We very often see fleet of trucks from Rajasthan and other states with full loads of sheep reaching various parts of Jammu and Kashmir as there is tremendous demand in the market for sheep, goats etc to vastly meet mutton and wool requirements. In other words, while the demand for mutton is constantly soaring, the supply from limited local sources is tantamount to being just equal to peanuts. An assessment of our sheep farming, rearing and producing of the best breed depicts such a state of affairs that lot is required to be done in matters of adopting and introducing remedial measures through modern technology, research and proper development. In this connection, countries like China, Australia, New Zealand, Iran and even our own country are having the largest population of the sheep cattle wealth but dispersal of such ”wealth” as in the case of Jammu and Kashmir is of dismal level mainly as sheep are mainly required for mutton purposes and hundreds of thousands are thus required on daily basis for this purpose alone.
In this connection, the UT Government embarking upon a programme to give a new face and a push to our conventional sheep farming has decided to have the modern requisite technology in best sheep farming transferred from New Zealand and a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the two Governments having been signed in order to revamp our ruminant sector especially sheep / goats etc heralds an appreciable improvement in the overall contribution of this vital part of our (indirect) agricultural sector. A team of experts from New Zealand having got on the spot acquaintance with the problems plaguing our sheep husbandry is poised to suggest remedial measures which the MoC can take care of.
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