HYDERABAD, Jun 29 (APP): The Vice chancellor Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam Dr Fateh Marri has called upon the promotion of livestock sector on modern line so the livestock owners could improve their socio economic condition by increasing annual growth of livestock in the country.
In the year 2020, the livestock sector contributed overall 60.6 percent to agriculture and 11.7 percent to the GDP therefore it is the need to give priority to trade in live animals and livestock products, he said and added around 8 million livestock owners are related with this sector and proper attention to this sector could enhance the number of the owners with improvement of their socio economic condition.
He expressed these remarks while addressing the participants of the final workshop of “Sindh Livestock Forum” at Directorate of Agriculture Research Sindh Tando Jam on late Wednesday evening.
The event was jointly organized by the team of Dairy-Beef Project of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore in collaboration with the University of Melbourne Australia.
He said the experts of Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam are working on the conservation of indigenous cattle breeds and started new projects on animal product technology, value chain and dairy products.
He said although Pakistan is one of the largest milk-producing countries in the world, per animal yield has been on the lower side, with the production of 57 million tons of milk annually from 24 million cows and buffaloes, the average annual yield stands at 1.62 tons per animal.
The Project Leader of Dairy Beef Project Dr. David McGill while addressing the participants online shared the objectives and briefed about research finding and impacts of Dairy-Beef Project extension and research.
The Director General Sindh Livestock Department Dr. Arshad Kalhoro appreciated the project team for their great contribution to improving the livelihood of the smallholder farmers and urged that the successful project activities should sustain by the national organizations to benefit all stakeholders and smallholder farmers.
The Project Manager Dr. Humera Iqbal said that with regard to traditional livestock farming in Pakistan and these interventions, the project has played a role in reducing the challenges facing small farmers in the country.
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