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ICAR and NIAB together for North East farmers
Livestock Production Division of the ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) and National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB), Hyderabad jointly organized one day workshop on “Indian Livestock farming and use of biotechnology to understand the problems in animal husbandry and production with the ultimate goal of enhancing the income of the farmers and development in the Livestock sector in the North Eastern Region. A total of 80 livestock farmers and 17 veterinarians from North Eastern states including Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura participated in the program. This is for the first time that ICAR and NIAB organized a program for the benefit of the farmers of the region. The central idea of the workshop was to understand the recent burning and pending problems of farmers and veterinarians in the grass root level and understanding the scope of modern biotechnology in solving these problems. The farmers who attended the programme were selected from the Prime Minister’s aspiration districts of all the North Eastern states. The PM aspiration district from Arunachal Pradesh is Namsai, from Manipur its Chandel from Meghalaya its Ri- Bhoi from Mizoram its Mamit from Nagaland Kiphire from Sikkim it is West Sikkim and from Tripura its Dhalai.
In the inaugural programme, Dr A. k. K Rawat, Director, Department of biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India, New Delhi addressing the gathering as the Chief Guest of the program said that ICAR is the only institute which has direct interaction with the farmers and is in close proximity with them which makes ICAR unique in itself. He further emphasized on the maximum use of technology for the benefit of the farmers. He said that problems vary from region to region and the solution should be region specific and the motive should be prioritizing the farmers. Dr N. Prakash, Director ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, emphasized on the importance of livestock in the region speaking on the occasion he said that the region has high meat consumption rate. At the outset the Guest of Honor Dr Subeer S. Majumdar, Director, NIAB briefed the importance of knowing the real issues of the farmers which needs to be attended seriously to facilitate their livelihood and income. The real issues of the farmers need to be sorted and the programme intends to solve the issues faced by the farmers at the grassroots level. The workshop is the only platform were the famers from all the states are present along with the official and the veterinarians are under one roof which in itself speaks about the outcome of the workshop. He further added that the all the members attending the workshop should make the most out of it. Dr B Mawthoh, Director, Department of A.H & Vety, Meghalaya also participated in the programme and addressing the gathering he said that the need of value chain management in the livestock sector. Dr K. K. Baruah Head Livestock Production gave the welcome address. Dr G Kadirvel Principal Scientist and the organizer of the programme, briefed about the objectives and the aim of the programme. The vote of thanks was presented by Dr Aranab Sen Principal Scientist and Head Animal Health Division.
The technical session witnessed farmers’ scientist interaction in which the existing problems and issues in livestock rearing in the region were comprehensively and systematically discussed with livestock farmer and field veterinarians. The key issues discussed were problems related to animal breeding, breed conservation, climate adaptability, reproduction, nutrition and animal health disease control. The programme has enriched the farmers with latest technologies to solve the problems in livestock rearing. The scientists have understood the existing grass-root problems faced by farmers and field veterinarian of this region and accordingly road map will be laid for future research in the livestock sector. The farmers were moved and elated as they were given a platform to speak and solution provided to their problems.
