Role of Veterinarians & Livestock Sector for “Viksit Bharat@2047”
Dr. Rachana Sharma
Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry
College of Veterinary Science, Rampura Phul,
Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University
Abstract
The goal of “Viksit Bharat” @2047– completely developed and independent India- has become a main focus of various government policy and societal goals as India approaches the century of its independence @2047. A robotic agricultural foundation is necessary to realizing this vision, with the livestock sector playing a significant role. In India, livestock sustain more than 70-72 million rural households and play a critical role to maintain the food production, nutrition revenue generation. Significant role of veterinarians to the growth of livestock sector’s by maintain animal health, reduce the risk of zoonotic disease, and enhance public health.
Key words:- Viksit Bharat; Veterinary: Livestock: Animal Disease: Economic
INTRODUCTION
The “Viksit Bharat@2047” vision emphasizes a comprehensive strategy in which veterinarians enhance their knowledge to improve animal welfare and rural economy. The veterinarian contributions are crucial to resilience and development of livestock sector in light of the increasing demand for animal products, climatic challenges and animal health concerns. This article explores how veterinarians and the livestock sector can work together to support the goal of India Viksit Bharat @ 2047 goals.
Globally, livestock sector gives more for more person than any other sector. Livestock segment plays a significant part in reducing poverty since most of the world’s poor live in rural areas mostly dependent on animals. The animals provide nutritional food items such as milk, meat and eggs for human consumption. Various studies have shown that livestock farming has positive effect on increase income equality and employment and reducing poverty in rural areas. Livestock generates a steady source of income and helps mitigate the seasonality of livelihood, mainly for the rural poor. Livestock plays a significant role to maintain the Indian economy. Approximately 20.5 million people are depending upon animal for their livelihood. It contributed 16% to the income of small scale farm families as compared to an average of 14% for all rural families. Livestock is a significant source of income for near about 66% rural population and also gives employment to approximately 8.8 % of the Indian populace.
Role of Veterinarians in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
In order to achieve the global goals, everyone play a role and veterinary profession play significant role to this. The veterinarians should focus on areas within their specialties where animals play most critical role to the advancing sustainable development. A bright future can be achieved by acknowledging the value of animals and prioritizing animal welfare as a crucial component of sustainable development. By adhering to animal welfare principal, we can positively impact poverty eradication, public health, food security, biodiversity conservation and climate change. The demand of animal derived food has increased due to the rapidly expanding population of India and an increasing number of people who can afford products of animal origin. India Viksit Bharat @ 2047- animal production system will need to undergo critical change in order to meet these demands sustainably. Everyone on this planet should be accountable for sustainable food production and consumption, as well as ensure the healthy environment for people, animals and plants, finally eradicating to hunger. The One Health Agenda of India integrates the health of people, animals and the environment, is a particular area of focus for the veterinary profession of India. With its expertise, the veterinary profession has an obligation to do what is beneficial for people, animal, plants and the environment.
- Animal Health
Animals should be kept in a proper way that protect their health and reduce their susceptibility to infectious disease. The animal feed quality, water and housing conditions like space, air temperature and quality, bedding, etc. must their requirements of the animals. By the robust biosecurity measure, effective disease monitoring and surveillance and comprehensive data collection systems can all helpful to prevent the disease in young animals and premature slaughter. These efforts are supportive to the assessment of accurate risk and the application of efficient disease control strategies.
To enable accurate risk analysis, it is necessary to have efficient, standardized and trustworthy data collection systems in place across all member states. Major outbreak of infectious diseases has often led to culling and disposal of numerus numbers of animals, many of which were fit to be in the food chain. Efforts should also focus on the prevention of production diseases like mastitis. Initiative to enhance disease prevention by promoting the animal health on farm, at livestock markets, during transportation and at the abattoirs must be developed and approved by stakeholders. Simultaneously, governments, manufactures, traders and consumers should explore other protein source like fish and insect.
Animal must receive medicine against pathogenic disease when and where required. The prudent and responsible use of antimicrobial is mostly important. Routine antimicrobial practice should not be replaced by systematic antimicrobial treatment.. Strong collaboration between veterinarians and farmers, supported by regular farm visits, is necessary for developing long-term solutions of number of problems that enhanced the health of farm animal.
- Animal Welfare
Systems of animal husbandry should ensure a freedom of animals and provide them with a good quality life of animals. “This holds true for all animal kept in captivity, including farm animals and companion animals. Animals must be housed in environments that allow them to cope, be free from unnecessary suffering, exhibit significant behaviours and without frustration. Avoid being thirst or hunger. Generally, speak the environment should be designed to meet the needs of animals, not the other way around. Husbandry systems should offer promote positive welfare like contentment and comfort. Breeding programmes must be balanced approach, moving beyond a sole focus on productivity. They should prioritize selecting breed that are well adopted to their environment, address the welfare requirements of current and future animal generations, promote the development of producing robust animal, effect on biodiversity and reduction of aggression and the conditions linked with fast growing animals. Person who intends to work with animals must complete animal welfare training is a vital part of the professional development for animal welfare.
- Public Health
Globalization, along with environmental and climate change, effect on the emergence of new animal diseases including zoonoses. 75% of the emerging human disease originate from animals, and 60% infectious disease of humans are zoonotic. Additionally, numerous diseases and their vectors are closely related to climate zones. Supporting local communities in in developing and acquire their own sustainable animal production practices is important to reduces the need for global trade in live animals and its associated risks. According to the public health prospective, it is important to wholesome diet is well-balanced and includes a variety of foods.
- Food loss or waste
The veterinary profession can help to reducing the food waste by offering expertise and technical support to safety aspect of food like developing guidelines for proper use and handling of food waste suitable for human consumption and to propose solutions for using waste food or by-products animal of origin as animal feed.
- Research
The knowledge advancement is essential to understand how different animal husbandry systems impact the environment and how environmental and animal health and welfare needs can be balanced. The key environmental issues include the greenhouse gases emission, overgrazing and deforestation linked to animal feed production. Careful management in necessary to interaction between wildlife and domestic animals, mainly related to spreading the zoonotic disease and competition for resources. It is also advised to conduct specific research related to enhance disease prevention by vaccination and fast diagnostic tool. Since animals are a resource for human helth, and the relationship should be mutually beneficial.
- Education and training
The veterinary community needs to developing training programmes focused on animal welfare and animal ethics, these initiatives should provide veterinarians awareness of the profession’s responsibilities, duties, skills and knowledge in advancing the animal welfare in their field. Veterinarians mainly engage in work to enhanced animal welfare standards, whether through legislation, research, education, development and implementation of guidelines, and training. Since Veterinary organisations and veterinarians are ideally placed prime position of society, and thus have a duty to give scientifically based advice on sustainable animal husbandry.
- Economics
Economic sustainability for farmers is a necessary precondition for sustainable production of animals. The public policy and related incentives support for food, feed and energy crop production to on an economically sound basis. Consumers should understand that food costs must be reasonable and based on actual costs. The market cannot be handled on own label. The ongoing retail competition based on cheap animal-based products negatively impact on animal welfare and care.
Veterinary Science as a Pillar of Rural Economy
Veterinarians are playing significant role to success of rural communities and rural economies. Veterinarians support food and fiber animal industries, ensuring the health of animals, detecting zoonotic diseases, and contributing to disease surveillance to safeguard of agriculture. Animal husbandry, a most significant component of agriculture, is also a most important sector that helpful for farmer and herdsmen to the survival and economical support. Approximately 50% of the global agriculture economy is derived from animal husbandry sector. However, the next few decades, it is anticipated that the world’s food needs will only grow. This is especially true for developing countries, where milk, meat and egg consumption is projected to increase sustainability due to population growth and rising income levels.
Technological Innovations and Veterinary Practices
Smart farming technologies revolutionizing shift in agriculture, mainly in animal husbandry, by increasing animal productivity and animal welfare. The innovative technologies are useful for smart farming application, including sensors, data analytics, and automation which improve health monitoring, environmental control, and special care for farm animals. The farmer adopted to these advanced technologies and achieved higher production.
There are various opportunities for growth, transformation of livestock production sector, agriculture development, enhance economical level of farmer, food security to human consumption and food availability. In India, Large-scale food chain and livestock production meet the expanding demand for animal products.
Therefore, a various technique to improve and rise the current agricultural output of the many animal species. Growth of livestock sector by the use of various technologies are improved animal nutrition- with the use of prebiotics, probiotics, biosorbent or bioactive substances; drug delivery system like micro or nano system; disease management by the use of vaccines, antibiotic; reproductive technologies; precision livestock farming and genetic improvement by various breeding strategies.
Nutrition and Health Management for Enhanced Productivity
In recent years, nutritional approaches have certainly seen the attention and growth. Since proper nutrition is highly needful for the adequate growth and development of animals, it is most important to provide balance diet to the animals according to requirement. Probiotics and prebiotics in feed improve digestion and animal health. Antibiotics used to treat digestive infections and reduce gut stresses and promoted growth. Even if antibiotic used at a subtherapeutic level this is useful to increase livestock production. However, this practices not proper manner to the animal so, antibiotic resistance is developed.
This livestock sector has been forced from this situation to focus on developing significant improvements in livestock productivity mostly in the area of nutritional management that could alter the animal metabolism in direct and indirect way, nutritional strategies helpful to reduce acute and chronic metabolic disease related to production, so, production efficiency, muscle growth of animal improved, as well as animal health and welfare improved.
Veterinarians in Disease Control and Public Health
animal disease cause disturb animal welfare, animal productivity losses, food insecurity, economic loss, and health problem in animal production systems. Disease control is very important technique for animal health and production. The application of diagnostic tools, vaccines, antibiotics, and other drugs are useful for prevention and treatment of animal disease by. Farmers can also prevent the stop of disease on their farm by implementation of biosecurity measure and animal husbandry practices. Nanotechnological methods are used in animal disease control platforms..
Policy Support for Livestock Sector Development
The implementation of livestock policies is a significant factor of agricultural development and food safety globally. Effective implementation ensures that livestock sectors contribute to financial growth, food security, and rural livelihoods while also addressing topics such as animal health, welfare, and environmental sustainability.
The government has several initiatives to promote the livestock sector, including:
- National Livestock Mission (NLM): objective of NLM to increase productivity, employment, and production.
- National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP): Aims of this program to control major diseases like Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis.
- Assistance to States for Control of Animal Diseases (ASCAD): objective to this program to control animal diseases.
- Mobile Veterinary Units (MVUs): These units aim to improve animal welfare and productivity by controlling the disease of animal hospital to farmer house.
- Pashukalyan Samities: These are formed at the grassroots point to improve welfare and productivity of animal.
- Kisan credit cards: These cards aim to improve the flow of short-term credit for animal husbandry farmers.
Conclusion: –
The vision of “Viksit Bharat@2047” depends on achieving inclusive growth, where both urban and rural sectors actively participate to Indian prosperity. Veterinarians and the livestock sector are focus to this mission, playing a significant role in ensuring food security, uplifting rural communities, improving public health, and promoting environmental sustainability. By improving animal health, using sustainable practices, and using advanced technology, veterinarians will be instrumental in building a resilient and developed India. Targeted investments in veterinary education, rural development, and viable agriculture will enable the livestock sector to enhance economic growth and community well-being, aligning with the objective of a fully developed and thriving “Viksit Bharat.”
