Dr. BAZ MUHAMMAD JUNEJO
Ex-Secretary, Livestock & Fisheries, Government of Sindh.
This is in reference to the news, ‘Premier approves halal meat export policy’, published in Dawn on 19th December 2025, a good decision for the development of the livestock sector of the country.
The arid and semi-arid areas of the country, especially Thar in Sindh and Cholistan in Punjab, are suitable for profitable meat farming.
The province of Sindh possesses a livestock population above 70 million, which is 26% of the country’s total livestock population. This includes the best breed for producing quality meat, milk, wool and hairs. There, the manure and urine is useful for increasing the fertility of land and the production of organic crops.
Livestock is the main source of earning for the rural population. Their contribution is pivotal as they breed the meat and dairy animals for milk and meat production, and supply it to the urban areas mainly in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur.
Globally, it is a well established fact that irrigated areas are conducive for dairy farming, while the arid and semi-arid areas sustain meat and wool farming better. For that matter, Australia has designated three production zones; with the dairy production zone in irrigated areas, the meat production zone in semi-arid areas, and the wool production zone in arid areas.
The Long Reach area in Australia is an arid area like the Thar Desert and has developed as a wool production zone, was called as the ‘Wool Capital of the World’ and the ‘Centre of Golden Fleece’ and is comparatively more profitable than the other production zones. Such a development plan enables the Australian economy to hinge entirely on the livestock sector for its sustenance.
In Pakistan, the semi-arid and arid areas such as the Thar desert region in Sindh and the Cholistan desert region in Punjab, are tailor made for livestock farming especially meat farming.
The desert area of Thar region starts from Badin and continues along Tharparkar, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, all the way to Sanghar. It possesses the best cattle breed in the country, Tharparkar and Kankrej, and Cholistan desert also possess the best cattle breed, Cholistani.
These cattle breeds produce the best meat because their growth rate is very fast, their calving rate is encouraging even on regular fodder, and their adult male weigh more than 500 kg. However, their age of maturity is overwhelmingly delayed due to poor breeding and feeding practices, and absence of proper management. The beef obtained from well-fattened adult male is above 55% of body weight and very nutritious, energetic, digestible and tasty.
The farmers in Thar region are rearing more than 6 million breeding dams of Tharparkar and Kankrej cattle breed. They produce more than 2 million male calves annually and sell the immature and weak calves to butchers for slaughtering. If the Thar region in Sindh and the Cholistan region in Punjab are designated as meat production zones through provision of the establishment of a meat company for better breeding, management, nutrition and disease control facilities on a cooperative basis, the age of maturity can be reduced by at least one year, and the body weight can be further increased.
For further increment in meat production, there should be a strict ban on the slaughtering of calves of both the sexes, at least up to the age of twelve months after weaning period, and that of dams up to the age of fertility. It is also pivotal to ensure that the trade of meat animals be contingent upon their weight, incentivising every farmer to fatten their animal properly before selling. Through such pragmatic measures, the number of breeding dams can be increased, the production of quality meat for inland consumption can be beefed up, and even the meat exports can be enhanced significantly.