Animal healthcare: ‘Investments in livestock sector can help alleviate poverty’

Veterinary clinics to be set up around Faisalabad, says UAF vice chancellor.

FAISALABAD:

“The University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF), has decided to set up veterinary clinics around Faisalabad,” UAF Vice Chancellor Iqrar Ahmad Khan said on Saturday.

He was speaking at a symposium on Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases organised by the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences (FVS) at the UAF.

Khan said the clinics would offer modern medical facilities for agricultural animals. “The role of livestock in economic development cannot be overlooked… Investments in the livestock sector can help alleviate poverty,” the UAF VC said.

He said he believed that there were more than 70 million animals in the country. “Ticks and tick borne diseases affect human health through the milk and meat we consume,” he said.

The vice chancellor said per animal milk production in the county was far lower in Pakistan than in developed nations.

“The issue must be addressed through an awareness campaign among the farmers.”

He said the researchers should particularly help small farmers.

“There are more than 55,000 villages in the Punjab in need of agricultural experts to address the problems farmers face,” he said.

Khan also called for launching a joint-degree progamme in disease management with the Department of Entomology, the Department of Zoology and the Department of Parasitology.

Speaking on the occasion, FVS Dean Prof Dr Laeeq Akbar Lodhi said more than 85 per cent livestock farmers were small farmers.

“Farm production cannot be increased without helping them.”

Department of Parasitology Chairman Zafar Iqbal said tick infection was one of the major constraints in profitable livestock production. He said his department was making all out efforts to overcome it.

Assistant Prof Sohail Sajid said the clinics would help curb tick-borne diseases in animals.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2014.