Veterinary revamp and some scenarios

 The Honourable Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has urged the revamp of the Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department. In a recent move, he announced Rs 700 crore for the upgradation of this department and will provide Rs 25 lakh per veterinary sub-centre as a part of the modernization drive. We all know that there are 421 veterinary dispensaries, 767 sub-centres, 19 disease diagnostic laboratories, 61 instructional farms, 17 frozen semen stores, and 10 training centres under the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department across the state. Though this department is a very important one in Assam, most of the time it is neglected by the government. The LoC (Letter of Credit) scandal had broken the backbone of the department so badly that nobody showed any keen interest in revamping it. But an agriculture-dependent state like Assam has huge potential for the animal husbandry and Veterinary sectors.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “India lives in her villages”. The village is the soul of India. As we know, agriculture and its allied sectors are the main contributors to the Indian economy. So, in this instance, upgrading the rural economy and rural infrastructure is most essential. We cannot imagine a developed and progressive India without improving the present rural scenario. Assam is one of the most potential areas for animal husbandry and livestock production. There are plenty of resources to make our state self-sufficient in agricultural products. Animal husbandry is the source of income in rural livelihoods next to crop production, and in this instance, milk and milk products, meat and meat products, egg production, and animal bi-products may play a major role in the uplift of the state economy. As the cultivated areas have been reduced day by day, animal husbandry can play a pivotal role as a subsidiary to support the socio-economic status of our landless, poor marginal farmers by balancing the pendulum. There are plenty of opportunities to create such an environment by concentrating on the animal husbandry and veterinary sectors. If it proceeds smoothly, the entire scenario of today’s Assam will be able to take a reverse turn. From a production point of view, the dairy and milk production side has been given the main priority.

Almost ten years ago, as a former veterinary officer of a cooperative organisation, I acquired the experience of visiting various villages in Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon, and Barpeta districts having milk potential areas. We observed the poor scenario of the veterinary sector. At that time, most of the milk producers alleged that they had not received the minimum facilities of veterinary aid properly in time, for which they suffered a lot regarding the health and productivity of the animals. It is not a healthy situation in a modern country. They are even unaware of the need to maintain the normal deworming and vaccination schedules timely against various diseases like BQ, HS, and FMD and to maintain the practise of scientific management of farm animals. During that time when I visited the Hazo area, we observed that most of the poor farmers had lost their animals due to scarcity of cattle feed and liver fluke infestation after ingestion of flood-washed grasses, cum water hyacinth, etc. containing the snail Lymnea auricularia, an intermediate host for that particular parasite, as there was quite a scarcity after a devasting flood in that region. Time by time, FMD outbreaks also create havoc among them, which totally diminishes the health and sluggishes the productivity of those animals. As our state is a flood-prone area and problems arise from the unavailability of cattle feed during floods, fodder cultivation should be a must during the dry as well as monsoon seasons so that grasses can be preserved as cattle feed by making hay or silage to mitigate these types of scarcity periods caused by natural calamities like floods, draughts, etc. To enhance productivity, we should become self-dependent on cattle feed. These are some examples only, and most of the producers are deprived of awareness regarding scientific animal husbandry.

As we know, India lives in rural areas. For the uplift of the rural economy, the Assam government should take on some smaller projects so that it can encourage our producers. As we know the germplasm of our indigenous breed of cows is not for higher productivity, our policymakers should take a short-term policy by keeping a target so that within that stipulated period we have to improve the germplasm of our indigenous breed by using the germplasm of milch breeds with higher productivity to get the desired goal. This should be done with strict and close observation. Side by side, some progressive farmers should be trained up on a regular basis in collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board. Along with production, marketing the products is also a concern. On the contrary, an environment of cooperatives should be nurtured in our minds. So that our producers can return their investment. Our government should concentrate their attention on the budding veterinarians to utilise them as our human resource in this state. This will mitigate the shortage of veterinary doctors in the field. According to the National Commission of Agriculture, there should be one veterinary doctor for every 5,000 livestock, but in Assam, this scenario is in horrible condition. Not only on the production side alone, the duties of a veterinarian are to concentrate on the promotion of rural livelihoods, the upgrading of public health, the uplift of the socio-economic conditions of poor people, etc. But, it has been observed that most of the time, all the Veterinary Doctors have to handle all the things apart from animal treatment and administration single-handedly and face different troubles and challenges. In this regard, it is utmost important to appoint two veterinary doctors in each veterinary dispensary so that one can look after the animal treatment side and the other can look after the administrative side and animal husbandry.

For the last few years, the state Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department has gotten a boost due to the leadership of the present Veterinary Minister. According to a recent report, Assam produced 56 metric tonnes of meat, compared to 36 metric tonnes in 2011–12. The growth rate of egg production rose to 3.23 percent, which is a good sign. Though it is a good sign, there are miles to go to make our state self-sufficient on meat, milk, eggs, and their products. Hopefully, the recent drive of the Assam government regarding veterinary and animal husbandry will be a good initiative to make history. The Government should initiate some steps regarding the effects on productive animals due to climate change.

With proper planning, the establishment of one Veterinary Policlinic in each district with all disease diagnosis and treatment equipment and expert professionals will benefit farmers during the critical conditions of their animals. Moreover, all the animal disease diagnostic laboratories should be well equipped with modern instruments and manpower. Recently, the initiative of starting the 1962 service to provide veterinary healthcare services to the farmers on the doorstep has been very encouraging and admirable. The steps taken by the present CM of Assam regarding the uplift of the State Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department will create a new era in the entire veterinary sector of Assam. If our government wants to project itself as a progressive and preoperative state, the uplift of the rural economy and rural infrastructure is a must, and Veterinary and Animal Husbandry should get prime priority. Veterinary doctors are the backbone of our society, without which we cannot think about rural scenarios. This is not only the sole duty of the government; people of every section should come together to strengthen the rural economy for a greater contribution to our nation.