Noida (Uttar Pradesh): The center, along with states, is striving to control lumpy skin disease in cattle, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022 on Monday. Many states are struggling with lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle and the disease has emerged as a concern for the dairy sector as well, but scientists have prepared an indigenous vaccine for lumpy skin disease.
LSD is a contagious viral disease that affects cattle and causes fever, and nodules on the skin, and can also lead to death. The disease spreads by mosquitoes, flies, lice, and wasps by direct contact among the cattle and through contaminated food and water.
Since the disease in cattle also impacts milk production and its quality, the government is focusing on universal vaccination of livestock, "We are committed for 100 percent vaccination of livestock by 2025 for foot and mouth disease," Modi said. He further said India is building the largest database of dairy animals and every animal associated with the dairy sector is being tagged and named as Pashu Aadhaar.
Under Pashu Adhaar, digital identification of livestock is being done to keep track of their health, which will also help in expanding the dairy sector, he said and added the government is also working on developing a balanced dairy ecosystem to address the challenges in the sector along with a focus on increasing production. The government is promoting entrepreneurial structures like farmer-producer organizations and women's self-help groups as well as startups in the dairy sector.
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Modi also said the government is promoting both indigenous and hybrid cattle breeds as diversity is important be it in the agriculture or dairy sector stating that 'Pashu Dhan' and milk-related business is a thousand years old culture in India. Due to small farmers' efforts, India is the world's largest milk-producing nation and provides livelihood to more than 8 crore farmers, he said, adding that this uniqueness of India's dairy sector is rare to see in other parts and can be a good business model for many poor nations in the world.
He further said that the country's milk production has increased by 44 percent to 210 million tonnes now from 146 million tonnes in 2014. The country's milk production is growing at six percent annually, higher than the global growth rate of two percent. Even per capita availability is higher than the global demand, he added.
The inaugural function of the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022 is being held at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida. It was attended by Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Sanjeev Balyan, along with 1,500 representatives, including 800 farmers from 40 countries.
