Veterinarians can play an instrumental role in the well-being of animals in farming communities by providing routine health checks, vaccinations, disease management tips to farms, dipping, deworming etc. The role becomes pivotal if the farming community involves small or marginal farmers primarily belonging to the scheduled tribes of Jharkhand.
Dr. Nandani Kumari, BAU animal geneticist and Principal Investigator of All India Coordinated Research Project on Goat Improvement expressed these views while addressing the farmers gathered at the vaccination camp and kisan gosthi organized at Tiko village of Lohardaga district. Vaccination of about 454 goats were done against Enterotoxaemia which is a severe bacterial disease caused by spore forming gram positive bacteria Clostridium Perfringens type C and D causing death in peracute condition.
It is fatal before the symptoms are well evident or recognized making prevention more applicable than cure for the disease as treatment is rarely effective or available in such short interval. Symptomatic treatment and medicines were provided to the ailing goats by the doctors in the team including that for mange, diarrhoea, parasitic infestation etc. The visit was climacteric in the wake of concept of inbreeding and outbreeding, balanced ration, selection and culling being delivered via kisan goshthi.
To assess the exact selection and breeding method to be devised to get the desired genetic gain in the economic traits of Black Bengal goats of Jharkhand in order to make goat rearing more profitable for the farmers in the state, the visit of three out of four breeding clusters of AICRP on goat across the state has already been completed The BAU team included project co PIs Dr.Dinesh Kumar and Dr.Shailendra Rajak.
Lohardaga has a goat population of about 30 thousand as per the latest livestock census. Good forest cover, forage and cultivable land etc. altogether make goat farming a favoured occupation for the farmers here so much so that thirty or more goats per farmer was also witnessed there in few households as per the census. Genetics and breeding as a tool is vital for permanent improvement in the production.
