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Ludhiana, 18 March: The Directorate of Extension Education, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana organized a brainstorming session for goat breeders, entrepreneurs and industry to explore entrepreneurial opportunities for goat farmers of Punjab. Addressing the gathering, Dr. JPS Gill, Vice-Chancellor said that goats are being seen as animals for the future all over the world to provide food security for the increasing human population. He motivated the goat farmers to concentrate their efforts on value addition of their produce through farmer collectives and achieve higher profitability.
Dr. Ravinder Singh Grewal, Director of Extension Education said that the focus of the brainstorming was to engage unemployed youth in the livestock sector through profitable goat farming businesses. Dr. Parminder Singh, Additional Director of Extension Education emphasized on record keeping mechanisms as the foundation of a successful breeding unit. Dr. Mandeep Singla shared a presentation on the current scenario and future prospects of goat farming in Punjab.
Deliberations were held on developing profitable business models for goat production in the state particularly with the participation of young entrepreneurs. Progressive farmers shared their valuable inputs on different aspects. S. Balwinder Singh Maan stressed on marketing goats to the other states for festivities. S. Baldev Singh Sandhu suggested that breeding units must be established for milk production and its marketing. S. Bhupinder Singh Brar emphasized on the need to develop large scale farms to supply goats for milk as well as meat. S. Sandeep Singh and S. Rajpreet Singh supported the formation of farmer collectives for marketing. Sh. Sunny Kang advocated marketing of goats and related inputs across the entire value chain. Sh. Kala Gosal suggested value addition of milk to improve its shelf life and marketing through cooperatives. Mrs. Paramjit Kaur Kattu recommended active marketing of khoya and paneer to urban destinations across the state. The Vice- Chancellor assured the gathering that the university would take all the necessary steps to support the farmers through research and extension.
