Seminar on “Livestock Management under heat stress”

A large number of livestock animals in the country are underfed, barring the ways for Pakistan to excel in the sector and meet the standards of international market. This was stated by speakers while addressing a Seminar on “Livestock Management under heat stress” arranged by Faculty of Animal Husbandry in collaboration with Ghazi Brothers at New Senate Hall. The session was chaired by University of Agriculture Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan while Dr Zurong Wang from Thai livestock market leader company CP Group, Faculty Dean Prof Dr Muhamamd Sarwar and Ghazi Brothers Country Manager Saqib Waheed were guests of hounour. Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus and Prof Dr M Aslam Mirza also addressed on the occasion. The Vice Chancellor said that feeding the animals was a real challenge for the country that needs to be addressed effectively. He was of the view that in the hot weather, the animals need especial attention of the farmers because scorching heat disturbed the productivity manifold. Special treatments are required with the help of awareness and capacity building. He showed his concern that per animal milk production in the country was very low compared to other countries despite the fact that we were having 50 million livestock animals. He added that the Pakistan was the food sufficient country but the water issues are disturbing the situation. Dr Zurong Wang told the audience about nutritional management of layer under heat stress. He said with the increase in temperature, energy intake of layers decreases. He said that hens can tolerate constant temperature at the degree of 35 C but the fluctuation in the said temperature has adverse impact of the birds. Dr Muhamamd Sarwar told about the heat stress management in dairy management especially in cows. He said that decrease in the fiber diet under scorching heat increases the production in the cows. He stressed the need to avoid high production diet in the summer season. He urged the farming community to apply state of the art new practices to catch up the world in the meat and milk per animal production that will not alleviate poverty but also help boost up Gross Domestic Product of the country. Saqib Waheed said that his company was committed to uplift the sector. He said that they had also provided scholarships from Toba Tek Singh Campus, UAF to equip them with the state-of-the-art education for the development of the country.