Port Blair, Apr 12: An awareness programme was organized on “Popularization of Biological control of fly in Livestock species’ ‘ by Division of Animal Science, ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair at Indiranagar, South Andaman on 11th April, 2023. The programme was coordinated by Dr. P.A. Bala, Dr. P. Perumal and Dr. A.K. De, Scientists of the ICAR-CIARI. Dr. Bala explained in detail about the major parasitic diseases of cattle and goats prevailing in the islands and the importance of balanced nutrition in animal husbandry and managing parasitic infestation, microbial infection and boosting immunity and production in animals through proper and optimal nutrition.
Dr. P. Perumal stressed on cattle management and importance of indigenous herbs and calcium to reduce the losses incurred due to poor management and parasitism and he was also instrumental in relating calcium supplementation to curb the effect of parasitism on livestock and optimize their production. Dr. A.K. De enlightened the gathering with scientific pig rearing practices and different strategies to increase the profit margin. Demonstration on castration in piglets was also done by the team.
The castration programme was to make the farmers aware of its advantages such as increase in growth rate, avoid taint accumulation in pork, prevent male aggressive and sexual behavior during the fattening period; moreover the piglets become quieter and easier to manage. The programme was sponsored by NABARD and under supervision of Dr. D. Bhattacharya, Principal Scientist, ASD, ICAR-CIARI. The farmers were distributed with calcium, vitamin supplements and antiseptic ointments