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Go-Anusandhan Sansthan
This unit is proposed to be established with following objectives and justifications.
Cattle rearing in India are as ancient as Aryan civilization. Aryan considered cattle as source of wealth. Dairy farming has an important role in socio-economic development of small farmers in India. Cattle are an integral part of agriculture in India, and are likely to be the Instruments of future growth and development of the agricultural sector. They generate employment, provide draft power and manure, and earn foreign exchange through exports. Although the per capita consumption of foods of animal origin is low in India, demand has been rising due to the growing human population, sustained growth in per capita incomes, and increasing urbanization. This demand driven growth, besides improving food and nutritional security, can benefit millions of landless and small landholders who constitute more than 60% of the total rural population and possess about three-fourths of the country’s livestock wealth. The issue that needs addressing is how current output trends of 4–5% per annum can be sustained without disturbing the equilibrium between crops and livestock. Improving food supply from animals through higher livestock numbers (as in the past) is now severely constrained due to the feed-fodder deficit and declining per capita land availability. Technological and management options are the only alternatives to accelerate the growth in productivity, which is currently low. A number of livestock technologies are available for field application, but they are yet to gain wide acceptance. This poses several questions for researchers, research administrators, and policy-makers: Is the technology economically feasible and tested on-farm in different farming systems? To what extent have farmers’ perceptions and needs been taken into consideration in the design of the technology? Have proper pathways been followed to transfer the technology? The Sansthan under proposal may help answer these questions by providing a farmer friendly solutions to the problems related to sustainable cattle rearing in Indian conditions.
Therefore, the objectives of the Sansthan will be to develop regimens and procedures that are socially acceptable and environment friendly in nutritional, managemental and clinical areas.
Impact- Poverty is a rural dilemma and continues to be a persistent multidimensional problem. With objective of poverty alleviation through increased livestock production cattle would prove very valuable for agriculture and farm security, milk, ploughing and dung production. It may be concluded that improved cattle production systems can increasingly make a significant contribution to improved human welfare, rural growth and reduce poverty. To achieve this, however, much more investment in Cattle research and development is necessary. In the background of above description, the major focus of research on cows in the Sansthan under proposal may be summarized in the following heads:
- Nutrition uptake and conversion efficiency
- Management of cattle in ecofriendly, socially acceptable and environment friendly regimen
- Clinical and modern techniques and procedures in prevention and control of diseases.
- Ethano-veterinary medicine and Therapeutics
Despite tremendous amount of research on these aspects done so far, the cows being reared under field and farm conditions escape the social, ecological and economical relevance for the poor farmer. The mandate of the Sansthan under proposal will be to reexamine and identify the problems related to focal areas and come out with solutions, which are farmer and nature friendly. |
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