Progress 07/01/06 to 06/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The objectives of this project were to develop a training seminar for the dairy industry of Pakistan and train individuals in dairy management at Utah State University. For the first objective, a two-week Professional Dairy Management training seminar was conducted in Lahore, Pakistan. Four professors from Utah State University, two in week one and two in week two, presented topics in dairy management. A training manual was developed and handed out to each participant. Topics covered were forage quality, nutrition of lactating and non-lactating animals, raising dairy beef, milking procedures, milk quality, reproduction, and others. There were ten individuals who only attended the first week of training and approximately twenty who only attended the opening ceremonies. There were fifty-one participants who regularly attended both weeks of the seminar. There were 19 managers of dairy farms, 14 from the private sector such as Nestle, Pioneer Seed and Tetra Pak and 18 from government, university and non-government organizations (NGO). The discussion on milk quality and testing bulls for artificial insemination brought out interesting discussions between the dairy managers and government officials. The participants enjoyed the topics, but had a desire for more research and training on indigenous breeds of dairy cattle, such as buffalos, development of new fodder varieties, improved feeding practices, management of different climatic regions within the country, record keeping, dealing with health problems and milk quality issues. In addition to the training in-country, two students were brought to Utah State University to study dairy management for fall semester 2006 (second objective). Feedback from the students was that they learned a lot and were very pleased with the opportunity to study in the U.S. Both want to come back for post-graduate training. My observation was that the cultural exchange was as beneficial as the technical training. A demonstration farm built by Sweetwater, Intn. opened in January 2007 and has been used for training additional groups of dairy managers using materials developed from the initial training workshops (at least 2, but is on-going). This end-product of "train the trainer" has been very successful and the dairy has been used to demonstrate what the potential can be if these management and technical skills are implemented. PARTICIPANTS: Sweetwater International Development Initiative TARGET AUDIENCES: Dairy industry of Pakistan PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Pakistan has the fifth largest dairy herd in the world, but production is so low and quality impaired that much dairy products have to be imported. As a result of our training seminars, the government of Pakistan has taken notice of the dairy sector and has recognized it as important to its economy. To demonstrate, high ranking government officials (U.S. and Pakistan) attended the opening ceremonies and the mayor of Lahore attended the closing ceremonies. Dairy farmers, private sector individuals, and government employees all gained a new appreciation for improved dairy practices. Many have implemented learned production practices with positive results in production and income. Dialogue between the different sectors was available and useful. Students who came to the U.S.(follow-up with these students showed that both received promotions because of their experiences here) and those from universities in Lahore gained a new appreciation for possibilities that they had not even imagined previous to the workshops. Based on the conversations I had between training sessions, positive relationships with the U.S. and Utah State University were developed and strengthened. A pre- and post-seminar questionnaire was given and compiled to assess perceptions of the seminars. All of the questions were open-ended. Comments suggested that almost all of the dairy managers had never had any type of training such as was provided in these meetings. All were extremely receptive and "hungry" for more information. One person commented that he had planned to attend for only one or two days, but enjoyed the meetings so much he stayed for the whole two weeks. One commented that at the end of the first week of training he went home and implemented some of the nutritional information and reported that he had seen an almost immediate improvement. Additional responses were that they desired more training for farmers in all parts of Pakistan, new techniques in dairying, more written information, and demonstration farms. The Professional Dairy Management Training Seminar in June 2006 met with an enthusiastic response from all sectors of the dairy industry - from dairy managers, students, university professors, and government and private sector people involved in the dairy industry. There has had the same enthusiastic response from the students trained at the Sweetwater Dairy Farm outside of Lahore. In addition, the management of Sweetwater Pakistan has hosted numerous visitors to the dairy farm from all of the sectors listed above. Everyone involved in the dairy industry has been kept informed about the results of their dairy management practices and training on the productivity of their cows. In fact, the Country Manager for Sweetwater, Internationl, Ahmed Iqbal Saeed, was presented with an award for "Distinguished Contributions and Outstanding Professional" by the Federal Administrator of Pakistan at the 125 Anniversary Celebration of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Lahore, Pakistan. If funding could be arranged, everyone is interested in collaborating in training and research programs in the future.
Publications
- Dhiman, T.R., A.J. Young, R.D. Wiedmeier, and J.A. Jenson 2006. Chapter 5: General Dairy Herd Management. Farmland and Dairy Training Initiative 82-135.
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Progress 07/01/06 to 06/30/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The objectives of this project were to develop a training seminar for the dairy industry of Pakistan and train individuals in dairy management at Utah State University. For the first objective, a two-week Professional Dairy Management training seminar was conducted in Lahore, Pakistan. Four professors from Utah State University, two in week one and two in week two, presented topics in dairy management. A training manual was developed and handed out to each participant. Topics covered were forage quality, nutrition of lactating and non-lactating animals, raising dairy beef, milking procedures, milk quality, reproduction, and others. There were ten individuals who only attended the first week of training and approximately twenty who only attended the opening ceremonies. There were fifty-one participants who regularly attended both weeks of the seminar. There were 19 managers of dairy farms, 14 from the private sector such as Nestle, Pioneer Seed and Tetra Pak and 18 from
government, university and non-government organizations (NGO). A pre- and post-seminar questionnaire was given and compiled to assess perceptions of the seminars. All of the questions were open-ended. Most of the dairy managers (14/19) filled in both the pre and post questionnaire. Half of the private sector and less than half (7/18) of the NGO's filled out both questionnaires. A few filled out either the pre or post, but not both. Comments suggested that almost all of the dairy managers had never had any type of training such as was provided in these meetings. All were extremely receptive and "hungry" for more information. One person commented that he had planned to attend for only one or two days, but enjoyed the meetings so much he stayed for the whole two weeks. One commented that at the end of the first week of training he went home and implemented some of the nutritional information and reported that he had seen an almost immediate improvement. The discussion on milk quality and
testing bulls for artificial insemination brought out interesting discussions between the dairy managers and government officials. Additional responses were that they desired more training for farmers in all parts of Pakistan, new techniques in dairying, more written information, and demonstration farms. The participants enjoyed the topics, but had a desire for more research and training on indigenous breeds of dairy cattle, such as buffalos, development of new fodder varieties, improved feeding practices, management of different climatic regions within the country, record keeping, dealing with health problems and milk quality issues. In addition to the training in-country, two students were brought to Utah State University to study dairy management for Fall semester 2006 (second objective). Feedback from the students was that they learned a lot and were very pleased with the opportunity to study in the U.S. Both want to come back for post-graduate training. My observation was that
the cultural exchange was as beneficial as the technical training. A demonstration farm built by Sweetwater, Intn. opened in January 2007 and will be used for future training.
PARTICIPANTS: Sweetwater International Development Initiative
TARGET AUDIENCES: Dairy industry of Pakistan
Impacts
Pakistan has the fifth largest dairy herd in the world, but production is so low and quality impaired that much dairy products have to be imported. As a result of our training seminars, the government of Pakistan has taken notice of the dairy sector and has recognized it as important to its economy. To demonstrate, high ranking government officials (U.S. and Pakistan) attended the opening ceremonies and the mayor of Lahore attended the closing ceremonies. Dairy farmers, private sector individuals, and government employees all gained a new appreciation for improved dairy practices. Many have implemented learned production practices with positive results in production and income. Dialogue between the different sectors was available and useful. Students who came to the U.S. and those from universities in Lahore gained a new appreciation for possibilities that they had not even imagined previous to the workshops. Based on the conversations I had between training sessions,
positive relationships with the U.S. and Utah State University were developed and strengthened.
Publications
- M.P. Shipka, J.E. Rowell and A. J. Young 2007. Relationship of dams body weight, milk components, and milk energy density to reindeer calf growth rate. Western Section, American Society of Animal Science.
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