UAF’s spring festival comes to a close

A crossbred cow from the SB Dairy Farm won first prize for producing 60 litres milk

FAISALABAD: The University of Agriculture Faisalabad’s week-long spring festival came to a close on Sunday. A new national record for most milk produced by a cow, buffalo and a goat was set at the festival this year.

The livestock industry comprises 11 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan, vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, said on Sunday. Though per animal milk production was low, there was huge potential to increase it, he said. “We lag behind in value-added products and that is the main hurdle in our road to develop the livestock sector.”

In the crossbred cow contest, a cow named Jatti from Basharat Jaspal’s SB Dairy Farm won first prize for producing 60 litres milk. Muhammad Saleem’s cow from Bhai Wala stood second by producing 52.09 litres milk followed by another cow owned by Basharat Jaspal which produced 43 litres of milk.

Among buffaloes, a buffalo belonging to Nazir Ahmad Gujjar bagged the first two positions by producing 30 litres and 28 litres in two rounds.

Among beetal goats, Chaudhry Anwarul Haque’s goat stood first for producing 9.4 litres of milk. The goats which came second and third had produced 6.85 and 5.74 litres of milk respectively.

The UAF vice chancellor said that the milk contest had been organised in order to create an atmosphere of competition and to promote best practices and breeds among the cattle-breeding community. He said that the UAF had initiated a programme to distribute goats among farmers as a step towards alleviating poverty. “Setting new records for producing milk will open up new avenues of progress and prosperity,” he said.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Basharat Jaspal, owner of the winning cows, said, “If we look towards modern trends and follow recommendation of experts, we cannot only increase productivity but can also alleviate poverty.”

He said the majority of the country’s population resided in rural areas. “Training farmers is need of the hour…we need to educate farmers about modern cattle rearing practices.” He lauded steps taken by the UAF to promote the agricultural sector. Haque, whose goat secured first position, said every household in rural areas had at least one animal. “If we can jack up milk and meat production of indigenous livestock, we can increase income and address the issue of food security.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2016.