Minister Adhikari stresses organised efforts for yak husbandry

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Apr. 21: For the first time, National Yak Day has been celebrated Sunday with the slogan of 'Promotion of Yak: Himalayan Life, Culture and Environmental Protection".

Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari has said that yak rearing is making a significant contribution to income generation of the Himalayan community, food and nutritional security, organic farming and environmental balance. 

Addressing a programme organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development in Lalitpur on the occasion of the first National Yak Day Sunday, Minister Adhikari said that organised efforts are needed for the conservation and promotion of yak rearing.

As the number of yaks in Nepal is decreasing due to geographical challenges, migration of the young generation, lack of grazing areas, reproductive problems, wild animal attacks, and climate change, he said that mutual efforts from the government of federal, provincial, and local governments and local community as well. 

Minister Adhikari said that the common goal now is to achieve food security in the Himalayan region, climate adaptation, conservation of biodiversity and empowerment of rural lifestyle through the conservation and sustainable use of yaks. 

He emphasised that it is our common responsibility to give new life to the yak, which has become an integral part of the Himalayan people's life, through conservation, improvement and commercial transformation.

Stating that the government, under the initiative of the ministry, has taken the importance of yak and chauri and decided to celebrate every 7th Baisakh as National Yak Day, Minister Adhikari said that the Yak Genetic Resource Centre has been brought into operation in Syangboche, Solukhumbu for the conservation and promotion of yak.

The centre has started important work in the conservation of pure breed yak, genetic improvement, technology expansion and dissemination, he said. Minister Adhikari said that the ministry is committed to ensuring the sustainable development of yak in the coming days.

On the occasion, yak raisers had also been honoured. Yaks are listed as protected wildlife under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 2029. 

The world-famous yak cheese produced only in Nepal is a source of omega-3 fatty acids, yak yogurt is a famous dairy dish, chhurpi made from yak milk is a major source of income for farmers in the Himalayan region.

The yak is also a part of the civilization of the Himalayan region, said conservationists. Products made from yak skin and tail are products with great export potential. 

Yaks also have the potential to become a centre of attraction in tourism promotion, they said. Yaks are used for everything from transporting goods to plowing fields.