Livestock and dairy sector, which contributes more than 52 percent to the agricultural gross domestic product, has a tremendous potential to capture the South Asian and Middle Eastern markets by marketing quality meat and dairy products.
Vice-Chancellor of University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan stated this, while addressing the first annual re-union of alumni of the Veterinary Faculty of the UAF here on Saturday. He expressed concern over the horizontal expansion and mushroom growth of sub-campuses of various agricultural and veterinary universities.
He termed the establishment of such sub-campuses without modern facilities and infrastructures as a significant decline in the quality of the manpower trained by such institutions. Describing the annual meetings of alumni as an effective tool, Dr Iqrar asked the veterinarians to play their due role in paving the way for pulling the UAF out of the current financial crunch.
He said that out of Rs 900 million annual recurring grants, the UAF had so far received only 122 million whereas salaries of the staff amounted to Rs 55 million per month. He added that instead of Rs 450 million for six months, the UAF would receive only Rs 199 million, which would affect the pace of ongoing research and development projects as well as the measures to maintain the food security.
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Dr Muhammad Nawaz, in his keynote address, urged the veterinarians to play their role in maintaining the quality and production standards so as to develop our meat and dairy industry at par with the global trends. He declared the UAF's Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and the UVAS, Lahore, as twin sisters, and asked the veterinarians of both the institutions to join hands to discover new vistas of science and technology.
Dr Nawaz informed the participants that one graduate of the faculty was enjoying the status of full minister in Malaysian government and many others were heading various national and international institutions. Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences Dr Muhammad Siddique, delivering the welcome address, said that according to a survey carried out by Pakistan Council of Science and Industrial Research (PCSIR), his faculty was declared number one in the country.
He said that more than 70 percent students of this faculty used to be selected by the FPSC and the PPSC every year. Dr M. Siddique acknowledged the role of the UAF graduates for organising the task of re-union of veterinarians in a very short time. Dr Muhammad Irfan, Dr Zafar Iqbal Randhawa, Ashfaq Butt and Colonel Ashraf also spoke on the occasion.