RAWALPINDI:Two-day International Camel Conference (Virtual) on Role of Camel in Food Security under Climate Change Context ended here on Friday in Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR).
Vice-Chancellor of PMAS-AAUR, Prof. Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman was chief guest along with the founding President Camel Association of Pakistan Prof. Dr M Younas.
During his address, Prof. Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman said that the increasing human population of the world and adverse climate change impacts have arisen the issue of food security.
In order to combat this issue, there is a need to explore a new world of resources and camels are amazing species along with extraordinary resilience in changing environments as they can serve the most useful addition to the food supply chain in terms of milk, meat and other products, he said.
“Camels are a gift from Allah because of its virtues and benefits for the human” he said.
“Camel milk and meat also possesses a superior keeping quality compared to cow milk, due to its high protein content that has inhibitory properties against bacteria” he said.
While appreciating the effort for the awareness about the camel importance he said that it is a matter of concern that despite having high breed camels in Pakistan, we have not been able to draw people’s attention to its farming and its usage for milk and meat.
He called to conduct the national level surveys to formulate the data driven planning where industry would be attracted and its commercial viability. He also assured the support of PMAS-AAUR for promoting camel use.
Earlier, the speakers including Dr Nisar Ahmad Wani, Scientific Director Reproductive Biotechnology Centre, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, Prof. Dr Taherah Mohammad Abadi, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, University of Khuzestan, Iran, Dr Pauline Gitonga, Dryland Animal Health Consultant, ASAL Extension Ltd. Kenya, Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi Ex-Dean of Veterinary Sciences, UAF, Dr Abdul Raziq Kakar, Technical Operations Manager, Al-Ain Farms, Abu Dhabi, Prof. Dr Tarun Kumar Gahlot, Rajasthan Agriculture University, India, Douglas Baun, Owner at the US Army Camel Experiment and Dr Asim Faraz General Secretary CAP also addressed the participants of the conference and emphasized to explore and share the potential and future of this creature under the climate change circumstances as it can sustain hot, harsh and hostile environments easily without compromising on their productive and reproductive capabilities.
Later, the participants organized a walk comprising camel riding with an aim to create awareness of camel production.