KHOROG, October 15, 2009, Asia-Plus /Shonavruz Afzalshoyev/ — A new veterinary lab has been launched in GBAO’s Vanj district.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the GBAO veterinary service head Anvar Buribekov said that many poultry have perished in Vanj in recent years.
“Farming units in the Vanj district have always got good profit out of poultry and the new veterinary lab, provided with all necessary equipment, will promote development of poultry-keeping farming and livestock sector in the district,” Buribekov said, noting that Vanj now accounts for 32 percent of the overall number of poultry in the region.
The veterinary lab in the Vanj district has been established due to joint efforts of the district administration, Tajikistan’s Veterinary Service and the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food of Canada within the framework of the program, Cross-Border Cooperation on Preventing Animal and Poultry Diseases, which is implemented the Aga Khan Foundation’s (AKF) Mountain Societies Development Support Program (MSDSP) and the AKF Afghanistan.
In Gorno Badakhshan, similar veterinary laboratories were also set up in Murgab and Ishkashim districts and in the city of Khorog.
Under the program for cross-border cooperation on preventing animal and poultry diseases, agro-service centers have been set up in all districts of the region. The centers provide farming units in Gorno Badakhshan and border areas of Afghanistan with mineral fertilizers and medicines as well as examine and treat animals and poultry of these farms.
Ismailimail 