LAHORE, June 23: Unchecked crossbreeding has severely impacted the population of purebred Sahiwal cattle, an important national genetic resource of Pakistan, turning the premier dairy cattle into a useless mutt.

University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Nawaz said this at a national seminar on 'Sahiwal Cattle – a promising dairy animal of Pakistan', by the Department of Livestock Production in collaboration with the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council and the Australian Linkages Programme on the Ravi campus on Thursday.

He said the UVAS would help farmers desirous of protecting the Sahiwal cattle breed consisting of 11 per cent of the total 36 per cent purebred animals in the country.

Prof Nawaz said that the purebred Sahiwal cattle needed to be preserved under the guideline of embryo transfer technology by using the modern reproduction technology.

The launch of cloning process to get the elite cattle would not only improve its milk and meat potential but also enhance the socio-economic conditions of farmers and go a long way in bridging the gap of supply and demand of animal protein in the country.

Prof Nawaz said the Higher Education Commission (HEC) had approved 'Business Incubation Centres' at the University of Peshawar, the National University of Science and Technology, the University of Agriculture Faisalabad and the UVAS.

Earlier, faculty of animal and production technology dean Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha said Sahiwal had been one of the established milch breed of tropical and sub-tropical regions, famous for resistant to ticks and other diseases, tolerant towards heat and had a high producing ability under harsh environment conditions.

“The breed is now reported to be present in 29 countries across the globe, including Australia, Jamaica, Guyana, Burundi, Somalia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. We are conducting research on nucleus herd of elite Sahiwal cow to study for genetic improvement of the breed,” he said.

Jhang Research Centre Conservation Sahiwal Cattle Director Dr Javed Iqbal, Bahadur Nagar (Okara) Livestock Production Research Institute Director Dr Rashid Ahmed, UVAS Livestock Production Chairman Prof Dr Muhammad Abdullah, Dr Jalees Ahmad Bhatti, Dr Khaild Javed and Dr Ahmad Ali gave presentations on the characteristic of purebred Sahiwal cattle and recommended measures to preserve it.