The Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr Amir Khyder Khan Hoti visited the Agricultural Sector Exhibition held at Tarnab Farm Peshawar. The Faulty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences was visited and the Chief Minister was pleased on progress of the faculty in the areas of animal health, production and industrial linkages. The Chief Minister was accompanied by the Minister for Livestock, Haji Hidyatullah Khan and Minster for Agriculture, Arbab Muhammad Ayub Jan.
The Vice Chancellor Agricultural University, Prof Dr Khan Bahadar Mawat welcomed the Chief Minister to the stall. Prof Dr M Subhan Qureshi, Dean Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences briefed the Chief Minister about progress of the Faculty regarding launching of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program along with postgraduate degrees in various disciplines. The Chief Minister talked with the faculty members and the students. He directed that the development plans of the faculty and requirements of the students may be submitted to the CM house for implementation.
DVM program at the faculty is progressing well; and M Phil/PhD programs have been introduced in the subjects of Pathology and Theriogenology in addition to the ongoing programs in Livestock Management, Poultry Science and Animal Nutrition. The Faculty has been lucky enough to get a developmental project on Strengthening of Teaching and Research Capabilities of the Faculty, worth Rs.168 million under PSDP, providing building, equipments and exotic animals for teaching and research. The Faculty has succeeded in earning research grants from HEC, PARC and PSF for investigating meat production potential of rabbits, disease pattern of small ruminants and semen quality parameters of goats. Several research grants have been won by the students under indigenous scholarships and by the newly inducted IPFP-HEC scholars.
The Faculty has got linked with the local dairy farms through dairy herd improvement program of the Dairy Science Park. A successful international workshop was held during 2011 and the second one in this series is scheduled for November, 2013. The Dean during his visit to Turkey, explored the possibility of developing the provincial meat and dairy sector and export of meat to Turkey. A development fund has been prepared for funding by TIKA Turkey and another by the Pak-US Science and Technology program. These donors have been pleased to support us in operational costs and procurement of equipment; however, construction of building for such activities has to be sponsored by the provincial government.
The Faculty has proposed developmental plans and were submitted to the provincial government this year; but could not be funded due paucity of resources. The programs are focusing on business incubation and generation of self employment for the outgoing graduates through already tested technologies at this Faculty.
The faculty envisions an enhanced role of the outgoing veterinarians in community development to develop the medium sized poultry and livestock farms. The faculty also has worked on business incubation and enabling the outgoing students to establish their own entrepreneurs instead of looking towards the government and others for getting employment. In this way they would be seen as employment providers instead of job seekers. On directive of the Chief Minister, a proposal will be submitted shortly.
Courtesy:
Prof M Subhan Qureshi
Dean Faculty of AH and Vet Sciences
The University of Agriculture Peshawar.
drmsqureshi@aup.edu.pk
