Punjab Livestock Secretary Babur Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad has called for developing human resources in the livestock sector to enhance productivity. He was speaking at the passing out of the second batch of 25 Village Livestock Workers (VLWs) on Thursday. These workers were sent by the Livestock and Dairy Development Board (LDDB), Pakistan, who completed a three-month training course at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore. On completion of the course, the village livestock workers, hailing from NWFP and Balochistan provinces, were awarded certificates at the ceremony, arranged by the Institute of Continuing Education and Extension (ICE&E) of the UVAS and the LDDB. Babur Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad said that development of livestock sector was the only way to prosper economically as agriculture had not been used to its full potential and the country was facing food shortage. He lauded the role of the UVAS in producing quality human resource in the sector. Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry spoke about the educational, research and training programmes of the university. He said the UVAS was offering six undergraduate and over 20 M.Phil and Ph.D degree programmes to produce experts direly needed in livestock, poultry, fisheries, wildlife and related fields. He said that need-based and demand-driven diploma and certificate programme were being arranged in collaboration with public and private organisations/institutions, including Livestock and Dairy Development Department, Punjab; NAVTEC, Nestle Pakistan, UNDP and LDDB Pakistan. Professor Zafar said that the UVAS was also actively involved in applied research to solve field problems. He said that the university had state-of-the-art laboratories for disease diagnosis and checking of adulteration in food items. Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development Department Director General (Extension) Dr Sajjad Zaheer Malik asked the training programme participants to apply their knowledge in the field for the community development. Former ICE&E Director Dr Muhammad Amin Sheikh spoke about the training programmes and other responsibilities of the Institute of Continuing Education and Extension of the university. He said that the village livestock workers were trained in clinical medicine, animal reproduction and animal nutrition. LDDB Deputy Project Coordinator Dr Naveed Niazi spoke about the board's training programmes and its efforts for the welfare of livestock farmers. Copyright Business Recorder, 2008