INTRODUCTION

In Pakistan, Poultry Production has been playing a vital role in bridging the gap between supply and demand of animal protein foods for its ever increasing human population. Eggs and poultry meat are considered to be one of the best sources of animal protein of high biological value. Poultry offers the best prospects as a commercial enterprise since early 1960 and since then this sector has shown spectacular progress and development. The growth rate in this sector has been about 8 to 10 percent per annum for about last one decade. Poultry production has assumed the status of one of the leading sectors in the country with an estimated investment of over 100 billion rupees during the year 2005-2006. There have been maintained about 23.2 million layers, 800 million broilers and, 8.00 million breeding stock. Besides this, about 74.0 million rural poultry was maintained during this period. The production during this period has been about 7500 million eggs, 0.800 million metric tonne, of poultry meat and a bout 850 million day old chicks.
The poultry production sector despite its spectacular growth and development is facing some challenges and problems which may hinder its present pace of development, amongst these major problems are poor marketing infrastructure, rise in cost of production, reduction in profit margin and high incidence of poultry diseases etc. Human resource development in the field of poultry production is one of the tools to enhance its efficiency of production. This fast growing dynamic sector is presently in the active phase of transformation from its conventional housing and management in to a modern high-tech housing (environmental controlled housing) with automatic feeding, watering, manure handling and egg collection, grading and processing. These new trends alongwith anticipated high growth rate in this sector, requires provision of high-tech, better skilled farm managers capable of handling all the modern environmental controlled housing and management systems.
Keeping in view the future needs of this fast growing dynamic sector which is rapidly transforming in to a special high-tech integrated, industry, it is felt that we have to produce better skilled poultry farm managers to meet future needs of poultry industry. Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) and stake holders have long been demanding initiation of a specialized degree programme in poultry science to cater to their needs to run poultry farm management in a more effective manner. Such degree courses in Poultry Production (B.S (Hons.)Poultry Science) are also being offered in many universities in USA and other European countries.
Keeping in view the above points a specialized 4 years degree programme namely B.S (Hons.)Poultry Science is being initiated at UVAS.