PM Modi resolves to eradicate foot & mouth disease by 2030
New Delhi: In a major announcement aimed at improving the efficiency of milching animals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday declared that foot and mouth disease (FMD) would be completely eradicated from India by 2030.
While emphasising on universal vaccination of animals, the PM further said, "We have resolved that by 2025, we will vaccinate 100 per cent of the animals against FMD and brucellosis as we are aiming to be completely free from these diseases by the end of this decade."
The PM also said that the Centre and state governments are trying to contain the spread of Lumpy Skin Disease, which has led to the loss of livestock in different parts of the country.
An indigenous vaccine has been developed for Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD). Besides this, efforts are being made to track the movement of animals to keep the outbreak under control, he added.
"Be it vaccination of cattle or other technology, India has always been ready to contribute to the dairy sector of the world and learned from all the partner countries. India has also acted very quickly on its food safety standards. Today India is working on such a digital system for the livestock sector, which will capture the end to end activities of this sector.
Notably, the FMD in animals is cause of serious concern as the total losses per infected animal due to FMD in cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat and pig have been pegged at Rs 12,532, Rs 21,682, Rs 2,023, Rs 3,046 and 2,830, respectively. Multiple studies have pointed out that the annual total economic loss due to FMD in India ranges from Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 14,000 crore.
While speaking after inaugurating the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022, the PM said, "In the recent past, there has been loss of livestock in many states of India due to the disease named Lumpy. The central government, along with various state governments, is trying to control it." The PM further informed that Indian scientists have also developed an indigenous vaccine for LSD.
Notably, Lumpy Skin Disease is a contagious viral disease that affects cattle and causes fever, nodules on the skin and can also lead to death. Thousands of cattle have died due to LSD in more than eight states.
Addressing the summit, which is also being attended by a large number of foreign delegates, the Prime Minister said that livestock disease is a major threat as it affects the farmers and their income.
He further said that India is building the largest database of dairy animals and every animal associated with the dairy sector is being tagged. "We are doing biometric identification of animals. We have named it – Pashu Aadhaar", he said, adding that under Pashu Aadhaar, digital identification of livestock is being done to keep track of their health which will also help in expanding the dairy sector.
