The Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development Board (PLDDB) has planned to start a new venture with a private mobile company for providing all facilities to farmers under a single roof.
One-window operation centres will be set up in this regard and farmers will be given guidelines and other facilities regarding fisheries, livestock and dairy development.
This was revealed by PLDDB Acting Chief Executive Officer Saira Iftikhar while talking to the APP on Tuesday.
She said that the board would also launch a quality milk supply project for citizens through mechanised milking machines and that it is fully committed to enhancing milk & meat productivity by bridging the gap between demand and supply of fodder during the scarcity period.
She said that the livestock sector was facing challenges of rising feed ingredient prices and the shortage of fodder, adding that to overcome this gap needs preservation of fodder through silage making.
“The total fodder requirement for Punjab is 200 million metric tonnes whereas only 44 million metric tonnes are available. The shortage of 78% is being met by feeding least nutritive commodities like wheat straw, sugarcane, and other greens which have low nutritional value”, the CEO added.
“In order to overcome the scarcity of feed, the silage is the most effective substitute for green forage. By virtue of its preserving higher moisture contents the feed can be preserved for longer periods of time, thereby affording a stable feed for obtaining sustained lactation throughout the year.”
She said that the silage project launched by the board would be expanded across Punjab and that new fodder projects would be launched to make the cost low and nutritional value high.
Saira Iftikhar said that during 2016 the PLDDB had launched a 60 kg silage bale project for 90% of small farmers and the methodology to reach silage requirements across Punjab through a distribution network.
PLDDB silage has also reached Karachi and Peshawar.
