Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh visited ICAR's National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (NIVEDI) today. During the visit, the minister planted the saplings in the campus along with other dignitaries. Then he visited the Disease Informatics Laboratory to see disease forecasting systems and review the progress made in the realm of disease data analytics, predictive modelling, forecasting and forewarning for 15 livestock diseases directly to the various stakeholders such as livestock farmers, veterinarians and state officials/policy makers. The Minister appreciated the efforts of sending SMS directly to farmers in the state of Karnataka and assured the support to further spreading to other states of India.

He also visited the state-of-the-art laboratory infrastructure facilities of the institute that included World Referral Laboratories (WOAH) on Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and Leptospirosis. He interacted with lead scientists and research scholars. The Minister remarked that scientists are ‘Modern Times Mahrishi’s’ as they contribute substantially to address the problems of the farming community. Union minister also reviewed the activities of the institute and interacted with farmers, livestock farmers, start-up entrepreneurs, scientists and other stakeholders.

While welcoming the Minister Dr. B. R. Gulati, Director, ICAR-NIVEDI, apprised him about the mandate, key activities, salient achievements made by the NIVEDI's scientists towards National animal health initiative and disease control programs such as PPR, Brucellosis, Classical Swine Fever (CSF), Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), and Lumpy skin Disease (LSD), as well as economic impact assessment for several endemic livestock diseases and progress for one Health activities through network initiatives in collaboration with ICMR, DBT and International agencies. In the stall exhibition area, NIVEDI displayed its key activities such as NADRES, NaaViC and indigenously developed immuno-diagnostics under ‘Make in India’ for diseases such Brucellosis, LSD, Leptospirosis, IBR and parasitic diseases.

On the occasion several NaaViC, Agri-Business Incubator Incubated Start-ups namely Agrihawk Technologies Pvt Ltd, Magnimous Info Tech Pvt. Ltd, Kempmann Bioorganics LLP, Barve Technologies LLP, Atsuya Technologies Pvt Ltd, Nanosentrix Pvt Ltd, Weather cast solutions Pvt Ltd, AgriBotic Systems Private Ltd and Neer Shakti Systems Pvt Ltd were present on the day and demonstrated their technologies to the Minister. NaaViC had supported more than 75 startups with a Grant-in-aid support of over 7 crores under the RKVY-RAFTAAR scheme from the MoAFW. NIVEDI’s industry partners such as BioVet Pvt Ltd, and KMF showcased their range of products. ICAR-IIHR also put up the stall to showcase their technologies and products developed for horticulture.

Further, Shri Shivraj Singh ji attended and addressed livestock farmers' workshop and interacted with progressive farmers (>100) who had made significant progress in their animal husbandry practices, production of value-added dairy products, and livestock entrepreneurship / business with NIVEDI's technologies and training. On the occasion, milk cans, feed mixtures and needs of dairy farmers were distributed to several of the farmers. He urged the farmers to practice ‘Integrated farming’ for doubling the farmers income Comprehensive approach including pulses, cereals, fruits, and vegetables. He asked everyone to use ‘Swadeshi’ products with an aim for farmer self-reliance and reduced dependence on foreign goods.

The minister also reckoned Hon. PM’s Appeal on ‘developing stronger India and growth towards achieving highest (#1) economy in the world. Further, the minister told about the Government providing subsidized indigenous products and solar equipment to Indian farmers. He suggested Strategic Planning for Scientific & Technological Advancement needed for agriculture development with precision in weather prediction and higher accuracy through Information systems. He assured a strong commitment/ Sankalp of GOI to safeguard the interest of Farmers at any cost.

This visit of Shri. Chouhan not only showcased the significant contributions of ICAR-NIVEDI at national and international level but also provided further impetus to “Inclusive Agriculture and Livestock Development” through interaction with livestock farmers, innovative startups and successful farmers.

On the occasion dignitaries such as Shri. V Somanna, Union Minister of State for of Railways and Jal Shakti, Government of India, and Shri S. R. Vishwanath, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Dr. Raghavendra Bhatta, DDG (AS), ICAR along with other directors of ICAR institutes in the Bengaluru regions were also present.

 

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