Damascus-Sana
The livestock sector faces many challenges related to fluctuations in the prices of production inputs, especially imported ones, damage to the sector's infrastructure due to terrorism and high production costs.
While the concerned parties stress the need for participation to overcome these challenges, experts and specialists present solutions to develop the reality of livestock and professionals, and to achieve food security.
During the workshop held today in the Rida Saeed Hall at the University of Damascus as a continuation of the Agricultural Sector Development Forum, Dr. Osama Hammoud, Director of Animal Production at the Ministry of Agriculture, mentioned the importance of periodic field meetings for those concerned with the affairs of the agricultural sector to study the problems facing the sector and come up with ideas that serve it in its agricultural and animal parts.
On the issue of fish breeding, the General Director of the Public Authority for Fish Resources, Dr. Abd al-Latif Ali, drew attention to the necessity of insuring the fishermen's boats and granting loans for their purchase and maintenance, the establishment of special fish feed laboratories, the creation of fish breeding specialization in the faculties of agriculture, the establishment of coastal fish farms, the facilitation of licensing of marine fish farms and the settlement of unlicensed Of which.
As for the poultry sector, the General Director of the General Poultry Corporation, Engineer Siraj Khader, stated that he faces difficulties represented by the sharp price fluctuations of broiler and egg products, which exposes producers to great losses in addition to the difficulty of securing work requirements and many poultry have stopped production and others have been affected by terrorism, pointing out the need to regulate the profession and establish Storage and cooling units for broilers and eggs, and simplifying poultry licensing procedures.
Regarding solutions to the problems of providing fodder, the Director General of the Feed Foundation, Abdul Karim Shabab, suggested increasing the area allocated for the cultivation of fodder materials, especially corn and soybean meal, to dispense with imported feed, especially with the rise in their prices, which negatively affected the prices of animal products in the local market.
With regard to the cattle and sheep sector, the Director of the National Program for Genetic Improvement at the General Authority for Agricultural Research, Engineer Muhammad Ayman Dibba, proposed solutions, represented by organizing individual cattle breeding, securing improved rams for breeders, importing cows to restore the herd, preventing smuggling, and establishing dairy and cheese factories.
Director of Animal Health at the Ministry of Agriculture Dr. Hussein Suleiman referred to proposals for organizing the livestock sector that focused on developing statistical systems to provide data, building plans and comprehensive numbering of agricultural animals, developing livestock insurance systems, and including fodder crops in the agricultural plan.
With regard to veterinary medicines, the Director of Veterinary Medicines at the Ministry, Dr. Ziyad Nammour, called for addressing the shortage of veterinary technical staff, allowing the import of medicines and vaccines, and reducing the prices of medicines and vaccines.
For his part, Dr. Yassin Hashem, a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Damascus, indicated the necessity of conducting a comprehensive survey of all poultry that have stopped working, to find out the reasons for their stoppage and to find appropriate ways to restart them again.
The workshop was attended by the Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Eng. Muhammad Hassan Qatna.
Bushra Barhoum
