SESSION 6. Approach to ensuring safety and hygiene in the dairy production chain in emerging dairy nations
Abstract
In 2003 Pakistan produced 32 million tons of milk which amounts to 6 percent of the total world milk production. The average annual yield per wet animal/year is about 1200 litres. This is about one fifth of that achieved in Germany and about one third of the yield of a New Zealand dairy cow. Bulk of the milk produced (around 75%) is consumed by the rural community and the remaining 25% reaches the urban markets (only 3% milk is processed in factories for long shelf life products). Pakistan has milk shortages in urban pockets especially during summer months. This shortage is supplemented through adulteration processes. Not only water but other substances and harmful chemicals are also being added to fresh milk by unscrupulous traders who are the norm of the business rather than an exception. The health hazards caused by these practices are monumental and incalculable. The economic costs of rectifying the system will be far less than the social cost of ignoring the current levels of adulteration in fresh milk
supplies.
INTRODUCTION
In Pakistan the Livestock Sector contributes 9.4 percent to GDP and 39 percent towards the Agriculture Sector. Dairy is one of the vital sub-sectors of the Livestock Sector and holds tremendous growth and export potential. It forms an important component of Pakistan’s economy and supports around 5.5 million rural families. The dairy sector thrives on huge investment base of around one trillion Pak rupees with major share coming from the poor and landless farmers maintaining small dairy herds of two to three animals. This vital sector of the economy of Pakistan, however, has not so far received the attention that it deserves from the government, which it deserves. Our dairy sector lags behind other countries in critical areas like animal nutrition, livestock health management and modern dairy technology for the value added products. Above all lack of an effective milk collection and distribution network results in huge wastage and other health concerns. All these problems of the sector result in low dairy productivity levels as compared to other countries such as North America and Western Europe. Milk production in Punjab (Pakistan) increased by 17 percent in the period from 1996 to 2002. Buffalo milk production increased 18 percent while milk production from cattle rose by 17 percent. In general, most of this increase in milk production has been driven by an increase in animal numbers rather than by improvements in productivity.
Although 85% of the world’s milk is derived from cows, Pakistan and India together produce 93% of the world’s buffalo milk since they are abundant in this region. In Pakistan, nearly 75% of the milk is produced in the province of Punjab, with Sindh contributing 14%, NWFP 10% and Balochistan 1% (Pakistan has four provinces). Out of a total of 38 dairy plants with a total rated capacity of producing 0.8 million tons per year, only 13 plants with a rated capacity of 0.7 million tons per year are in production. We process only 2 to 3 % of the total milk produced in the country, compared with India, which processes 44% of their milk produce. As a result, we fall short by 10-15 % of our local needs. Some of this deficit is met by importing milk powder and the rest by adding water to fresh milk, particularly during the summer.
MILK PRODUCTION AND MARKETING IN PAKISTAN
Market Diversity Of the total milk produced in the country about 25 percent finds its way into urban markets through commercial marketing chains. The rest of the milk is utilized for rural family consumption, calves and processing into other value added dairy products. There are various kinds of fluid milks sold in Pakistan, by far the largest being unprocessed raw milk by door to door vending (we call it Gawala in Pakistan) or through the corner milk shop. This kind of loose milk can be hazardous to human health owing to poor hygienic quality and adulteration of all sorts. A kind of processed milk generally vended is a boiled milk heated in open flat pans for prolonged hours, thus losing substantial nutritional quality.
Quality of Milk
Nature has endowed milk with the attributes of an ideal food. It is highly nutritious containing nutrients that are essential for the development of the children as well as adults. The store house of nutrients in milk include the energy-giving lactose and fat, the body building proteins, the bone forming calcium and other minerals and health giving vitamins.
Bacteria
Whatever is nutritionally good for humans is as good for other living things, bacteria included. Milk contains all the ingredients that most bacteria need for their growth. Milk when synthesized in the udder is sterile but as it moves through udder ducts and teat canals bacteria enter. The bulk of the bacterial load, however, enters during milking and post-production stages of transportation and holding, primarily on account of poor hygiene. Some of these bacteria may cause diseases such as dysentery, diarrhea, tuberculosis, typhoid, food poisoning and cholera in humans. Bacteria multiply rapidly after milking bringing about spoilage of milk. The rate at which this spoilage occurs depends upon the post-production bacterial load, the hygiene, the temperature and the length of time at which it is held. Bacteria render the milk highly perishable. The milk therefore must be processed to increase its shelf life.
Milk Processing
Bacteria are killed when milk is heated. Ancient societies not aware of “why” in most matters were guided by their experiences. Milk, is one of such cases, and has been traditionally heated as soon as possible after milking and then kept in cooler areas. This not only saves the milk from spoilage but the consumer is also prevented from contracting serious diseases. The “why” in eating was not well known, and has provided the basis for development and evolution of milk processing technologies. The wisdom behind the cultural practice of drinking milk warm to hot in the subcontinent is the same as in the various categories of heat treated market milks. However, the uncontrolled and prolonged heating, as done on the cooking range of the kitchen or at the open hearth of the corner shop milkman, is too harsh on the milk nutrients. Therefore, if milk is to be heated, it only needs enough heat to kill the bacteria and yet save nutrients. This is a very guiding principal that various commercial milk technologies exploit. The processed milk is thus nutritionally better than the milk vended loose.
Development of Milk Processing Industry in Pakistan
In Pakistan milk processing on modern lines was started in the early 1960s. Between 1960 and the mid 1970’s, twenty three modern milk pasteurization and sterilization plants were established, largely by private investors. These were located around big cities of Pakistan, like Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Besides fresh milk, these plants recombined skim milk powder and butter oil, received under the FAO World Food Program. These dairy plants known as ‘first generation plants’ did not prove successful and had to be closed down except for one in Lahore (Punjab). Their failure was primarily due to poor acceptance of the recombined milk and the short shelf life of the pasteurized milk. Other factors responsible for their failure were a number of operating problems, including lack of qualified technologists and an inadequate supply of fresh milk. What are called the ‘second generation’ dairy plants were those which were meant for the production of ultra high temperature (UHT) treated milk, the first of which was set up in 1977. The UHT-treatment is also known as “flash pasteurization” which gives a high bactericidal effect to the milk and when packed aseptically, has a shelf-life of several months without refrigeration. Consequently, more and more UHT plants continued to be set up whose production surpassed the effective demand. In the UHT manufacturing process the raw milk is first diluted with water and then it is heated to 130-150 degrees centigrade. Processed milk by regulation is standardized at 3.5 percent butterfat and 8.9 percent solids-not-fat (SNF). Fresh milk usually contains more than 5 percent butterfat and less then 8.9 SNF.
It enables the UHT manufacturers to bring the processed milk to the regulated standard by decreasing the selling price of raw milk. Of the 10 milk powder plants established in the Pakistan at a cost of Pak Rs. 8 billion, two have been closed down; six have slashed their production to 50% while the start of two production plants has been postponed due to a glut of cheap imported powder milk in the market. Milk factories of Pakistan have the capacity for processing 74 million tons per year but they are working at 27 million tons. The reason is simple: availability of milk is not sufficient for them to work full throttle. Supply of milk considerably dries up during the summer season. The graph starts sliding down after April and stays on a downward trend till August. April to August is peak lean period for milk production and that is what the gap of demand and supply comprises.
Major Constraints to the Growth of the Dairy Industry in Pakistan
- Absence of long term research programmes aiming at breed improvement of local dairy animals for high lactation yields.
- Inadequate feed resources deficient in nutrients required for dairy animals.
- Unorganized farmers and dairy herd structures making it difficult to provide them with veterinary and extension services. These include advisory service on ways to improve milk quality and out-put through good animal husbandry practices, education on the use of adequate feed supplements and consultation on diagnosis and treatment of their livestock.
- Poor infrastructure for milk collection, distribution and storage.
- Raw milk marketing is a major issue of the dairy sector as most of the producers are smallholders operating in an environment marred with poor road access, unfavourable climatic conditions and lack of adequate transportation facilities.
- Lack of chilling facilities at critical points in the milk marketing chain, more importantly where the rural collectors sell to the highway collectors.
- Major problems in the marketing of processed milk is the higher prices of packaged milk in comparison with raw milk, lack of innovative marketing approaches to influence consumer behaviour and consumer dislike of heat treated homogenized milk because of its taste and lower fat content.
- Low capacity utilization on account of establishment of a large number of milk processing plants without taking into consideration the market analysis/ demand-supply position and import of milk products especially dry milk powder. This capacity underutilization prevents most UHT milk processing plant from recovering much more than their variable costs.
- Lack of alternatives to tetra packaging which constitutes a major cost item.
- Most of the milk processing units are located in low milk production areas with the exception of few.Long transportation distances and inadequate chilling facilities increase procurement cost and adversely affect milk quality.
Future Prospects for the Dairy Industry in Pakistan
Pakistan is the 4th largest producer of milk in the world today. There is a large and untapped potential in the dairy industry in Pakistan. With a population of 150 million, a significant demand for dairy products exists in Pakistan There is a need for establishing modern milk processing and packaging facilities based on advanced technology to convert abundantly available raw milk into high value added dairy products. In addition, with improved conditions for milk pasteurization, availability of chilled distribution facilities and consumer preference for low cost pasteurized milk, the sector provides unique opportunities for investment in establishing pasteurized milk production plants. There is a great scope for establishing an efficient milk collection system and refrigeration and transportation facilities. This sector offers opportunities to foreign investors to establish a joint venture for the production of dairy products, particularly dried milk and infant formula milk for which great demand exists in the neighbouring countries like Iran, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
REFERENCES
1. Garcia, O., et all. A Review of Milk Production in Pakistan with Particular Emphasis on Small-Scale Producers. PPLPI Working Paper No.3, IFCN, FAL, Germany (2003).
2. Milk Production per Country (2002): FAO Statistical database on March 2003, (http://www.fao.org/).
3. Proceedings of the “Dairy Industry, The Existing Crossroads, Seminar on Prospects of Dairy Industry in Pakistan”. EAC, MOIP, GOP. (2003)
4. Strategy Development in Milk Production and Distribution, Dairy Division (Agriculture Sector), SMEDA, May 2000.
5. Economic Survey of Pakistan 2002-2003.
IDF/FAO international symposium on dairy safety and hygiene Cape Town,
South Africa, March 2–5 2004
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