Australia provides $1.5m for agriculture sector

LAHORE: Australia has provided $1.5 million for an Agriculture Sector Linkages Programme (ASLP) in Pakistan by the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), said UVAS Project Director Hassan Mehmood Warriach.

Talking to APP here on Sunday, he said, "ASLP is a key program of the Australia-Pakistan Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy 2010-2015 which aims to collaborate strategically to improve livelihood systems for the rural poor in Pakistan and build linkages between the agriculture sectors of Australia and Pakistan".

Under this umbrella of ASLP there are five projects including mango production, mango supply chain, citrus production, social sciences and dairy project, the project director added.

The dairy projects being implemented in Punjab and Sindh aimed at improvement dairy production of small holder dairy farms by improving current extension services, he added.

Charles Sturt University, Australia, is working in collaboration with the University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Lahore, for the implementation of the project, he said.

The first phase of the project was started in 2007 and the second phase is due to be completed in 2015, he elaborated.

Pakistan, like many developing countries, has an agrarian rural based economy. Livestock is a major contributor to the national (12%) and agriculture (50%) economy.

The livestock sector has been declared in the recent past as one of the fastest growing sectors and provide livelihood for more than 35 million people and these farmers-households derive 30 to 40% of their income from livestock.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011