DUSHANBE, June 8, 2011, Asia-Plus -- 12,000 head of pedigree cattle are expected to be delivered to Tajikistan under the national livestock breeding program designed for 2008-2015, according to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).

Safarali Nazarov, head of the MoA  stock raising department, says 214 pedigree black-and-white cows were delivered to the country under that program last year.  “The pedigree cows have been handed over to the cattle breeding farm, Barakat, in Hissar district,” he noted. According to him, the country’s budget every year earmarks 200,000 somoni for implementation of the national livestock breeding program.

57 cattle breeding farms now function in Tajikistan; 5 of them are run by the state.  Specialists say the majority of the cattle breeding farms in the country are dekhkan (peasant) farms or joint-stock companies that do not have enough opportunities for breeding pedigree cattle, and therefore, they need government support for further development.