Second Batch of Village Livestock Workers Passed out after completing 3 months training at UVAS News / Information Releases from other Sources Posted by JimEdwards on Mar 26, 2008 - 03:54 PM Report By, Waseem Shaukat Media Coordinator, University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences Lahore Second batch of 25 Village Livestock Workers passed out after completing 3 months training program in Clinical Medicine & Surgery, Theriogenology and Animal Nutrition at the University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore in collaboration with Livestock & Dairy Development Board (LDDB). Certificate Distribution Ceremony was held at UVAS on Wednesday. Livestock & Dairy Development Department Punjab’s Secretary Babar Yaqob Fateh Muhammad graced the ceremony with his presence as chief guest. Present on the occasion were also Livestock & Dairy Development Punjab Director General Extension Dr. Sajjad Zaheer Malik, UVAS Acting Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Zafar Iqbal Chaudhary, Deans, Directors, LDDB Officials, farmers, passing out village livestock workers and teachers. Deputy Project Director of LDDB, Dr. Naveed Ahmad Niazi told that Livestock & Dairy Development Board was established by the federal government in December 2006 for the promotion of livestock sector in Pakistan. It has been working in Punjab since March 2007 where it has installed 26 chillers collecting 20000 liters additional milk in Mandi Bahau-Din, Noshehra Wirkan (Gujranwala) and Kasur. He told that the board was supporting the milk producers with chillers, feed ration, vaccination and de-worming of the animals. Livestock & Dairy Development Department Director General Extension Dr. Sajjad Zaheer Malik lauded the UVAS for producing trained man power. He emphasized the passing out VLW’s to apply their acquired skills in their own community to provide technical support to the local farmers. He said,”Saving an animal is not only saving a life but also saving the income source of a family who is depending totally on that animal economicallly”. UVAS Acting Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Zafar Iqbal Chaudhary said “UVAS is the only veterinary university of Pakistan”. He told that 6 under graduate degrees (including 5 years Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), 4 years BSc. Hons. in Dairy Technology, Poultry Production, Bio-informatics, Applied Microbiology and Fisheries & Aquaculture) are being awarded at UVAS. He told that short diploma courses are also offered in collaborations with “National Vocational and Technical Education Commission” (NAVTEC). 2 years course of Livestock Assistant is also offered to 500 students every year. Modern labs and lecture rooms are fully equipped with all facilities including multimedia and audio-visual systems, he added. “Need oriented research is top priority that could benefit the farmers” he told; adding, “WTO Quality control laboratory has started functioning at UVAS that will check the quality of animal origin food including meat and milk to meet the standards of international trade according to WTO”. University Diagnostic Laboratory (UDL) is providing all diagnostic facilities to the farmers, Prof. Zafar told. Secretary of Livestock & Dairy Development Department, Mr. Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad appreciated the efforts of LDDB and UVAS for promotion of livestock sector. He said that Pakistan is 5th largest milk producing country in the world and have a large number of animals. He said that food shortage is expected to be observed in coming few years due to increase of human and animal population, for which crop sector can not meet the requirements. Therefore it is essential to focus on livestock sector to meet the requirements. He urged to adopt modern production, processing and marketing channels. “1 veterinarian for every 6000 animals is recommended all over the world but in Pakistan 1 veterinarian has to care for 56000 animals” he told; adding “Punjab government has started DVM degrees in Bahaudin Zikrya University Multan, Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Islamia University Bahawalpur and at College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences Jhang since 2006 that will increase the number of veterinarians in next few years”. He told that Livestock sector is significantly effective in poverty alleviation especially from rural areas. Government has been investing in this sector for last few years. Pakistan Dairy Development Company has already been working while Meat Development Company will be launched shortly to ensure commercial enhancement of meat production, Babar added. He urged that the Punjab Government will continue supporting the UVAS in future. Certificates were distributed among passing out Village Livestock Workers. Cheques were also distributed among livestock farmers. This article is from World Veterinary Association   http://www.worldvet.org/ The URL for this story is:   http://www.worldvet.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=4106