This particular
pre-feasibility is for setting up a camel farm. Camel is a source of milk and
meat in rangelands of Balochistan, coastal areas and desert area of Cholistan.
Moreover, Cholistan desert is famous for raising different breeds of camel and
supplying excellent quality of camel products.
The nutritional value that its milk and meat carries for humans makes it
a viable business opportunity to establish a camel farm.
The project can be set up in
peri-urban areas of Southern Punjab (Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Cholistan) and
desert areas of Sindh and Balochistan. A breeding herd of 11 camels would be
purchased from local animal market. The project will employ 2 workers. The
total herd milk production in first year would be 16,560 liters. The male
calves would be sold in the market after 2 years.
BRIEF DESCRITION OF PROJECT &
PRODUCT
This project is about setting up
a camel farm. The camels would be purchased from local livestock market and
raised in conventional farming system. The project can be started on a rented
purpose built farm. The camels would be
reared for both milk and meat production. Camel milk would be sold directly to
consumers or processing companies. In addition, the farm would raise camels for
sacrificial and routine meat supply purposes.
CRITICAL FACTORS
• Background knowledge and
related experience of the entrepreneur in farm operations.
• Selection of location keeping
in view the proximity of free grazing area is imperative.
• Application of good husbandry
practices such as timely feeding, watering and vaccination to ensure animal’s
health and disease-free environment.
• Awareness about the market
demand of camel milk as it has high nutritional and medicinal value for the
cure of certain diseases such as Arthritis and coronary diseases. The milk contains three times more vitamin C
than cow’s milk and is also considered to be rich in iron.
• Efficient marketing of the
project and bulk supply to wholesalers.
8 INSTALLED AND OPERATIONAL
CAPACITIES
A breeding herd of 11 camels, (1
male and 10 females) would be raised for milk and meat production. It is
assumed that 70% of the camel cows in the parent herd are pregnant and would
give birth to 7 calves every 2 years. The probability of male / female progeny
is 50:50. The total number of animals after 10 years would be 37.
The male camel calves are sold
after being raised for two years. The female calves would be added to the
breeding herd and would reproduce after 5 years and add to the milk production.
Each female camel would produce approximately 4,500 liters of milk in one
lactation period. Total milk production for the first year of operations is
estimated to be 16,560 liters.
GEOGRAPHICAL POTENTIAL FOR INVESTMENT
The proposed project can be set
up in rangelands of Balochistan, coastal areas and desert areas of Thar,
Cholistan, Thal and Tharparker. The project can also be established in
peri-urban vicinities of Southern Punjab region particularly Layyah, Bhakkar
and Bhawalpur. The camel breeds are highly diversified in terms of milk
production in ordinary grazing conditions especially in desert areas of
Pakistan.
POTENTIAL TARGET MARKET
The marketing of camel milk and
meat follows the traditional channels of distribution. The prospective target
market for its products is bigger cities like Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan,
Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta and Peshawar. The male progeny will be sold in various
livestock markets across Pakistan, particularly as a sacrificial animal.
Additionally, the culled animals will be sold to the local butchers and meat
traders.
CAMEL PRODUCTION PROCESS
• Selection of local camel breeds
such as Barela and Marecha with excellent body condition health, essentially
with no disease history.
• Housing should be dry,
comfortable and airy with proper drainage of dung, urine and waste
material. • Feeding: Animal should be
fed additional concentrate feed to get higher milk yields. Additionally, the
grazing on shrubs and herbs in rangeland help in better milk production.
• Watering: Supply of drinking
water to maintain the milk production capacity of the animal.
• Breeding: Efficient and timely
natural breeding.
• Female young stock management
is very important in maintaining farm production.
• Disease management: Hygienic
and clean milking every day. Follow the recommended vaccination schedule.
• Selection of good productive animals and
culling of uneconomical animal.
• Record keeping for feed intake,
milk production, vaccination etc.
• Proper handling of milk.
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