Bolgatanga, Nov. 6, GNA- The Veterinary Association of Ghana on Thursday urged Government to invest in the training of more veterinary surgeons in the country.

The President of the association Dr. E.N. Barnor who made the appeal at the 29th annual conference of the Association in Bolgatanga, said for sometime now scholarships offered to eligible students to study veterinary medicine outside the country have dwindled drastically. He said if care is not taken, the country would be left with fewer veterinary surgeons in the next 15 years when majority of those in service now would retire, adding that "This would not augur well for the poultry and livestock industry."

Dr. Barnor said unlike other professionals who are leaving the country, the veterinary officers are found in all spheres in the national economy even though their salaries are not the best. Touching on the conference theme "Rural Poultry and Livestock Production for Poverty Alleviation", Dr. Barnor said it demonstrates the association's commitment to actively support the poverty reduction strategy embarked upon by the government.

He expressed the hope that members would come out with useful strategies that would increase productivity.

In a speech read for him, the Upper East Regional Minister Mr. Mahami Salifu, said one of the major ways of tackling poverty is through agriculture.

Mr. Salifu said the Upper East Region has abundant potential for poultry and livestock production, and expressed the belief that the association would place its expertise at the disposal of farmers in order to increase production of livestock and generate wealth to reduce poverty.

He said the government has put in place measures to curb the importation of poultry and meat into the country by actively supporting poultry farmers through the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to produce poultry products that can compete favourably with the imported ones.

He urged members of the association to support the farmers with all the latest expertise at their disposal in order to make them successful and wealthy.

The Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and chairman for the occasion, Mr. Edmond Otupiri, charged members of the Association to deliberate on the numerous livestock projects left idle all over the country, as well as the reactivation of the Pomadze poultry farms to boost Ghana's livestock industry.