A visiting delegation of world acclaimed UK based Cranswick Foods company led by British Deputy High Commissioner Mr. David Lelliott had detailed parleys with Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal to set up a modern pork processing plant in the state.While interacting with the delegation which called on the Chief Minister here at his official residence, Mr. Badal assured them that the state government would extend all possible support and cooperation to bring this project on the ground, which would act as a catalyst to hasten the process of value addition in Animal Husbandry sector on one hand and give boost to the farm diversification on the other. The Chief Minister also requested Mr. Lelliott to help the state Animal Husbandry department in capacity building.It was informed in the meeting that the consumption of pork was gradually picking up especially amongst the middle class and hoped that with the setting up this world class pork processing plant, the pig farmers would not only be immensely benefitted but also provide high quality pork to the consumers across the state.
Highly appreciating the state government’s initiatives for the development of piggery, the Chief Operating Officer of CranswickMr. Chris Aldersley said that they would offer all technical support and expertise to our progressive pig farmers to further consolidate their economic position through better feed practices and animal housing. They would also provide information about the high quality pig genetics to the state which would enable the state government to identify sources for import of live pigs and semen. The state government could then use these resources to provide high quality piglets to the farmers. To achieve this object, Mr. Aldersley said the Cranswick would help in providing live pigs and frozen semen to the animal husbandry department for high quality breeding at government pig farms, which in turn would supply the best quality piglets to the local pig farmers.
He also apprised Mr. Badal that the British pig industry was internationally competitive and produces outstanding breeding stock. The delegation also visited the modern pig breeding farm, Nabha besides two private pig farms at village Kisanpura near Kurali and village Khasi in Ludhiana district and was highly impressed with the latest infrastructure, equipment and advanced pig rearing practices followed there. The delegation also held an interactive session with the pig farmers from the state at the Centre of Excellence on Cattle Breeding Farm at village Rauni in district Patiala. The Pig farmers assured the delegation of adopting modern feed practices and hygiene standards, which would further motivate the others to follow the suite.
Earlier, the delegation held detailed discussions with Additional Chief Secretary Investment Promotion Punjab Mr. Karan Avtar Singh and CEO of Invest Punjab Bureau Mr. Anirudh Tiwari about the various facets of industrial policy of the state to get them acquainted with the modalities for making investment to set up a pork plant in Punjab.Meanwhile, Mr. Aldersley assured the Chief Minister of hassle free import of live animals and frozen semen from UK, which would certainly give a boost to bilateral trade besides developing Punjab as a hub of piggery. He further told the Chief Minister that Cranswick has an annual turnover of over one billion pounds and it exports 56 products of pork and chicken meat to several countries in Europe, South East Asia and China.
The Chief Minister also directed the Additional Chief Secretary, Advisor and Director of Animal Husbandry to visit Cranswick in UK along with a delegation of progressive pig farmers from the state to study and finalize the modalities in order to fast track the entire process of importing live animals and frozen semen so that this ambitious project could take-off at the earliest. The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary (Animal Husbandry) Mr. Mandeep Singh Sandhu, Advisor Animal Husbandry Prof. P.K. Uppal and Director Animal Husbandry Dr. H.S. Sandha. The other members of the delegation included Head Agri-Tech Sector in British Deputy High Commission Mr. Dipankar Chakraborty and Head of Exports Mr. Edward Wright.