97.99% of livestock survey completed in Dakshina Kannada district

Belthangady: The livestock survey conducted by the 33 Vigyan Kendras in the State under the Livestock Disease Control Program is nearing completion.

The central government has initiated the program with the intention to eradicate the foot-and-mouth disease by 2030. Hence, vaccination drive of livestock is carried out twice a year.

Under the National Livestock Disease Control Program vaccination of cows, pigs and buffaloes over 3 months of age are mandatorily conducted after a census done every 5 years.

In the State, the vaccination began on September 11 and was completed by the end of December.

In Dakshina Kannada district the survey targeted 2,49,944 lakh livestock. Of these 2,31,075 of them were vaccinated which is 92.45 of the total livestock.

Also, tagging of livestock with UID (Unique Identification Tags) which contains full information of the individual livestock has seen 97.99 per cent completion in the district.

The UID tag is useful for livestock identification as there is a high incidence of livestock thefts reported from coastal Karnataka.

The 12-digit tags are linked to INAH (Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health). It is a database, developed by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), that provides full details of livestock breed, development and health.

These tags are mandatory for livestock transportation and are linked to the livestock owner’s mobile phone number and Aadhar.