Development of livestock sector essential: CM Punjab

Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that the development of livestock sector will not only strengthen the economy but poverty and unemployment can also be eliminated by promoting the sector. The Punjab government is pursuing a comprehensive programme for the uplift of livestock sector and setting up modern slaughter houses; an important step towards development of the sector and increasing exports, the chief minister said. He directed that red tapism should not be allowed to come in the way of development of the livestock sector and the schemes for promotion of livestock must be pursued vigorously.
He was presiding over 13th meeting of Board of Directors of Punjab Agriculture and Meat Company (PAMCO) at Chief Minister’s Secretariat. Provincial Minister for Agriculture Ahmad Ali Aulakh, Members Provincial Assembly Rao Kashif Rahim, Arshad Jutt, Chairman Special Initiatives Haroon Khawaja, Chairman Planning & Development, Senior Member Board of Revenue, Secretaries of Agriculture, Livestock, Finance, Law, Commissioner Lahore and officers concerned attended the meeting. Chief Executive Officer PAMCO Dr. Hamid Jalil gave a detailed briefing regarding the strategy evolved for the projects of development of the livestock sector, breeding of animals and horticulture in the province which included making Pothohar the area of olive, Thal the zone of Kinnow and Cholistan the valley of grapes.
Addressing the meeting, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif said that livestock sector has been neglected during the last 64 years. Had concrete steps been taken for the improvement of this sector, our economy would have been strengthened and the people associated with this sector would have had the opportunity to prosper, he said. The Chief Minister was of the opinion that ample opportunities of development of this sector were available in Pakistan. He said that Punjab government is taking all out measures for improvement of this sector and PAMCO, Livestock and Dairy Development Board have also been set up for this purpose. He said that despite the availability of resources, the share of Pakistan in the trade of meat in international markets is negligible and a number of countries are now expressing interest in the import of meat from the country. He said that for the first time in history, halal meat has been exported to Malaysia and now after the establishment of state-of-the-art slaughter house, the meat will be exported to Iran and other Gulf countries. He directed that a practicable strategy be devised for export of meat and uplift of the livestock sector. He said that Cholistan has been declared disease free zone and such a system should be evolved for this purpose in which incentives be given to the local farmers for breeding animals.