Natural and human factors that affect livestock

Q1) Explain why buffaloes are mostly found in eastern Punjab and goats in Baluchistan?

Ans) Buffaloes like to remain in water most of the time and the canal irrigated areas of the Punjab and Sindh are best suited to them. Buffaloes are mainly found in Punjab (60.9%) and Sindh (31.8%).

Q2) Describe the development of commercial and rural poultry?

Ans) Poultry produced in Pakistan is being developed through two management systems i.e. commercial farming and rural poultry farming. The commercial poultry farming sector is a classic example of private sector enterprise with a phenomenal growth of 20 to 25 % per annum. The achievement of this rapid growth was made to the incentives granted by the government from time to time, like liberal financing and credit, income tax exemption, duty free import of grandparent and parent flocks, machinery and poultry farm equipments, such as hatcheries, cages, brooders, feed ingredients such as soybean, meal, maize, and sorghum for use in poultry feeds, in addition to liberal and easy facility to obtain loans from commercial banks and financial institutions.

Q3) In what ways are the uses of cattle and buffaloes in Pakistan similar?

Ans) They both supply meat and milk.

Q4) For what purpose are buffaloes more important to Pakistan than cattle?

Ans) Production systems of cattle and buffaloes are subsistence small-holdings, market oriented small-holdings, rural commercial farms and peri-urban dairy farms. Current livestock-population (2000-2001) of the country include 23.34 million buffaloes, 22.42 million cattle, 24.24 million sheep, 49.14 million goats and 0.77 million camels (Table-1). These produce 32.695 million tons of milk with Buffalo 70%.

Q5) Explain the difficulties which Pakistan faced in agriculture.

Ans)

Land degradation as a result of waterlogging and salinity

Soil erosion

Desertification

An inefficient marketing system

Environmental problems

Q6) Enumerate at least three methods by which the government is trying to improve agriculture in Pakistan.

Ans)

1. Increasing the production of fertilizer to encourage greater use of it.

2. The distribution of improved seeds through government departments.

3. Developing a plant protection programme including regular checks for the detection of pests, advisory services and making aerial sprays available.

Q7) Explain the remedies for agricultural problems.

Ans)

The government and private institutions must develop new, highly productive and environmentally sustainable production technologies and systems.

The problems of waterlogging and salinity must be addressed promptly to protect the cultivable land through various schemes.

Soil management through afforestation projects is another measure to maintain the fertility of the soil by improving its organic contents. Moreover, to avoid soil erosion, the forests should not be cut down from slopes of the hills. Over-cropping or multi-cropping should not be allowed if it is leading to exhaustion of soil nutrients.

Reclamation of deserts with the help of irrigation techniques.

Major features of fish farms

Q1) Write notes on Inland fishing, Hatcheries in Pakistan.

Ans) Inland: Inland means the parts of a country remote from the sea or frontiers; the interior. Pakistan is rich in marine and inland fishery resources. Inland fisheries are getting much popularity. Some inland resources include small rivers, dams (Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma), lakes (Haleji, Keenjhar and Manchhar), barrages, reservoirs, ponds and canals.

Hatcheries: Hatchery is an installation or building in which the hatching of fish or poultry eggs is artificially controlled for commercial purposes. The first modern hatchery unit was established in Karachi in 1965 by PIA. Government has established several fish hatcheries and training facilities for fish farmers as well

Q2) Describe the fishing industry of Makran Coast with reference to methods of catching the fish, ports and the uses of fish caught.

Ans) Makran Coast covers the 68 % area. Fish caught from this coast is 32%. Fishing is the main occupation of people living along the Makran Coast. Fishermen adopt subsistence and commercial fishing techniques. E.g. Use of gill netters, Small wooden boats, handmade net, mechanized boats, Trawler are being used. Fish is a white meat, low cholesterol and balance diet. Fish waste is to make fertilizer and poultry feed.

Q3) Increasingly fish is obtained from fish farms. Describe this method of producing fish.

Ans) Fish farms are rectangular man-made ponds for breeding of fish. They have a concrete or cemented impervious base to prevent water losses through leakage. The side of the farm is edged with solidified mud. Tress are normally planted around the fish farms to provide oxygen, to minimize water losses through evaporation and to keep the water body cool. This facilitates the growth and fertilization of fish.