# Pakistan signs $540,855 study to cut antibiotics in chicken farms by 20%: 30 poultry farms to test organic acids

Source: Searchable (https://searchable.pk/news/health/pakistan-signs-dollar540855-study-to-cut-antibiotics-in-chicken-farms-by)
Type: News article
Author: Searchable Editorial
Published: 30 Oct 2026
Updated: 30 Oct 2026
Retrieved: 30 Oct 2026

> The food security ministry and Denmark's ICARS will fund a three-year trial led by the University of Agriculture Faisalabad to find alternatives to antibiotics in broiler farming.

**Pakistan has signed a research agreement to cut the use of antibiotics in chicken farming**, aimed at drug-resistant infections that start on farms. The Ministry of National Food Security and Research signed a memorandum of understanding with the Denmark-based **International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS)**, [ProPakistani reported](https://propakistani.pk/2026/10/30/pakistan-wants-to-stop-using-antibiotics-on-chicken/) on Friday.

## What the deal pays for

- **Funding:** ICARS will provide **$540,855** (about Rs 15 crore at the [current dollar rate](/data/usd-pkr)) for a **three-year** research project.
- **Who runs it:** the **University of Agriculture Faisalabad**, with the **Poultry Research Institute, Rawalpindi**. The principal investigator is Dr Mashkoor Mohsin Gillani.
- **The trial:** **30 poultry farms**. Fifteen will use **organic acids** as an alternative to antibiotics and fifteen will carry on as normal, so the results can be compared.
- **The goal:** cut antibiotic treatments by **at least 20%** without hurting flock health or output, and work out whether the switch pays for farmers.

Researchers will track antibiotic use, resistance levels, bird health and farm performance.

## Why it matters to anyone who eats chicken

Antibiotics are widely given to broilers to prevent disease and speed up growth. Overuse breeds bacteria that no longer respond to the same medicines, and those bacteria can reach people through food, water and farm workers. That is antimicrobial resistance (AMR): ordinary infections that become harder and costlier to treat.

Federal minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, who attended the virtual signing, called AMR a serious threat to human and animal health and to food security, and said research must produce practical benefits for farmers under Pakistan's National Action Plan on AMR. ICARS executive director Helle Engslund Krarup said the project would build evidence for alternatives that can be scaled across the poultry industry.

## What you can do now

The study will take three years, so nothing changes in the market yet. In the meantime doctors' standard advice applies: cook chicken thoroughly, keep raw meat apart from other food, and do not take antibiotics without a prescription or stop a course early. Chicken is one of the fastest-moving food prices in Pakistan; ProPakistani separately reported chicken at Rs 700 a kg in Quetta this month.

## Frequently asked questions

**How much will the antibiotic study in Pakistan's poultry cost?**

ICARS is funding $540,855 for a three-year project led by the University of Agriculture Faisalabad with the Poultry Research Institute, Rawalpindi.

## Sources

- Pakistan Wants to Stop Using Antibiotics on Chicken (30 Oct 2026) (ProPakistani): https://propakistani.pk/2026/10/30/pakistan-wants-to-stop-using-antibiotics-on-chicken/

How to cite: "Pakistan signs $540,855 study to cut antibiotics in chicken farms by 20%: 30 poultry farms to test organic acids", Searchable, 30 Oct 2026, https://searchable.pk/news/health/pakistan-signs-dollar540855-study-to-cut-antibiotics-in-chicken-farms-by