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An overview of poultry industry in
Pakistan
J. HUSSAIN
1
, I. RABBANI
2
, S. ASLAM
3
and H.A. AHMAD
4
*
1
Department of Poultry Production, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences
Lahore, Pakistan;
2
Department of Physiology, University of Veterinary and Animal
Sciences Lahore, Pakistan;
3
Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery,
University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, Pakistan;
4
Department of
Biology, Jackson State University, Jackson MS USA
*Corresponding author: hafiz.a.ahmad@jsums.edu
The poultry sector is an important and vibrant segment of agriculture in Pakistan
with a significant contribution to the national GDP (1.3%). Commercial poultry
production in Pakistan started in the 1960's and has been providing a significant
portion of daily proteins to the Pakistani population ever since. During its evolution
the industry enjoyed promotional policies of the Government, but has faced several
challenges such as disease outbreaks and retail price fluctuations. Despite its
important role in the country's economy, not a single scientific study is available
on its evolutionary history. The data available in this regard are scattered and lack
reliability. This review is an effort to encompass the history of the overall growth of
the poultry industry in Pakistan, its present status (2012 statistics) and future
directions and challenges. This article may serve as the basic source of
information on Pakistan's poultry industry achievements. It will also guide
poultry experts and policy makers for developing strategic planning for further
growth of the industry.
Keywords: poultry industry; Pakistan; growth; economic importance; potential
constraints
Introduction
In Pakistan the poultry sector is playing an important role in bridging the gap between the
supply and demand for protein. Commercial poultry farming started in Pakistan in the
early 1960s and showed rapid growth over the decades. The early growth of this sector
was the result of the promotional policies from the Government and the persistency of the
poultry farming community. The Government considered the poultry production chain to
be a crucial part of the food processing industry and gave special incentives to this sector,
and hence the poultry sector was declared free of sales and income tax as well as exempt
from import duties for a number of years (Sadiq, 2004). As a result, during the early
doi:10.1017/S0043933915002366
© World's Poultry Science Association 2015
World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 71, December 2015
Received for publication August 21, 2013
Accepted for publication July 24, 2015 689
1970s, the sector saw 20-30% growth per annum, and continued to grow at a rate of 10-
15% in the 1980s. The most important reason for this growth was a vibrant domestic
market, due to which poultry meat consumption increased more than 4% per year (Sadiq,
2004).
In Pakistan, poultry production is one of the most dynamic and well organised sectors
contributing 26.8%, 5.76% and 1.26% respectively to total meat production, agricultural
sector and overall GDP. In the last few years, the poultry sector has shown excellent
growth and has emerged as a source of employment for more than 1.5 million people
(GOP, 2014).
History of the poultry industry in Pakistan
Before 1963 native chickens provided the source of eggs and meat in Pakistan, and these
birds produce, on average, 0.769 kg of meat at four months of age (Sahota and Bhatti,
2003a) and lay 30 eggs a year (Sahota and Bhatti, 2003b). These birds were raised as a
backyard activity to meet individual household needs. In 1965-66, an improved variety of
chicken called Lyallpur Sliver Black (LSB) was introduced by the Department of Poultry
Husbandry at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. This breed was developed by
crossing the native Desi breed with three imported breeds, namely; White Leghorn,
White Cornish and New Hampshire in a two-way cross breeding program to develop
a breed that could survive under the harsh environmental conditions of rural areas, as
well as being capable of producing up to 150 eggs per year (Siddiqui et al., 1979). In the
mid 1960's Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), in collaboration with Shaver Poultry
Breeding Farms of Canada established Pakistan's first commercial hatchery in Karachi
(Sindh Province). At the same time, Lever Brothers Pvt. Ltd. established the first
commercial poultry feed mill in the district Rahim Yar Khan in the Punjab province
(Memon, 2012).
Introductory period (1965-1970)
In this period, early poultry ventures, especially those involving financial risks, were
strongly supported by the government. Poultry production was exempt from national tax
levies. Poultry producers were allowed to import genetically improved breeding stocks
and equipment as duty free items. The perception of human protein deficiency in
Pakistan, excellent profit margins, availability of technologies and support from the
Government were the main forces behind shaping the early structure of the industry.
The Directorate of Poultry Production in Karachi was established in order to provide
extension services to a steadily growing poultry farming community.
Institutional development phase (1971-1980)
With the poultry-friendly policies of the Government and good profits, poultry
production developed as a profitable enterprise in Pakistan. The success in this sector
encouraged the government to strengthen institutions serving this industry. This era was
characterised by the establishment of the Federal Poultry Board in1979 in order to
establish an effective link between industry and government. Poultry research
institutes were established in 1978 in Karachi and Rawalpindi with assistance from
UNDP/FAO funds to provide research services to poultry farmers. This era is
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690 World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 71, December 2015
considered a boom period in the history of the poultry industry in Pakistan. Special
incentives made by the Sindh Government in terms of availability of state land for
poultry farming under ten year leases and the nationalisation of other industries by
the federal Government attracted a number of entrepreneurs to this sector. However,
during this time the poultry industry suffered in terms of limited marketing opportunities
due to the imposition of a ban on the export of poultry products. Disease problems,
relatively high prices of poor quality feed and a limited supply of feed ingredients further
deteriorated the situation. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Poultry Association was established in
1979 to promote lobbying to uplift the status of the industry and farmers. From 1971 to
1980, the poultry industry experienced 177%, 271% and 297% overall growth in total
number of birds, total poultry meat production and total number of eggs, respectively
(GOP, 2013).
The following are the major policy decisions by the Government that helped the earlier
growth of the industry (Memon, 2012):
1.Exemption of taxes from the income earned from poultry farming.
2.Permission to import poultry equipments and flocks under the free list.
3.Leasing of state land at nominal rates.
4.Provision of subsidies on grains to formulate low cost, high quality rations.
5.Declaration of Tuesday and Wednesday as meat-less days all except chicken to
promote its consumption.
6.Establishment of Poultry Research Institutes, directorates of poultry production and
Federal Poultry Board with the motives to train poultry farmers and provide research
services and to create a link between the Government and poultry farming
community.
7.Facilitation to the availability of loans through different financial institutions
The depression and adjustment phase (1981-1990)
During this period the poultry industry underwent a unique geographic relocation. In the
early 1980's, the size and volume of poultry industry showed a remarkable decrease in
the Sindh province. Additionally poultry farms located in different clusters faced a
number of problems. Diseases outbreaks and decreased productivity due to climatic
stress required long term solutions. Keeping all these constraints in mind, more
progressive farmers decided to relocate farms to the relatively cooler and more
biosecure northern areas of Pakistan. During this phase the poultry industry
experienced 118%, 190% and 94% growth respectively in terms of total number of
birds, overall meat production and egg production (GOP, 2013).
Severe disease outbreaks and re-emergence of the industry (1991-
2000)
This period was characterised by a number of disasters in the industry, especially from
disease. Hydro Pericardium Syndrome (HPS) appeared in 1990 and caused a huge
damage to broiler and broiler breeder flocks. Gumboro appeared in 1991-and
adversely effected broiler, layer and parent flocks. While the industry was trying to
adjust itself from the earlier HPS and Gumboro attacks, another outbreak of Avian
Influenza in Murree and Abbotabad in 1995 occurred in the parent flocks and caused
up to 80% mortality (Akhtar, 1994; Anjum et al., 1994).
The emergence of these diseases opened new avenues in the industry, whereby
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World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 71, December 2015 691
prophylactic measures regarding vaccination and biosecurity were introduced. New
companies for the import of vaccines and medicines were established. The University
of Agriculture in Faisalabad, poultry and veterinary research institutes played important
roles in controlling these problems (PPA, 2013a). On the other hand, lack of planning led
to an oversupply of parent stock in the country in 1996, which caused a sharp decline in
day old chick prices below the cost of production. In 1997, the imposition of a ban by the
federal Government on serving lunch in marriage functions (where chicken was
consumed) further deteriorated the situation, as it reduced the demand of poultry
products in the local market by about 40%. In 1998 chick prices improved and
breeding and hatchery companies became more financially secure, but in 1999 the
industry again suffered due to the appearance of influenza-like diseases (PPA, 2013a).
Despite the industry experiencing heavy losses during this phase, it kept on growing and
showed an excellent growth rate in terms of total number of birds produced, overall
poultry meat production and total number of eggs produced with the growth values as 99,
125 and 67% (GOP, 2013), respectively.
Poultry farming in recent times (2001 until now)
The poultry industry started to stabilise in the late 1990s by gaining better profit margins
on poultry products. New investors entered into the industry and adopted modern
technologies such as environmentally controlled housing. In this phase the industry
received huge investments from new investors and poultry farming started shifting
from open sided houses to new, state of the art barns. The establishment of the
University of Veterinary and Animal Science in Lahore in 2002 was a further step
towards extending support to this fast growing industry in Pakistan by helping solve
disease issues and providing trained personnel. The students obtaining the veterinary
medicine and poultry science degrees proved to be an asset for the industry.
Up until 2004 the poultry industry enjoyed excellent growth with good profit margins
however, the emergence of avian influenza in South East Asia (Naeem and Siddique,
2006), and its rumoured spread into Pakistan retarded this growth. The imposition of the
ban on the import of poultry products by Middle East countries further deteriorated the
situation. Despite its ups and downs, the Pakistan industry still attained 127% growth in
the total number of birds produced, 126% growth in the total meat production and 71%
growth in terms of total eggs produced between 2000 and 2010 (GOP, 2013). The reason
behind this extraordinary growth is the existence of the strong base of this industry in
Pakistan. Presently the cheapest available sources of animal protein in Pakistan are the
eggs and meat from the poultry sector (PPA, 2013a). The overall growth of the poultry
industry in Pakistan in terms of total number of birds, total meat and eggs produced is
presented in Figures 1, 2 and 3.
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692 World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 71, December 2015
Figure 1 Overall growth in terms of total number of poultry birds (million no.) Source: Federal Bureau of
Statistics, Government of Pakistan.
Figure 2 Overall growth in terms of total Poultry Meat Production (000 tons) Source: Federal Bureau of
Statistics, Government of Pakistan.
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World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 71, December 2015 693
Figure 3 Overall growth in terms of total number of Eggs produced (million no.) Source: Federal Bureau
of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.
Present status
Despite showing excellent potential and growth over the years, per capita availability of
poultry meat in Pakistan is still 5 kg and 51 eggs per year, compared to developed
countries where these figures are 41 kg meat and 300 eggs (PPA, 2013b). According to
the World Health Organisation (WHO), the average daily requirement for animal protein
is 27 g per person, whereas in Pakistan it is only 17 g (Memon, 2012). Out of this 17 g,
the share of proteins from poultry is just 5 g, causing a gap of 10 g per person per day. If
calculated on an annual basis, bearing in mind the present population of Pakistan (180
million), this gap is 788,000 t of meat. In the national meat pool the share of beef and
mutton is either constant or decreasing steadily and the poultry sector has the potential to
fill this gap (Table 1).
Table 1 Present Status of Commercial Poultry (2013-14 statistics).
Type Units 2013-14
Domestic poultry Million nos. 82.08
Cocks Million Nos. 10.66
Hens Million Nos. 39.47
Chicken Million Nos. 31.95
Eggs Million Nos. 3947
Meat 000 Tonnes 110.79
Duck, Drake & Duckling Million Nos. 0.50
Eggs Million Nos. 22.17
Meat 000 Tonnes 0.67
Commercial poultry Million Nos. 50.1
Layers Million Nos. 39.86
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694 World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 71, December 2015
Type Units 2013-14
Broilers Million Nos. 722.39
Breeding stock Million Nos. 10.19
Day old chicks Million Nos. 754.54
Eggs Million Nos. 10586
Meat 000 Tonnes 875.24
Total poultry
Day old chicks Million Nos. 786
Poultry birds Million Nos. 855
Eggs Million Nos. 14556
Poultry meat 000 Tonnes 987
GOP, 2014
Relationship between the human population and the poultry industry
The human population in Pakistan is increasing at a rate of 2.03% per annum (GOP,
2013). There exists a strong correlation (89.0%) between the human population and
poultry growth in Pakistan. This estimate shows the potential for the future growth of
this industry in Pakistan (Figure 4).
Figure 4 Relation between the growth of human and poultry population in Pakistan Source: Federal
Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.
Table 1 Continued
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World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 71, December 2015 695
Comparison of poultry meat with beef and mutton
Poultry production has increased its share steadily in the total meat pool of the country
(Figure 5). In 1971, the market share of beef was 61%, mutton was 37%, and poultry
meat a mere 2-2.5% (GOP, 2013). In 2010 the market share of poultry meat had
increased to 25%, whereas beef and mutton had reduced to 55% and 20%
respectively (GOP, 2013). It was this dynamic increase in the overall magnitude of
poultry sector that decreased the gap between the supply and demand of animal
proteins in Pakistan, and also assisted in stabilising beef and mutton prices, making
meat affordable to most of the Pakistani population.
Figure 5 A comparison between the shares of different meat sources in overall meat production of the
country (1971-2010) Source: Federal Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.
Seasonal variation in the prices of poultry products
The demand and supply mechanism governed the prices of poultry products in Pakistan,
but there has always existed a huge variation of price of poultry products on a monthly
basis, suggesting the influence of seasonal variations being more pronounced than for any
other commodity. During the months of extreme heat (May to July) and cold (November
to January) weather, day old chick prices were the lowest. This may have been attributed
to the increased brooding costs in winter and higher mortality rates in summer. The
highest farm gate rates regarding commercial broilers were observed in the months of
March and April (GOP, 2013) as these are the months of marriage ceremonies in
Pakistan, which increased demand for broiler meat. December and January, being the
coldest months, resulted in increased egg consumption and concurrent costs. Seasonal
highs and lows in the prices of poultry products have become a regular feature and need
to be resolved in order to ensure the stability of the industry. Figures 6, 7 and 8 depict
seasonal variation in prices of day-old chicks, live broilers and eggs (per 30 dozen).
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696 World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 71, December 2015
Figure 6 Studying variation in day old chick prices Source: Federal Bureau of Statistics, Government of
Pakistan.
Figure 7 Studying variation in commercial broiler farm gate rates Source: Federal Bureau of Statistics,
Government of Pakistan.
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World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 71, December 2015 697
Figure 8 Prices for the eggs per box of 30 dozen Source: Federal Bureau of Statistics, Government of
Pakistan.
Exports from the poultry sector
As poultry is sold as guaranteed Halal meat from a Muslim country, the Pakistani
industry has potential regarding the export of raw and value added meat products. In
previous years Pakistan's poultry sector has shown a little activity regarding the export of
live and processed poultry products. In the year 2010-11, it earned Rs. 1.08 billion
(according to exchange rate of Pakistan one Pakistani rupee was equal to 0.01172
USD in June 2010) in exports, but in the next year (2011-12) this decreased to Rs.
365 million. The main markets for Pakistani chicken products are Afghanistan, Iran,
Turkey, Bahrain, Vietnam and Hong Kong. It still has the scope for exporting value
added products, eggs from breeder stocks and day old broiler chicks (Memon, 2012), but
this needs to be realised to maximise its potential.
Poultry industry in Pakistan and avian influenza
Regarding poultry diseases, Pakistan was particularly successful in controlling highly
pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) type H5N1. With assistance from the FAO, Pakistan
set up a reference laboratory and a countrywide monitoring program. The first outbreak
of HPAI in Pakistan occurred in 1995, when HPAI serotype H7N3 was reported in
breeding stocks from commercial poultry farming (FAO, 2011) and resulted in heavy
mortality and a severe drop in egg production. This disease was controlled by strategic
vaccination and selective culling. In 1999, a new serotype of low pathogenic avian
influenza (LPAI) H9N2 emerged and is still prevalent throughout the country (FAO,
2011). The HPAI virus type H7N3 emerged again in November 2003 in the southern city
of Karachi, mainly affecting commercial layers. The disease subsequently spread to the
northern region, primarily affecting breeding stock and causing heavy economic losses.
The disease was eventually controlled by culling and vaccination strategies by the end of
2005 (FAO, 2011). The next outbreak of HPAI, caused by serotype H5N1 (bird flu),
occurred in commercial poultry between February and July 2006. The disease re-
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698 World's Poultry Science Journal, Vol. 71, December 2015
appeared in 2007 and 2008 in commercial and backyard poultry respectively. Altogether
22 outbreaks, mainly in breeding flocks, have been reported. From July 2008 to 2011, no
new cases of H5N1 were recorded in Pakistan (FAO, 2011).
Conclusions
There is a long list of issues linked with the Pakistani poultry industry and proper
strategies are needed to address these in order to show effective presence in
international markets. The general law and order situation in Pakistan has been a
factor contributing to slower growth of the local poultry industry, especially in the
last 10 years. Long hours of power shortage, especially in the extreme hot weathers,
caused real damage to the growth of the poultry industry. According to Nazir (2013),
Pakistan has not been successful in producing specific pathogen free (SPF) chickens, and
suffers from high feed prices (Tauqir and Nawaz, 2001) along with poor quality feed
containing high levels of mycotoxins (Saeed et al., 2009). Local poultry farmers need
consultancy regarding the selection of suitable sites for constructing poultry farms as
previous clustering of poultry farms in a specific locality has created high disease
occurrence. Lack of implementation of bio-security plans along with a poor control
upon temperature, humidity and ventilation has further deteriorated the situation
(Nazir, 2013).
The industry has to control fluctuating prices and maintain a constant income, which
means a move towards value added products. No doubt some companies like K&Ns,
MENU and Mann-o-Salwa chicken have been successful in their ventures into value
added poultry products, but this still needs sustained efforts to create awareness among
consumers regarding overall quality and safety of value added products.
Acknowledgments
Research reported in this publication was supported by the U.S. Department of State
under Award Number PGA-P210944; and the National Institute on Minority Health and
Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number
G12MD007581. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not
represent the official views of the U.S. Department of State or National Institutes of
Health.’
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