New veterinary, fishery colleges proposed
The State will launch National livestock Mission (NlM) from the year 2014-15. This was decided at the first State level Executive meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary JK Mohapatra on Wednesday.
Fisheries & Animal Resource Development Secretary Bishnupada Sethi outlined the various facets of the mission for discussion. The main objectives of the mission is to achieve sustainable growth in livestock including poultry, increase availability of fodder, promote applied research in prioritised areas of concern in animal nutrition, capacity building of State functionaries and livestock owners and conserve and upgrade indigenous breeds.
The Chief Secretary advised to promote goatery, poultry and fodder production activities through Self Help Groups (SHGs) and individual entrepreneurs.
At present, Odisha possesses around 4.4per cent of the country’s livestock wealth. The State’s livestock population is more than 2.3 crore and its livestock products account for more than 20 per cent of the total value of agricultural output. The NlM aims to scale up livestock products at least to 30 per cent of the agricultural output.
The meeting approved an Annual Action Plan of Rs 32.22 crore for the year 2014-15. The activities in the action plan include entrepreneurship development and employment generation, modernisation and development of breeding infrastructure, risk management, livestock insurance and institutional strengthening.