Minister lauds government efforts for boosting farm output

• Malkani says SBI is financing many livestock projects

The Sindh government has taken revolutionary measures for increasing livestock production especially by using modern means and has initiated various development projects for promoting the meat, milk and poultry industry.

These views were expressed by Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Minister Muhammad Ali Malkani, while addressing a seminar on “Meat and Poultry” organised by the All Pakistan Restaurants Association (APRA), at a local hotel.

APRA President Shaukat Suleman, Vice President Babar Nehal, Jinnah University for Women’s Food, Science and Technology Department Chairperson Dr Rashida Ali, Food, Karachi University’s Science and Technology Department Chairman Dr Asad Saeed, Dr Akhter Bughio of PSQCA, Dr Hosh Muhammad,  Dr M Waqas were also present on the occasion.

The minister, while talking about measures taken by the government for a betterment of the meat industry, said that to enhance the meat production, the government is negotiating with the local as well as international partners.

The Sindh Board of Investment is also encouraging and partially financing the projects of meat production and processing facilities, he added.

The Livestock Department has assisted the Sindh Agriculture Growth Project (SAGP), and is supporting farmers for better and hygienic milk production by providing milk chillers for hygienic milk collection and bulking with further linkage to the organic milk production from Tharparkar and other remote areas of Sindh to bring it to urban centres for consumption and establishing the full dairy value chain, said the minister.

Historically, in Pakistan, the livestock has been dominated by the smallholders to meet the needs of local milk, food security and cash income on a daily basis, and commercial poultry which started right from here in Karachi and spread all over in Pakistan was also based on smallholders and played a vital role in social uplift of the life of poor people but has now turned to be a second largest agro-based industry in Pakistan, Malkani said.

He said that the current studies show that 48% of children are malnourished or suffer from any other mental or physical health issue in Pakistan; therefore, it is a high now time to campaign for more consumption of meat, egg and milk otherwise, this nation will lag behind the development/contribution to the global development and world peace, he added.

Furthermore, if we go through the figures of last 15 years, the human population has increased by 38% whereas demand for livestock has increased to 71%, milk consumption by 65% and meat consumption by 96 %, these figures and recent trend in commercialization in livestock shows the confidence and bright future for the halal industry in Pakistan, but this also demands for a more production and introduction of better and hygienic production technology, he concluded.

The minister thanked the organisers and congratulated them for holding the seminar. The minister awarded participants and representatives of companies with shields.