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Singh lauds NDDB’s role in implementation of NDP, DIDF at Anand seminar
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Wednesday, 12 September, 2018, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, New Delhi
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The development of the dairy sector is imperative for the prosperity of farmers. At the inauguration ceremony of the recent seminar, titled Role of Technology in Doubling Dairy Farmers’ Incomes, in Anand, Gujarat, Radha Mohan Singh, minister of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, Government of India, praised the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) for playing a crucial role in the implementation of National Dairy Plan (NDP) and Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF).
Since the beginning, NDDB has implemented several major dairy development programmes, including Operation Flood. As a result, India has become self-sufficient to meet the demand of milk. Singh emphasied the role of technology for improvement in productivity and reduction in cost of production. In the wake of this, under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission, for the production of more female animals, 10 semen centres have been identified for the production of sex-sorted semen.
Proposals for two centres (in Uttarakhand and Maharashtra) have also been approved. Also, 20 embryo transfer technology (ETT) centres are being set up for the production of high-genetic merit bulls of indigenous bovine breeds, of which proposal of 19 centres have been approved. Besides, Induschip has been developed for genomic selection of indigenous breeds and 6,000 dairy animals have been genetically evaluated using Induschip.
Singh said, “Indigenous breeds are being promoted to reduce risks in production. For improving the breed of milch cattle, especially indigenous breeds, 1,831 bulls have been produced so far against the target of 2,200. Similarly, 6,500 MAITRIs have been trained and deployed at the village level to provide doorstep artificial intelligence (AI) services.”
“Apart from this, for the conservation of indigenous breeds, two National Kamdhenu Breeding Centres - one in Chitaladevi, Andhra Pradesh, and the other in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh - are being established, under which 41 cow and buffalo breeds are being conserved. While the former has been completed, work is in progress at the latter,” he added.
The minister stated that the e-Pashuhaat portal was a landmark initiative, launched in 2016 in the animal husbandry sector. It played an important role in connecting breeders and farmers. So far, the portal has information on 1,04,570 animals, 8.32 crore semen doses and 364 embryos.
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