National Seminar on Avian Respiratory Diseases

The country was importing 90 percent of vaccines for poultry avian respiratory diseases worth millions of dollars. It was echoed at the inaugural session of National Seminar titled Avian Respiratory Diseases: A serious to poultry industry” arranged by the Department of Pathology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad. Chairing the session UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that only ten percent of vaccine for poultry avian respiratory diseases is being produced in the country. He said currently, the poultry sector is contributing 1.5% to gross domestic product of the country. He stressed the need to take tangible measures to deal with different diseases in poultry and livestock, responsible for low productivity. The demand of meat was boosting up because of increasing population. He said that poultry is the major and cheapest source of protein intakes. He urged the scientists to introduce egg-adopted vaccine to arrest the avian diseases. He said that the University was striving hard to strengthen academia and industry linkages in order to transform the knowledge into goods and services. He said livestock sector is contributing 13 percent to GDP out of 21 percent share of agriculture. He said that if we analyze the milk production in livestock sector, an animal milk production is only 2000 litres per annum compared to 8000 litres in the developed nations. Dean Faculty of Veterinary Sciences Prof Dr Zafar Iqbal said that Faculty has set up different groups to promote research and outreach activities, and cement academia- industry linkages. He said that the country can save millions of dollars by producing various vaccines to minimize its import. World Veterinary Poultry Association Pakistan Branch President Dr Hanif Nazir said that poultry provides enough protein, helping in reducing the situation of malnutrition. He said that researchers should focus on diseases and its frequency in order to increase the productivity. Chairman Pathology Dr Ahrar Ahmad Khan, said that the department was taking all possible steps to produce the skilled manpower to meet the demands of the industry. He said that youths work as engine of progress of any country. By equipping them with skills, we can make development rapidly. Mustafa Kamal Chairman Pakistan Poultry Association said the sector has been serving the nation since 1962 and provides affordable poultry products to the masses to fulfill their requirement of protein. He said that sector employed 1.5 million people and constituted 40 per cent of total meat consumption in Pakistan. He said 12.5 billion eggs and 1.05 million tonnes of chicken were being produced in Pakistan annually.