PESHAWAR: Livestock farmers have complained about the sale of adulterated dairy products in the provincial capital and demanded effective mechanism to check the supply of impure and contaminated milk supplied from Punjab to the province.

During the Livestock Farmers Association oath-taking ceremony at the Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday, patron of the association Dr Ghufranullah Akhunzada said farmers wanted to develop livestock in parts of KP but they faced problems like unavailability of quality fodder and lack of medical facilities for animals.

He said the cattle were vulnerable to diseases.

Dr Ghufranullah called for strong coordination between the government and livestock farmers for the strengthening of the sector through resolution of issues.

Cattle farmer Ahmad Kamal of Mardan criticised the successive governments over ‘failure’ to support his community. He also came down hard on the authorities saying they were indifferent to the supply of highly unsafe milk and other dairy products to KP from Punjab.

He claimed that Punjab cattle farmers used around 17 chemicals to preserve milk before transporting it to KP.

Mr Ahmad insisted that the milk produced locally was costly but its quality was far better than Punjab’s.

He also complained about the sale of spurious veterinary medicines and vaccines on the local market and said cattle farmers had to spend a huge sum of money on the animals’ treatment and many of them died due to the use of such drugs.

The farmer criticised the district administration and relevant departments for focusing their attention on the fixing of dairy product prices and complained that there was no check on the profiteering by fish, meat and poultry sellers.

He also called for the provision of quality fodder, fertiliser and seeds to farmers to strengthen their business.

Another farmer, Ihsanul Haq Bamkhelvi, regretted that the successive governments didn’t pay attention to the building of the cattle farmers’ capacity and provision of quality vaccines and feeds to them.

He said the current government had yet to take concrete steps to support livestock farmers.

“We are regularly paying taxes but are getting literally nothing from the government. The ministers are spending huge funds in their respective constituencies to secure vote bank and have no interest in supporting the people in other areas,” he said.

Syed Sardar Badshah, another livestock farmer, expressed concern about the sale of adulterated dairy products in the province and said self-accountability on part of all stakeholders was the only solution to the problem.

Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Haji Mohammad Afzal assured farmers that the chamber would help strengthen livestock farming in the province under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

President of the association Mohammad Asif Awan urged cattle farmers to show unity for the effective resolution of their problems.

Earlier, special assistant to the chief minister on livestock Mohibullah Khan administered the oath to the newly-elected office-bearers of the association.

He said 75 percent people of the province depended on cattle farming and therefore, the government was determined to support such farmers.

Mr Mohibullah asked farmers to keep liaison with the livestock department for the speedy resolution of their problems.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2017