Self-sufficiency in animal and dairy products
Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: Does the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development scrupulously deliver goods in its twin objectives of safeguarding the health of livestock and poultry and playing a crucial role in ensuring food security through the production of meat, milk, and other animal products?
The department has a whole lot of services. The ones who render such services are veterinary doctors and field assistants. Are the strengths of these two service providers adequate in the department?
According to sources, the department has only 346 veterinary doctors as against the sanctioned posts of 703. Likewise, 525 of the 1,845 sanctioned posts of field assistants are vacant in the department.
According to the National Commission of Agriculture, the ideal ratio between veterinary doctors and livestock should be 1:5,000. However, the veterinary doctor-livestock ratio in the state is 1:18375. This situation denies the rural farmers the ability to get the right services to save their livestock and poultry, besides their yield.
According to the 2019 livestock census in the state, the state has 1.09 crore cattle, 4.22 lakh buffaloes, 43.15 lakh goats, 20.99 lakh pigs, and 3.31 crore poultry. The numbers have increased now.
The department has launched various schemes to prevent diseases and manage animal health. The department is in dearth of veterinary doctors, who are the key persons to implement the schemes. How will the schemes benefit the target farmers? This is a pertinent question. If the diseases and health of livestock and poultry are not managed properly in time, that will have a cascading effect on the production of animal products. Assam imports milk, eggs, and meat from other states.
Apart from these, the veterinary hospitals and dispensaries in the state are neither in good shape nor are they adequate in their number. The department has 297 state dispensaries and 155 block-level dispensaries, far short of meeting the demand.
The government reiterates that the state should be self-sufficient in meat, eggs, and dairy products. To make this really happen, the department should have state-of-the-art infrastructure, an adequate number of veterinary doctors, field assistants, an adequate number of veterinary dispensaries with all facilities, etc. The inadequate role that Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Minister Atul Bora has been playing over the years is not far to seek.
Also Read: Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department organized an awareness programme on rabies in Sonitpur
Also Watch: