Chizokho Vero
Kohima | June 11
Minister for Veterinary and Animal Husbandry TR Zeliang today said Naga farmers are ready to take a ‘giant leap’ in the animal husbandry sector from backyard-rearing to large scale animal-rearing, as an industry. He cited the reason that Nagaland provides a feasible atmosphere for rapid livestock development.
The quantity of livestock owned by a Naga directly reflects his wealth, health and status in the society, the minister said while speaking at the first state-level orientation training programme on the Indian Veterinary Council Act, 1984 & Regulations in Kohima.
Animal husbandry practices have been playing a pivotal role in supplementing the farmer’s income, contributing even more than 50% percent of an agricultural farmer’s source of income, he said. However, Zeliang said, there are also many hurdles for rapid animal husbandry development, citing the instance of the recent threat to the world by diseases such as swine flu and bird flu. Due to these, farmers become skeptical at times to go for large-scale piggery and poultry farming. Besides, there are so many emerging diseases of animals and birds threatening poultry and livestock of economic importance in the industry, Zeliang said.
In this regard, he said the non-availability of quality swine fever vaccine is a major problem for the north eastern states. According to Zeliang, animal husbandry in Nagaland has been developing by leaps and bounds as it is quite visible from the various livestock census taken every five years. “There is an overall growth of 23.17% in the livestock and poultry production during the last five years period,” the minister said. Even with the increase in domestic production there is still a wide gap between demand and net domestic production, he said. The state is still importing 39.10 % of its requirement of meat, milk and eggs from outside the state as per 2007-08 , he added.
Referring to manpower in the department, TR Zeliang said that the state requires a minimum of one veterinary doctor for every 1287 villages.
In this regard, the state would need at least 1287 veterinarians, in the villages alone. “We also need double of this figure like livestock inspectors and senior veterinary field assistants and four times this number of VFS. As we have potentials, given such facilities of manpower to guide our youth at the grass-root, we can develop our livestock wealth rapidly,” he said.
The department has 160 veterinarians at present. Further, he was told that the in-service, retired and unemployed veterinarians all put together total to about 240 registered veterinary practitioners in the state.
To develop the animal husbandry sector rapidly; he said, the state requires a large number of well-qualified veterinarians, pointing out that farmers will not be able to develop their livestock wealth as fast as they aim to, until and unless they get good quality veterinary service from the well qualified vets.”
“The state not only requires a large number well qualified veterinarian and Para-veterinarians, but also we requires a large number of highly specialized manpower to render high specialized services to our ever enthusiastic farmers, different specialized lines such as diseases diagnostic laboratory, polyclinics, referral hospital, feed analytical laboratory, feed compounding centers, meat and milk processing plants etc. We also urgently require high quality of animal feed for fast growth, high quality medicines, high quality vaccines for the animal diseases prevalent here and other high quality animal products,” he said.
The department requires setting up many livestock and poultry production farms and their products processing units, he said adding that all these will be possible and would be viable through a process of continuous research and development in different disciplines of animal husbandry sector. The Minister also called upon the Veterinary Council of India to come up with more training programmes for the veterinarians and the para-veterinarians to impart the whole year round.
Believing that the NSVC and the VCI were working hand in hand to well equip the field veterinarians with the latest techniques and scientific knowledge, the minister said the government was providing, though meager, some fund for Professional Efficiency Development (PED) to the State Veterinary Council as 50% matching share with the CSS, and called for judiciously utilization of the said fund for updating the technical skills.
The Minister also stated that the state government has carefully considered the need and issue of setting up a veterinary college in Nagaland, adding “we are serious in our endeavor and commitment.”
Looking upon the VCI to give them proper guidance and all necessary help to get the project through, the minister said “I have instructed the veterinary department to liaise with the Veterinary Council of India and the Nagaland State Veterinary Council for proper guidance in framing the project of setting up a veterinary college in Nagaland.”
Responding on this matter as also mentioned by Thangi Mannen, Commissioner and Secretary for Veterinary & Animal Husbandry, the VCI president Dr. A.L. Chaudhary welcomed the proposal adding “there should be a veterinary college in Nagaland.”
In the meantime, the VCI chief encouraged the department to start a newsletter and at the same time to allot separate fund for the purpose of training and skill upgradation of veterinarians in the state.
Briefing the activities and ambitious plan of the department, Thangi Mannen Commissioner and Secretary for Veterinary & Animal Husbandry said that as per the sample survey report of 2007-08, the state produced about 60 % of the internal product and the balance of about 40 %, which in monetary terms works out to around Rs. 220 crore, is being imported from outside the state.
A presentation of the provisions of the Indian Veterinary Council Act, 1984 and Regulations was delivered by Dr. Anup Bhaumik, Secretary, VCI. The programme was sponsored by Veterinary Council of India and organized by Nagaland State Veterinary Council.
