Vast scope in buffalo breeding: Chief Minister

LAHORE: There is vast scope for producing various breeds of buffalo in Asia and international and national development agencies should play a proactive role in this regard, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif said on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif

He was addressing the three-day 6th Asian Buffalo Congress 2009 organised by the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) in collaboration with the Livestock and Dairy Development Department and the Asian Buffalo Association (ABA). The CM said the Punjab Livestock Department had focussed on improving famous breeds of buffaloes— Nili and Ravi— by establishing the Buffalo Research Institute in Pattoki. He said scientists used modern livestock biotechnologies to conduct research on different aspects of buffalo productivity and value addition of its products and by-products according to market needs. Shahbaz said the buffalo had been and would always remain an integral part of the socio-economic fabric of many agri-based developing countries of Asia. He said the intelligentsia and the corporate sector of Asian countries would have to sit together to exploit the enormous potential in dairy and meat industries. The CM said the role of buffalo in sustainable agricultural development would increase in Asia. He said Pakistan was predominantly known for its unique riverine buffalo which was primarily raised for its dairy products.

National GDP: Shahbaz said the livestock sector was gradually and consistently increasing its contribution to the national GDP, which now stood at an impressive 11.4 percent and accounted for 52 percent value addition in the overall agriculture sector. He said 30 to 35 million rural population was working in the dairy sector and earning 30 to 40 percent of their income from it. He said the buffalo was an integral part of property, possession, profession and pride for the farming community. He said most Asian countries had witnessed sustained economic growth in recent years, which had resulted in unprecedented urbanisation. The rise in the average household income amongst the urban population brought about a corresponding shift in food preferences as demonstrated by greater demand for milk, meat and their value added products. He said the demand for dairy products in the region had doubled since 1980, while many countries lagged behind in dairy production, which created a supply-demand gap on the one hand and burdened the economies of these countries with multiplied dairy import bills on the other.

Shahbaz said Pakistan imported 24 million tonnes of milk and its products in 2007 had valued at approximately $14 billion. He said import costs were surging due to the recent global price hike in dairy and food industries. He said the UVAS’s joint efforts with local and foreign companies would substantially improve buffalo productivity through improved feeding, breeding and health services. app