State to import cattle semen from Pakistan

Tribune News Service 

Patiala, March 31

To increase the number of Nili Ravi and Sahiwal cattle in Punjab, the state government is all set to import their semen from graded semen stations in Pakistan.

Cabinet Minister for Animal Husbandry, Diaries and Fisheries Gulzar Singh Ranike said here that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had already shot a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking formal approval from the Union government.

Originally from Pakistan, the Nili Ravi breed is found in Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepur districts of Punjab in small numbers while in Lahore, Sheikhupura, Faizabad, Okora, Sahiwal, Multan, Bohawalpur and Bahwalnagar districts of Pakistan Punjab, this breed is present in large numbers.

Sahiwal is a breed of Zebu cattle which originated from Sahiwal district of Punjab province in Pakistan. It is reared in several districts of the state, but its population is low.

The minister, who along with Cabinet Minister for Higher Education Surjit Singh Rakhra, was here to inaugurate the Centre for Excellence in Cattle Development at the Rs 42-crore Hi-tech Bull Mother Farm that has been set up under the Rashtriya Krishi Scientific Yojna at Rauni village in the district.

Ranike said these breeds — known for their high milk yield — could turn the tables in favour of dairy farmers in Punjab and the government.

He said that these breeds would be reared and promoted at the centre where a semen bank would also be set up for its distribution among dairy farmers across the state. 

He said the state government had also developed 12 veterinary polyclinics at the district level for which Rs 19 crore had been spent, while Rs 20.35 crore were spent on 42 animal hospitals at the tehsil level. Besides, the state government would be making 1,800 recruitments in posts lying vacant in the animal husbandry department.