Establishment of Veterinary Research & Disease Investigation Center in Sub-Division Wazir

Total:                                             Rs: 60 Millions

Capital cost       (local)                     Rs: 28.000 million

Revenue cost     (local)                   Rs: 32.000 million

Duration 03-year (2019-20 to 2021-22)

Location of the project:

Veterinary Research & Disease Investigation Centre at SubDivision Wazir, District Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Authorities responsible for:

Sponsoring:

Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Agriculture, Livestock & Cooperative Department

Execution:

Director General (Research) Livestock & Dairy Development Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Operation & maintenance:

Director General (Research) Livestock and Development Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar

Project Specific Objectives:

1. To establish one number of advanced research and diagnostic facilities setup in sub-division Wazir, district Bannu to efficiently meet the present and future challenges of livestock and poultry sector in the project area.
2. To provide timely benefit to Livestock and Poultry farmers of the far-flung areas of newly merged tribal district almost at their door steps.

• To alleviate poverty in the target area by increasing farmer’s income through enhanced animal productivity.

1. Strengthening Research - Extension and Farmer linkage for effective transfer of technology and feed-back in Veterinary & Animal Sciences.
2. Collaboration with the regional research institutes, Universities and other stakeholder to look intervention options on the major challenges of livestock development in the region.

Expected output

1. Facilities for research on various livestock/poultry breeds, Health and Fodder & Forages will be established which will minimize rate of livestock/poultry morbidity & mortality and enhance their productivity which ultimately enhance the farmer’s income & overall economy of the project area. At least 1000 livestock and poultry samples will be processed during the project in project locations. in addition, advisory services will be extended to at least 1500 farmers.
2. The capacity of farmers will be build and will encourage investment in livestock/poultry farming resulting in increase job creation. At least, two (02) nos of farmer trainings will be arranged in the project location. In addition, 02 number of surveys to identify problems of the farming community in the project location will be made.

• The project shall also provide research opportunity for Researcher, student on local problems of Livestock & Poultry. At least, 02 research trials will be launched in project location.

6. Description and justification

Location

The latitude of Bannu is 32.986111, and the longitude is 70.604164 with the GPS coordinates of 32° 59' 9.9996'' N and 70° 36' 14.9904'' E. elevation of Bannu is 381 meters height, that is equal to 1,250 feet.

Justification:

Livestock is an important sector of agriculture. Its role is pivotal towards rural socio economic development. Nearly 8 million families involved in livestock raising deriving more than 35 percent income from livestock production activities.  It is central to the livelihood of the rural poor in the country. It is a source of cash income, providing a vital and often the only source of income for the rural and most marginal people. It can play an important role in poverty alleviation and foreign exchange earnings for the country.

Livestock contributed approximately 58.6 percent to the agriculture value added and 11.6 percent to the overall GDP during 2015-16 compared to 56.4 percent and 11.7 percent during the corresponding period last year, respectively. Gross value addition of livestock at constant cost factor of 2005-06 has increased from Rs. 1247 billion (2014-15) to Rs. 1292 billion (2015-16), showing an increase of 3.63 percent over the same period last year.

Poultry sector is one of the vibrant segments of livestock sector in Pakistan. This sector provides employment (direct /indirect) to over 1.5 million people. The current investment in Poultry Industry is more than Rs. 200.00 billion. Pakistan has become the 11th largest poultry producer in the world with the production of 1.02 billion broilers annually. Poultry today has been a balancing force to keep check on the prices of mutton and beef, but also serving as backbone of agriculture sector, as it consumes over 7 million metric tons of agro residues. Poultry meat contributes 30 percent of the total meat production in the country. Poultry sector has shown a growth @ 8-10 percent annually which reflects its inherent potential. The poultry has contributed 1.4 percent in GDP during 2015-16

Bannu Subdivision formerly Frontier Region Bannu is a subdivision in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The region is named after Bannu District, which lies to the east and also borders Karak District and Lakki Marwat Subdivision to the north, North Waziristan to the west, and South Waziristan to the south. It is administered by the District Coordination Officer (DCO) of Bannu District.

Vast majority of the population of the whole area live a rural life. Livestock and poultry keeping in the area is primarily an activity of subsistence and mostly women are involved in this activity. The animals/poultry are traditionally kept under poor management and feeding regimes. Proper vaccination and deworming practices are not adopted. So the animals are always exposed to various parasitic, infectious, and deficiency diseases. Consequently, the productive potential of the animals is not fully exploited and very often tremendous losses occur due to the disease outbreaks. The farmers have no easy and in-time approach to expert opinions as the diagnostic and research organizations are located at long distances.

Commercial livestock and poultry farming in the area are growing gradually. Recent statistics of the existing commercial poultry farming in the area depicts that due public sector attention would develop the area as a hub of private/commercial poultry farming. Similarly, the vast river bank pasture resources could be efficiently utilized by promoting small ruminants farming in the area on scientific grounds.

To bring sustainable improvement and development, both the traditional and growing commercial farming in the area require thorough scientific handling. Various constraints present in this regard are needed to be addressed by the public sector. To cater these issues, enhancing and strengthening of the locally applied research activities in various livestock specialties, establishment of modern diagnostic facilities and production of skilled manpower are the needs of the day. Moreover, farmers of the far flung areas of North Waziristan and FR Bannu cannot benefit due to long traveling and financial constraints. It is, therefore, proposed that Establishment of Livestock/ Veterinary Research and Disease Investigation Centre Bannu will greatly help in improving socio-economic condition & poverty alleviation through increasing productivity of the livestock and poultry.

The proposed institutional set up will enhance research and diagnostic activities in the field of livestock resulting in increased livestock/poultry productivity. Farmers will get more income from their animals. This will encourage investment in livestock/poultry farming resulting in increased job opportunities. Poverty would be reduced in the area and the living standard of the people, especially the womenfolk will be raised.