Parshottam Rupala Inaugurates India’s First Ever Animal Health Summit

Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala inaugurated India's first-ever Animal Health Summit 2022 on Wednesday. He said that the cooperative movement in the livestock sector needs to be strengthened and called for greater use of Ayurveda to ensure better animal health.

The first India Animal Health Summit 2022 was held yesterday (06^th July) at the NASC Complex in New Delhi, with the goal of understanding the importance of animal health to the country's food and nutrition security, rural income and prosperity, and overall economic development.

Rupala was the keynote speaker at the inauguration of the 'India Animal Health Summit 2022,' which was co-hosted by the Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) and the Agriculture Today Group.

The event was attended by Dr Praveen Malik, Commissioner, Animal Husbandry; Dr KML Pathak, Chairman, ICFA Working Group on Animal Husbandry; Dr Umesh Sharma, President, Veterinary Council of India; Dr Dieter Joseph Schillinger, DDG, International Livestock Research Institute; Dr BN Tripathi, DDG Animal Science, ICAR; Dr MJ Khan, Chairman, Indian Chamber of Food & Agriculture; and Mamta Jain, Editor & CEO, Agriculture Today Group were present at the event.

In terms of food security, nutrition, and overall sustainability, animals and animal products are critical components of the country's development. The total livestock population in the country is 535.78 million, a 4.6 percent increase from the 2012 Livestock Census. The total bovine population was 302.79 million in 2019, a 1.0 percent increase from the previous census.

India has the most cattle and produces the most milk in the world, but per-animal productivity remains low. Low productivity can be caused by a variety of factors, the most important of which is animal health, which has a significant impact on productivity.

Zoonotic diseases have emerged as global health threats as a result of the complex interactions between humans, animals, and the environment. Furthermore, food-borne illnesses and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) have strained the country's healthcare system and economy. Given the resurgence of old diseases as well as the emergence of new ones, a call for a comprehensive national animal health strategy is critical.

Disease surveillance in animals has the added benefit of protecting humans through early diagnosis because animals are reservoirs of various developing diseases. Animal health is a major concern in India. To address animal health issues and scale-up government efforts across states, India's animal health industry must be prepared for the future.