|
|
|
Pakistan to ensure quality of its livestock products
RINDERPEST is a highly fatal viral disease of domestic cattle. The virus was once widely distributed throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and West Asia, but never became established in the Americas or Australia/New Zealand.
Though Pakistan voluntarily declared itself free of this bovine disease in February 2003, reporting no case of Rinderpest for the last several years, it is working hard to keep up that position by the year 2006. The exercise is necessary to meet an international requirement to get the disease eradicated globally.
Eradication of Rinderpest holds significance to ensure that the country’s export of livestock products worth Rs53 billion is maintained.
Experts talking to this scribe said Pakistan is currently exporting livestock products such as bone meal, bone gist, gelatine, trotters, sheep and cattle-casings, etc, worth billions of rupees to Western countries where the Muslim population prefers ‘Halal’ products.
Unless Pakistan declares it absolutely from this disease, EU countries may contemplate banning livestock by-products from Pakistan.
So the country is now faced with the challenge of improving the animal health coverage and eliminate notifiable diseases. The country, already cited provisionally free in January 2003, is on strict vigil so as not to miss any possible single incidence or outbreak of the cattle diseases during the next two years.
As there were no reported cases of Rinderpest for the last more than a year, the country has stopped any further vaccination, to see if it recurs, Dr Ghulam Sarwar, director, Animal Husbandry, Sindh Livestock Department, told this correspondent.
He added that the idea is to strike the roots of the virus; hence strict surveillance is ensured across the country and it would be continued during the next two years.
It may be pertinent to note that under an EU-sponsored three-year ‘Transboundary disease control programme’ initiated in Pakistan in January 2002, and executed by the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO), three major livestock diseases, including Rinderpest, are being targeted in all parts of the country.
Pakistan has partially managed to attain the otherwise difficult task — that of containing a common ailment among the local population of buffaloes and cows but much more is required to prevent any universal sanction on Pakistani livestock and the bi-products, veterinary experts associated with both private and public sector institutions opined.
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) and peste des petits ruminants (PPR) are to be eliminated too without delay, they observed.
A senior government official maintained that the main focus of the provincial department was on prevention but to achieve that “we’ll have to do away with poor disease reporting system, lack of competence, inadequate facilities to procure quality vaccines and farmers’ reluctance.”
It is being widely acknowledged that timely EU assistance worth 1.8 million euros has helped the country in this respect and that another six-year EU-funded project worth 22.9 million euros to strengthen livestock services could assist in accomplishing this gigantic task.
The schemes being run under a public-private partnership strategy are aimed at rebuilding the confidence of the dairy farmers and cattle pen-owners.
The programmes are meant to benefit all parts of the country, including the Northern Areas, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Azad Kashmir.
Michael Dale, head of operation of the EU-sponsored projects for Pakistan, mentioned that EU as a general principle supports “public-private partnership,” adding that a realistic approach is witnessed in Pakistan where the two are making simultaneous attempts to eradicate varied notifiable diseases among the livestock.
“The overall objective of the project is to assist the Pakistan government to realize the potential of the livestock sector — comprising 41.5 million bovines and 73 million small ruminants — with major emphasis on improving the farmers’ livelihoods.
Elaborating, he said simultaneous attempts are being made by government as well as private quarters to modify certain practices which not only reportedly compromises the disease control but also effects productivity.
The writer is a freelance journalist
|
|
|
|
