Dairy farmers: USAID supports consultative workshop

Commercial dairy farmers from the Punjab on Tuesday participated in a consultative workshop with dairy sector stakeholders and farm managers to assess the needs for modern farm management services. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Dairy and Rural Development Foundation (DRDF) supported the workshop through their dairy project.

Vice Chairman DRDF, Abdul Sattar Dogar said the demand for farm management is increasing in Pakistan’s dairy industry, as investors are looking into developing commercial farm set-ups, especially in the Punjab. He said the dairy project-trained farm managers will join a powerful sector of Pakistan’s economy, and we have to prepare them for the market. This workshop will assist the dairy project in enhancing the scope of the upcoming farm managers’ training, and further align the offered training with market needs.

The dairy project’s four-week farm managers’ trainings prepare dairy farmers and unemployed, educated youth to become excellent resources for farm management in their respective regions, increasing farm productivity, and creating employment opportunities for young educated Pakistanis. Through this project, Pakistan’s rural economy will acquire a much-needed boost, leading to increased employment opportunities.

Dairy Project Director Jakob Moser said we have to improve production and yield per animal instead of increasing the number of animals at farms; the newly-trained farm managers will learn how to assure this happens in the future. Jakob said today, we have taken a great first step to develop an enhanced farm managers’ training program, which will be based on the needs of commercial dairy farmers. This consultation will lead to better farm management trainings and create jobs at large, commercial farms,” he added.-PR

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