62
S
tate
of
I
ndia
’
s
L
ivelihoods
R
eport
2015
only calves since the disease can spread
to humans through consumption of milk.
Two more diseases which are prevalent
in cross-bred cows are Infectious Bovine
Rhinotracheitis (IBR)
10
and Bovine Viral
Diarrhoea (BVD)
11
which should be taken
more seriously by the government; informa-
tion about disease management needs to be
propagated to farmers and vaccines should
also be made available widely.
Other concern is the indiscriminate
usage of antibiotics which has resulted in
consumers getting milk having residues of
antibiotics. There are no means of verifying
antibiotic residues in milk at most societies
and collection centres.
Veterinarians and other technicians
require training in appropriate usage of
medicines. There is also a demand from
dairy farmers that mobile veterinary services
should be introduced and treatment should
be provided at low cost. Farmers are show-
ing the willingness to pay for such services.
Veterinary services, especially vaccination,
AI etc., have traditionally been provided for
free or at a very subsidised rate. Since the
past few years, there has been an increasing
awareness that states pay heavily to offer
these services which are easily available to
farmers. Consequently, many states have
instituted partial or full-cost recovery of fees
for providing these services.
There are also concerns about laymen
acting as para veterinarians/artificial insemi-
nators with limited training (who are often
thought of as doctors by farmers). Since
in some of the far-flung areas, veterinary
doctors are not willing to be posted, at the
grassroots, cadre of local youth paravets
are being deployed. However, they need to
be well trained and deployed with appropri-
ate supervision so that the community gets
at least the basic services. Farmers also need
to be educated about what to expect from
such services (Box 4.3).
In field interactions, farmers mentioned
that in spite of rearing animals for more than
half a decade, they requiredmore knowledge
to address new issues. Mechanisation, where
feasible, should be made available. Milking
machines, chaff cutters were some of the
requirements when herd size increased and
farmers want some demonstrations to be
done in villages so that they can check the
utility of new equipments before buying.
While farmers’ school concept has been
followed successfully in crops, the same has
not been adopted well in livestock. Some
progressive farmers in the villages can be
intensively trained in dairy management to
developmodel farms which includes records
to be kept, veterinary services and questions
to be asked to service providers etc. These
model farms and trained farmers can pass
on their knowledge to other farmers.
With the extension services being inad-
equate in most parts of the country, some
dairy units in the cooperatives and private
10
It is a contagious, infectious respiratory disease
that is caused by Bovine Herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) and
can affect both young and older cattle.
11
It is a viral disease which primarily affects cows
and can also affect other ruminants (sheep, goats, wild
ruminants). The affected animals show an array of
clinical signs like diarrhoea, fever, mucosal erosions etc.
However, a majority of infected animals do not show
any clinical signs at all. In some cases, the animals die
because of the disease.
Box 4.3:
Farmers’ education by govern-
ment of Maharashtra
in order to ensure the quality of veterinary
services, Maharashtra Livestock Development
Board, Government of Maharashtra, carried
out farmers’ awareness campaigns through
mass media like radio and television. When
farmers availed services from veterinary doc-
tors or technicians, the aspects they should
check were elaborated. For example, when
AI is being carried out, a farmer needs to
check whether the straw has been chosen by
the service provider depending on the breed,
production level of the cow, temperature etc.
Similarly, for vaccines, disposable needles
should be used. The campaign covers those
aspects which farmers should look for while
availing veterinary services.
Source:
Dr Dhananjay Parkale, Deputy
Commissioner of Animal Husbandry,
Government of Maharashtra, Pune.
