HYDERABAD: Dr. Fateh Marri, Vice Chancellor, Sindh Agriculture University (SAU), has said that Pakistan is one of the four largest milk producing countries in the world, but still spends more than 20 billion rupees on milk import.
He was addressing the degree awarding ceremony, for Deepesh Kumar Bhuptani, a Ph.D. Scholar of Animal Product Technologies, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences at the university, who has completed his Ph.D. research on the topic of “Quantification of aflatoxin in milk and its intervening strategies”.
Dr. Fateh Marri said that Pakistan is the fourth-largest producer of milk in the world, about 80 percent of milk is produced on a small scale in rural areas, he said, adding that milk is wasted due to lack of cold storage, while dairy farmers and investors should also give preference to milk by-products.
He said that animal milk and its harmful effects on human health, medicines for animal diseases, and its treatment should be taken into consideration and dairy farms and veterinary doctors for domestic animals should be consulted.
Ph.D. scholar Deepesh Kumar Bhuptani said that giving unhealthy food to animals releases Aflatoxin through animal milk, while people who consume such milk are also affected by the harmful effects of aflatoxin.
He said that he obtained Milk samples from the capital of Sindh, Karachi, Thatta, Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas, Umerkot, Shaheed Benazirabad, Naushehro Feroze, Sukkur, and Larkana, and collected samples were transported aseptically to the department of Animal Products Technology, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam for further analysis and found aflatoxin in most of them.
Dr. Abdul Mubeen Lodhi, Director Advanced Studies, Dr. Syed Atta Shah, Dr. Saeed Soomro, Dr. Gul Bahar Khaskheli, Dr. Zubair Ahmed Leghari, and others were also present on the occasion.
