On 11th September 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a-Rs 13,500-crore central scheme to control diseases in livestock, mainly foot & mouth disease (FMD) and brucellosis, from Mathura district in Uttar Pradesh.
Giriraj Singh, Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying made the announcement. Singh told media that "Prime Minister will launch this programme on 11 September from Mathura”.
He showed confidence that FMD as well as brucellosis diseases would be eradicated in the next 5 years with the help of this Rs 13,500 crore vaccination scheme. The minister added that these diseases need to be eliminated in order to improve exports.
The Union Cabinet in its 1st meeting held in May this year had decided to bear the whole cost of Rs 13,343 crore under an existing yojana that seeks to control cattle diseases, especially brucellosis and FMD, in the next 5 years.
The Central & state governments earlier used to contribute money in the ratio of 60:40. The FMD and brucellosis diseases are very common among the livestock that includes cow, buffaloes, bulls, sheep, goats & pigs.
The scheme envisions vaccination coverage to 30 crore bovines (cows-bulls & buffaloes) & 20 crore sheep or goat & 10 million pigs. Centre told if a buffalo or cow gets infected with FMD, the milk loss is up to 100% which could last for 4 to 6 months.
In Brucellosis, the milk production reduces by 30% during the entire life cycle of animal & also causes infertility. The infection can also get spread to the farm workers & livestock owners.
