Quetta To Have Veterinary Varsity Soon: Livestock Director General

Considering the huge potential of livestock production in Balochistan, the provincial government is planning to build a veterinary veracity in Quetta to boost the livestock sector of the province.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Oct, 2018 ) :Considering the huge potential of livestock production in Balochistan, the provincial government is planning to build a veterinary veracity in Quetta to boost the livestock sector of the province.

Director General (DG) of Balochistan Livestock and Dairy Development, Doctor Ghulam Hussain Jaffar told APP that the project got green from the competent authorities in recent held meeting and now awaiting a financial assistance.

The livestock of Balochistan province comprised of one of the unique species and required urgent attention of authorities concerned to promote livestock activities in the province having around 34 million Hectare range land.

He said it is revealed by a recent censuses conducted by statistic division of Pakistan that over 70 per cent of the locals directly and indirectly rely on livestock.

The province was currently producing around 20 percent of national stocks, he added.

As many as 48 percent of total sheep in the country are found in Balochistan, while there are 42 percent camels in the province.

He informed that in Balochistan, the sector has total value of over Rs 500 billion rupees with annual growth rate of 13 per cent.

He said in order to impart awareness among the livestock keepers "we are conducting several awareness programmes to inform the formers about the feeding and diseases of the animals".

With evolving tune of climate change, consumers' demand for the livestock product has been increased manifold; he said and added that the province is providing a large share of meat to the country.

He said water shortage is one of the major issues in the province as sources are very limited especially in the high ground of the mountain and deep desert.

The DG said we are giving proper treatment to the animals by providing vaccination after every six months.

He said vaccination is also being provided to the animals through mobile camps on the routes of nomads who come from Afghanistan to overcome the threats of different viruses.

He said lack of proper marketing of livestock and dairy development is the main issue, and for this purpose, the department has approved a project to establish the livestock markets in the province.

Replying to a question, he said Balochistan is environmentally different from other provinces of Pakistan and the businessmen are being encouraged to promote livestock farming in Nasirabad Division.

Baz Gul Kakar a livestock keeper said that today the livestock keepers of the province have very specialized livestock breeds but due to non-cooperative attitude of the authorities concerned, these breeds are being wasted.

Animals with low-quality feed intake resulted in bad health, poor quality product, he added.

He said the government should formulate long term policies in this regard so that the livestock production should be increased.