Dr Sanjeev Balyan, Union Minister of State Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying unveiled the National Digital Livestock Mission Blueprint at NDDB, at Anand ON 7th October. Shri Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB, Ms Varsha Joshi, Additional Secretary (C&DD), DAHD, Govt of India, Shri Upamanyu Basu, Joint Secretary (LH), DAHD, Govt of India, Dr Sindura Ganapathi, Visiting PSA Fellow, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, Govt of India, Dr RS Sodhi, MD, GCMMF, Managing Directors of various milk unions from Gujarat, senior officials of NDDB and its subsidiaries, senior officials of TCS and Ernest & Young were present. A few senior officials also joined the event virtually.
Dr Balyan said that the livestock sector has a unique combination of being the backbone of rural livelihood. The growth would have been a lot better if there were concerted efforts to harmonise programmes across the country in order to create an ecosystem that is conducive for growth of the sector. This has been the main idea behind the deployment of NDLM, keeping the welfare of the farmer at the core.
The livestock sector is poised for a major leap after implementation of NDLM, a digital platform being developed jointly by DAHD and NDDB on the foundation of the existing Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH). The aim is to create a farmer-centric, technology-enabled ecosystem where the farmers are able to realize better income through livestock activities with the right information.
Dr Balyan said that NDDB is motivating and involving dairy farmers in multiple streams of income through diverse alternative activities targeted at their livelihood diversification and economic welfare.
Ms Varsha Joshi explained the importance and benefits of the software developed and urged all stakeholders to work for the successful implementation of the software.
Chairman, NDDB said that the bedrock of NDLM will be the unique identification of all livestock, which will be the foundation for all the state and national level programmes including domestic and international trade. The farmers will be able to effortlessly access the markets, irrespective of their location or holdings through this digital platform as a wide-range of stake-holders will be connected in this ecosystem. This system will also include robust animal breeding systems, nutrition, disease surveillance, disease control programmes and a traceability mechanism for animals and animal products.
Dr Balyan also visited NDDB’s manure management initiative at Anand’s Zakariyapura village. While interacting with the farmers of Zakariyapura village he appreciated them for accepting the new technology of biogas plants. The bio slurry produced is primarily used by the farmers in their own field and surplus bio slurry gets sold to other farmers or converted into organic fertilisers. He observed the slurry processing facility at Vasna, Borsad. NDDB’s Sudhan trademark also helps them in creating a brand identity ensuring quality of products. Moreover, all the women biogas users have reported reduction in drudgery in bringing and burning fuel wood, and related health hazards.
Genetic improvement and raising productivity of the Indian bovine population remained the key focus when the Hon’ble Union Minister visited NDDB’s modern Ovum Pick Up & In Vitro Embryo Production (OPU-IVEP) facility.
