The Rawalpindi Poultry Research Institute and the Livestock and Punjab Dairy Development Department have sent a summary to the provincial government to revive "Katta Farba" and “Murghi Paal” schemes after two years.
The initiative was taken by the PTI government under the "Murghi Paal" and “Halal Meat” projects, but later the Punjab government decided to cut 50 per cent of funding of the Murghi Paal scheme owing to financial constraints in December 2022.
Authorities have also requested the provincial government to restore funds for the two programmes already termed as public-friendly projects.
During the PTI regime, the registered applicants received a batch of five hens and a rooster at a discounted price of Rs1,050 under the Murghi Pal programme, while those who were registered for the Katta Farba programme received Rs4,000 for upbringing and feeding calves. After being grown up, the meat of calves was supplied to supplied to domestic and foreign countries.
Under the two programmes, around 500,000 poultry birds were distributed among citizens and farmers across Punjab till April 2022. The discounted price of the chicken set was set at Rs1,050 at the start of the project, but after a year it jumped by Rs80 to Rs1,130, and Rs1,200 after six months. In Rawalpindi district, 2,790 sets of chickens were distributed.
Sources in the Poultry Research Institute claim that even after the programme was discontinued, they still had a demand of 1.5 million birds across the province. Large quantities of chicken sets were acquired in urban areas of the province.
The Katta Farba programme aimed to stop the genocide of calves and to raise them instead of slaughtering them for meat so that they can be raised for higher prices. Rewards were also being given to those who grew calves under the Katta Farba scheme.
Sources in the Rawalpindi Livestock and Dairy Development Department said that the production of halal meat in the country could be increased with the "Katta Farba Katta Bachao" project.
Assistant Director Dr Atif said that the institute had raised those chickens with the mix breeding of Aseel and indigenous chicks and that they could lay up to 230 eggs annually.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th 2024.
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