Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) has taken initiative for promotion of private sector extension services in livestock and dairy sector by signing a contract on Monday with ProFarm Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd.
Under the contract, ASF would extend grant support of Rs 2.9 million to ProFarm for providing extension services to livestock farmers in six districts of Punjab during the next one year. Khalid Khan, CEO, Agribusiness Support Fund, and Steven Schulting, Managing Director, ProFarm Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd, signed the contract papers.
ProFarm will establish six artificial insemination (AI) centres in Punjab, develop a workforce of independent AI experts, and provide training to farmers of the area in good livestock practices. As a result of this breed improvement, milk production would tremendously increase in the area.
ASF is a not-for-profit company, established by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Livestock (Monfal), and is supported by Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the Agribusiness Development & Diversification Project (ADDP). It extends its support in the shape of grants to all agribusiness concerns in horticulture and livestock sectors. ASF is also represented through ADDP offices, located in the four provinces, FATA, FANA and AJK.
One of the primary objectives of ASF is to support initiatives in horticulture and livestock sectors that would help in achieving self-reliance in these sectors, ensure food security, and improve productivity.
ASF's main emphasis is on market-oriented demand based production systems which will lead to increased production and productivity and, consequently, increase the income of farmers and reduce poverty. This is an initiative taken by ASF as part of its support programme for the development of extension services business in the private sector.
ProFarm is a newly established private entity, incorporated in Pakistan, to take up commercial business ventures in the livestock sector. Its primary business is to supply quality bovine semen (of both imported and local breeds) and develop a marketing workforce of experts for delivering AI services to the dairy farmers at their doorsteps. This would not only cater the high demand in the market for quality semen but would also generate high class training and employment opportunities for hundreds of individuals who would join the workforce and establish their own business of AI services.
In its first two years' operations, the company plans to open 12 centres in selected regions of Punjab. Under the arrangement, ProFarm has agreed to take up certain advisory and training services components and permanently incorporated them in its business plan. These services will 3be provided to the farming community as part of its commercial operations in the selected regions.
In return, ASF has committed to share, on matching grant basis, the cost of all such service components that would be incurred by ProFarm during first year of its operations only. The grant would be utilised in such areas like capacity-building of artificial insemination workforce, development of training manuals, organising training programmes for dairy farmers, printing and dissemination of educational material in animal husbandry, etc. Advisory services will also be provided to farmers to develop agribusiness skills, increase milk production and get better market price.
ASF has also agreed to extend its support for development of a comprehensive 'data collection system' by the company at each centre. The system would provide reliable information like number of farms, number of farmers, number and breed of animals, prevailing breeding and animal management practices, conception rate, etc in the selected regions.
Pakistan's dairy and meat sectors are experiencing growth as a result of structural increase of domestic demand of processed milk, dairy based products and meat. Based on this rise in demand for milk and meat, demand of high quality genetic material and reliable insemination services is growing. Artificial insemination is an important tool for farmers to increase the milk and meat yield from their animals.