Every
body is well-known about geographical
distribution & topographic situation of the
North West Frontier Province especially
those areas lying towards the peripheries as
Chitral, Swat, Buner, Shangla and Mansehra
districts.
Life
is very tough in these districts because of
tough soil texture, seasonal shocks and lack
of basic facilities.
Almost
these people escort their lives by
agriculture and livestock basically, while
majority of them are daily wagers. But
agriculture and livestock are the main
resources for them. They depend upon rain
for cultivation of crops because having no
irrigation system.
They
keep animals just for their own needs as
milk production, backyard poultry for eggs
production and equine for drought purposes.
In this modern and well developed world as
each department is availing new scientific
facilities at their level but still these
people are using conventional principles of
animal husbandry practices.
They
keep animals of their own choice
irrespective of specie and breed. They tend
to keep local pure breeds or pure exotic
breeds. The local breeds are low productive
but immune to disease and can also tolerate
tough season. While pure exotic breeds are
highly productive but not suitable for these
areas due to low immunity status to disease
and low level of tolerance to harsh season.
In both cases they are in loss because of
lacking knowledge about cross breed animals.
They
usually fed their animals range grasses,
straw and maize stovers. While small
ruminants are kept generally on grazing on
ranged areas. They fed concentrates to
animals for the period of early lactation
only. The most prevalent health preventing
constraints are linked with poor nutrition.
Malnutrition is common in young stock.
Housing
system which they use for animals is closed
one. They do not take any care about
cleaning and ventilation. Due to poor
housing system exoparasitosis is common.
Reproductive
efficiency of animals remain very low due
late maturity, misconception problems,
abortion, lack of breeding bulls, difficulty
in heat detection especially silent heat
animals and pregnancy diagnoses. Here the
livestock farmers of these pockets need
special concern and consultation to cease
these constraints to improve their
livelihood.
The
prevalent contagious diseases of cattle and
buffalos are hemorrhagic septicemia, foot
and mouth disease, black quarter disease and
mastitis. Among the non-infectious diseases
indigestion, tympny, milk fever,
malnutrition and injuries are more common.
Among the contagious diseases of sheep and
goat contagious pleuropneumonia, foot and
mouth disease, enterotoxaemia and foot rot
are found in prevalence. Heavy internal and
external parasitosis is widespread
constraints to health. Among the
reproductive disorders dystokia, prolepse of
reproductive tract, anestrous and
misconception are common. Major portion of
the farmers treat their animals by applying
local remedies.
Livestock
farmers are unfamiliar from live animals
marketing and their products marketing due
to unavailability of marketing facilities
and lack of marketing skills. After
completion a lactation period they wait for
next parturition for a long period. If
proper marketing charnel develop in these
pockets may be greatly helpful introduce
animal husbandry at market level.
Why
these constraints in these areas
-
Farmer illiteracy and lack of skill
about modern animal husbandry
practices.
-
Deficiency of progressive farmers,
existing bearing laggard behavior.
-
Lack of livestock extension services
towards the farmers.
-
Lack of animal health promoting
centers in these areas.
-
Very deficient artificial insemination
centers.
-
Lack of skilled staff in existent
dispensaries and artificial
insemination centers.
-
Farmer’s poverty which do not allow
them to take forward step towards the
modern farming system.
-
Lack of irrigated land to grow quality
fodder to improve animal nutrition.
-
Non- availability of private clinics
to deficient veterinary assistants and
doctors.
-
Lack of livestock and their products
marketing system in these pockets.
-
Religious, Political and social
constraints.
Recommendations
-
Uplifting socio-economic condition of
farmers by providing incentives.
-
Capacity building of the farmer’s
community through trainings in the
subject of animal husbandry practices
and fodder production.
-
Motivation of farmers by introducing
model livestock and poultry farms, so as
to aware them about farm management,
farm economics and utilization of
resources.
-
Developing farmer’s organization for
better convincing and making them
eligible for foreign aids.
-
Provision of community livestock
extension workers in each village for
controlling haphazard shortcomings in
the consecutive fields.
-
Provision of veterinary dispensaries
with health oriented staff to provide
health facilities.
-
Making possible maximum land utilization
to combat fodder scarcity periods.
-
Making a livestock and their products
marketing setup in these pockets to
propel farmer’s community towards animal
husbandry practices at marketing level.
-
Carrying non governmental organization
in these pockets to initiate corporate
farming system or on sharing.
-
Construction of functional livestock and
poultry feed mills and hatchery units at
per district level to provide facility
to farmers at their door steps.
-
Construction of livestock and poultry
model farms to provide demonstrative
sites to farmer’s community.
A
survey report by Dr. M. Idrees Khan
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