State of National Capacities and Assessing Future Capacity Building Requirements..................................................................................................... 20 3.1 Organization of Livestock Sector in Pakistan................................................... 20 3.2 Education and Training ................................................................................... 21 3.3 Applied Research and Development ............................................................... 21 3.4 Livestock Extension Services.......................................................................... 22 3.5 Linkage of Education Research and End-Users .............................................. 23 4. National Priorities for Conservation and Utilization.......................................... 23 4.1 National Cross-cutting Priorities ...................................................................... 24 4.2 Priorities among Species and Breeds.............................................................. 26 5. Recommendations for Enhanced International Co-operation in the Field of Animal Biodiversity ........................................................................................... 27 6. Other Elements .................................................................................................... 28 6.1 Country Report Preparation Process............................................................... 28 6.2 Executive Summary ........................................................................................ 29 6.3 Annexes (Figures, Tables and Appendices).................................................... 31 6.4 Case Studies................................................................................................... 43 ii Abbreviations AI Artificial Insemination AJK Azad Jammu and Kashmir AnGR Animal Genetic Resources BAP Biodiversity Action Plan DAD-IS Domestic Animal Diversity Information System FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GDP Gross Domestic Product GOP Government of Pakistan GTZ German Technical Cooperation IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IK Idara-e-Kissan LSB Lyallpur Silver Black MINFAL Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock NGO Non-Governmental Organization NWFP North West Frontier Province PARC Pakistan Agricultural Research Council SPU Semen Production Unit SoWAnGR State of World’s Animal Genetic Resources WTO World Trade Organization 1 Introduction o o o o Pakistan is located in south Asia between 24 and 37 N and 61 and 75 E. It is situated along both sides of the historic Indus River, following its course from the mountain valleys of the Himalayas down to the Arabian Sea (Figure 1). It lies at the crossroad of what is known as Central Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Sub- continent. It is bordered by India on the East, Afghanistan on the West, China on the North and the Arabian Sea on the South. In the Northeast is the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, of which the part occupied by Pakistan is called Azad Kashmir. Pakistan, officially Islamic Republic of Pakistan, emerged on the globe in 1947. It is a federation of four provinces: Balochistan, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab and Sindh. Islamabad is capital city of Pakistan and Karachi is its largest city. The estimated human population is 142 million (Table 1) with an annual growth rate of 2.2%. Of the total population, 67 percent lives in rural areas. Punjab is the most populated of the four administrative units (provinces) having 56% of the country’s population while Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Northern Areas share the rest. The climate of Pakistan varies with altitude, which in turn affects the type of vegetation. It has some of the world’s highest cold areas that are located at 5,175 meters above sea level in the Himalayas and the hottest low areas in the Indus Plains, where temperature exceeds 50oC. Based on the physiography, geology, climate and agricultural land use, the country can be divided into 10 agro-ecological zones (Appendix 1). The total geographical area of Pakistan is 79.61 million hectares (ha). Cropped area is 22.0 million ha (28%), of which 17.8 million ha is irrigated, and remaining is rainfed (Table 2). Thus, Pakistan has one of the highest proportions of irrigated-cropped area. The area under forest is 3.7 million ha which is about 4.8% of the total geographical area. The cultivated land has increased over the years at a rate of less than 1% per year. The cultivable wastelands offering good possibilities of crop production amount to 9.03 million ha (GOP, 2001) Main water sources in the country are rivers, groundwater and rainfall. Indus river system, which forms the largest irrigation system in the world, provides 60% of the total irrigation water. Ground water and rainfall supply the rest (25 and 15%, respectively). Low rainfalls are common during various years and thus pose problems to agriculture production and wildlife, in the rain-fed areas. Drought conditions can affect more than 50% of water supply during certain years. 1. State of Agricultural Biodiversity in the Farm Animal Sector in Pakistan Agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy and is central to the socio- economic development of Pakistan. Rural population depends on agriculture as a major source of their income. Agriculture sector contributes over 26% to GDP and employs 44% of the total work force of the country (Table 3). About 65% exports are agro-based. Agriculture sector also provides a linkage for promoting growth in the other sectors (GOP, 2002). Agricultural production is dominated by crop production, which accounts for almost 61 percent of agriculture's GDP (at constant prices). There are four major crops, namely, wheat, rice, cotton and sugarcane. These crops account for 90% of value added in major crops and contribute 40% to value added in agriculture. The cotton and rice are grown surplus and thus exported to other countries. Two million tons of rice, for example, was exported in 2000-2001. The minor crops (fruits, vegetables, pulses, potatoes, onions, chillies, garlic etc.) account for 10% of value added (GOP, 2001). Edible oil seeds are imported, the value of which was Rs. 2 19.04 billion in 2000-2001. Although, there is agricultural activity in all areas of Pakistan, most crops are grown in the Indus River plain in Punjab and Sindh. Agriculture has grown at an average rate of 4.4% per annum in the 90’s with wide fluctuation from -5.3% to +11.7% (Table 5). These fluctuations were mainly due to the variations in the production of major crops. The low crop yield was due to weather, pest infestation and adulterated pesticides. Agriculture sector has fairly large potential for growth. Gaps between potential yield and national average are fairly wide. Production has traditionally been constrained by problems of technical, institutional and policy nature. Technical constraints are poor agronomic and harvest management practices, non-availability and inappropriate use of physical inputs. Institutional constraints include non-availability of capital, inadequate research and extension services, inefficient agricultural education and training, lack of statistics and information system, and complex agriculture credit institutions. The livestock sector accounts for 38% of agricultural value added and about 9% of the GDP (Table 4). Its net foreign exchange earnings were to the tune of Rs. 53 billion in 2000-2001, which is almost 12.3 percent of the overall export earnings of the country. The role of livestock in rural economy may be realized from the fact that 30-35 million rural population is engaged in livestock raising. The average household holding size is 2- 3 cattle/buffalo and 5-6 sheep/goat per family deriving 30-40 percent of their income