Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday lauded a private sector initiative to encourage farmers' investment in livestock development, saying the step will create income generation opportunities and contribute to growth of agro-based industries.
He made these remarks after a signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the Prime Minister House between the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and the Engro Chemical Pakistan Development (ECPL), to launch a pilot project in the livestock.
The project envisages credit financing to poor communities to buy livestock and establishment of milk collection centres (MCCs) with guaranteed purchase from all farmers.
"This is an excellent initiative that will not only help the poor farmers, but will also contribute to the development of livestock and dairy products", said the prime minister after the signing the ceremony.
Shaukat Aziz said the government along with the provinces was taking several steps to increase milk production and encourage private sector initiatives.
He said the project enables small farmers to buy their own livestock and will lead to increase in their income and also help in alleviating poverty in the rural areas.
The prime minister noted a significant production of milk in the country, but there was a need to work on its marketing and distribution for which the government was already taking necessary steps.
In the pilot project, the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), Singh Agriculture and Forestry Workers Co-ordinating Organisation (Safwco) and the Taraqee Foundation (TF) will work as partners organisations of the PPAF.
The pilot programme is being launched in five localities of Punjab and Sindh before the proposed main project that is expected to be launched in January 2006.
Under the MoU, the ECPL will set up milk collection centres at convenient locations, and a transparent system will be established for checking milk quality and its nutritional content for the purpose of payment.
The ECPL will determine the purchase price of milk at the rate of 6 percent fat availability in milk that is in line with the dairy industry standard in the country.
The base price will be fixed as per prevailing market price in the area for comparable quality and quantity.
The farmers will be able to get a premium by supplying milk having higher than 6 percent fat.
The project guarantees milk purchase of approximately 200 heads from all farmers. The ECPL can also accept any additional milk offered to them by the farmers in the area. The ECPL will select a person as "Village Milk Agent" in each village where it is to start its operations.
The PPAF among others will also help in financing the credit needs of poor communities for acquisition of livestock and will also provide financing and technical assistance for their capacity building for improved livestock management.
Comments
Comments are closed.