“Livestock, along with human resource, is the biggest asset of our country, which we have a big responsibility to preserve and prosper,” said Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
New Delhi: Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar Wednesday launched the indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVacInd to protect livestock from Lumpy Skin disease. The vaccine has been developed by the National Equine Research Center, Haryana in collaboration with the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly.
Describing the vaccine as a milestone for eradicating the Lumpy disease, Tomar said, “Livestock, along with human resource, is the biggest asset of our country, which we have a big responsibility to preserve and prosper.”
Tomar said that yet another new dimension has been set by developing this vaccine under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). He congratulated the scientists of the Equine Research Center and the Veterinary Research Institute for developing the Lumpi disease vaccine. Ever since the disease came to India in 2019, research institutes have been engaged in developing the vaccine, said a statement released by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
The Union minister also expressed happiness that the scientists accepted the challenge of undertaking limited trials in a short period and developed a vaccine 100 per cent effective complying with all standards, which will be effective in getting rid of the Lumpy disease.
He asked the officials to provide the vaccine in large numbers at the earliest for relief to the cattle. He said, “There are thirty crore livestock in the country, considering the plight of mute animals, all possible measures should be taken to provide them relief at the earliest.”
The Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala, Minister of State for Agriculture, Kailash Choudhary, Secretary Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Jatindra Nath Swain, Director General of ICAR, Dr Himanshu Pathak, Deputy Director General Dr B N Tripathi, Dr Triveni Dutt, Director, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Dr Yashpal, Director, National Equine Research Center and other senior officers were present on the occasion.
