SNS Randhawa, director of extension education, said that the challenges faced by our country in securing the food as well as nutritional security to fast growing population needs an integrated approach for livestock farming.

J S Bhatti, head of department, Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension Education, said under the new training programme experts from College of Veterinary Science will deliver their lectures on various aspects of pig farming.

Bhatti added that after getting such training from the university, youth can start their own enterprise. It can, on one hand, provide the needed employment and, on the other, bring diversification in agriculture and added that farmers will be instructed to construct cheap but comfortable sheds for their pigs and will be helped in maintaining better hygienic conditions and excellent management. Major part of the expenditure in pig farming is on feeding.

The farmers will be guided to make economical feed. They will be trained to differentiate between healthy and sick animals. Role of regular vaccination, deworming and hygiene in prevention of diseases will be stressed upon. The first aid methods for various ailments will be taught and practical demonstrations will be held.

Tips for timely detection of heat and care of pregnant and newborn animals will be emphasized. Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University vice chancellor, A S said diversification within the livestock is also a need of the hour. Not only dairy farming but fisheries, poultry, piggery and goat farming are the fine diversification options in livestock.

Nanda also said efforts were being made to explore the new avenues in livestock and we have developed a number of value added products from a single raw product, it increases demand and scope of marketing many times. Various departments of the college of veterinary science put up their stall in the fair.

The excellent germplasm of the university such as cows, buffaloes, goats, pigs, poultry, emu and quails were demonstrated to the livestock farmers. The experts delivered talks on the various aspects of livestock, poultry and fish farming and the mechanism and procedures to overcome the common problems faced by them.

Apart from pig, College of Fisheries have showcased various carp fishes, ornamental fish, azolla, duckweed cultivation and duck farming with integration of fish farming. In November 2014, Punjab Government doubled the amount of subsidy to establish new piggery farms from 25 to 50 per cent. Gulzar Singh Ranike, Animal Husbandry Minister announcing it said that Punjab Government has taken this step to help the poor people especially in the waterlogged Malwa region where the land has uncultivable. He said that to promote piggery farming in Punjab, village Ratta Khera of District Sri Mukatsar Sahib has been adopted as Model Village.

Residents of village Ratta Khera called on Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal and apprised him that due to water logging their financial position is not good and demanded for at least 50 per cent subsidy to establish new piggery units for all categories.

After receiving Chief Minister’s instructions, animal husbandry department increased subsidy up to 5o per cent and said that encouraged by the government decision to double the subsidy to 50 per cent villagers have decided to set up 10 units of piggery in the village. Ranike also said that Animal Husbandry Department has also conducted one week training for desired piggery farmers and piglets would be given to them by the department as well as state government will also help to get bank loans for new piggery farms.

In 2013, Polar Genetics India Private limited in collaboration with Alberta, Canada based Polar Genetics (2012) has announced setting up of Asia’s 1st Ultra-Modern Pig Farm in India, at Grewal Farm village Khassi Kalan, Chandigarh road, Ludhiana, Punjab state. Under the agreement, the Canadian company will supply its Indian channel partner high quality frozen genetically improved boar semen, technologies and the management systems to be shared with farmers to make the entire process of the breeding and slaughter of pigs, and processing and marketing of high quality pork meats hygienic and scientific.

The ultra-modern Ludhiana farm will have the capacity of 50 sows. In volume terms, piggery is perhaps the fifth largest agricultural practise in Canada, after wheat, cornola, beef and dairy and it could find a pride of place in Indian agriculture, which is taking slow but sure steps towards diversification. In Canada, we would have very few piggery farms with less than 500 sows (female pigs), which can produce more than 12,000 piglets per year.

Also there are larger organisations, which may have 40,000-50,000 sows with a capacity to produce upto 10 lakh piglets per year. This speaks volumes of the enormity of the enterprise in Canada. Polar Genetics (2012) Incorporated has more than 40 years of experience in working on pig breeding and pig genetics development in Canada.

The company aims to introduce modern pig breeding techniques were India, as there is greater scope for starting modern practices in piggery which is still at a nascent state of development in the country.

The high quality pork meats generated in this fashion will find ready acceptability among the ever increasing population of Indians with high incomes in branded hotels, restaurants and fast food joints, thus generating good money for the farmers, just as their counterparts are doing in North America, European Union and Japan.

The GADVASU along with Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has recently organized two day farmers fair with an aim at fostering diversification in agriculture and allied activities. The PAU mela was inaugurated by Punjab agriculture minister, Tota Singh and GADVASU fest was inaugurated by additional agriculture secretary, Punjab, Suresh Kumar.

Inaugurating the fair, Singh said with surplus food grain production, marketing system needs to be strengthened and appealed the Central government to find out ways and means for procurement of paddy and wheat from Punjab.

Based in Ludhiana, Punjab the university has a well-equipped Veterinary Teaching Hospital to cater the demands of large and small animal health and provide specialized treatment for the referred livestock patients and also provide clinical training to the students.

In addition the college also has dairy and poultry farms which provide adequate facilities for teaching and research. College of Veterinary Science is to produce veterinary graduates, scientists and extension workers for promoting better livestock health, by prevention of disease, increasing production and reproduction of livestock, thus improving the quality of rural life in Punjab.