February 11, 2008

Pakistan's Sindh province aims to modernise livestock sector

The livestock sector in the Sindh province in Pakistan is being handled in the traditional old ways, and the shortage of milk and meat could only be overcome by putting it on modern lines, caretaker Sindh chief minister Justice (retd) Abdul Qadir Halepota said.

He was addressing a ceremony to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Livestock and Dairy Development Board Pakistan (LDDBP) and Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Department, aimed at boosting livestock and dairy products.

Abdul Qadir Halepota said the government was committed to developing this sector, adding allocations of Rs 5,707 million (US$90.82 million) were tagged for the livestock sector, up from only Rs300 million (US$4.8 million ) three years ago. He said this was clear evidence of the commitment of the present government towards improving this sector.

He said six modern cattle colonies were being set-up in Sindh at a cost of Rs 3,328 million (US$53 million) by the district government and private partners and Rs 350 million (US$5.6 million) would be spent on the establishment of a dairy village and a meat processing zone.

Halepota also urged relevant authorities to launch an advertisement campaign on government efforts to stimulate the 'white revolution' in the dairy farming sector.

Under the meat development project, some 323 farms have been set-up in Sindh, while 85 milk production groups have been formed across the country under the dairy development project. In Sindh, 13 such groups are working in different districts.