K.M.L Pathak, Deputy Director-General, Animal Science, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), has said that the biggest challenge before the country is how to achieve food and nutritional security of the world.
Talking to veterinarians in Bidar on Saturday, he said there was a need to alleviate poverty by producing more food that is safe, especially from animal origin.
“We need technological breakthroughs to achieve this against a shrinking genetic diversity of animals and their increasing global trade,” he said.
He was delivering the convocation address at the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (KVAFSU) in Nandinagar.
Availability of affordable food of livestock origin would go a long way in helping to overcome the challenge of chronic hunger and protein malnutrition, he said. According to him, livestock production needs to more than double in the developing world to meet the demand for meat and milk in the coming 20 years. There is a huge mismatch between demand and supply of food, he said.
He listed out new technologies such as cloning through nuclear transfer technology, exogenous growth hormones synthesised by bacteria that increase milk and meat yields, transgenic sheep and goat that express foreign protein in milk, and stem cell and recombinant DNA technology that could lead to improved fodder crops and better animal breeds, which were helping scientists address malnutrition issues.
Fish is a cheaper and easily available source of nutrition and we need to work on increasing production, he said. Karnataka however, is yet to fully exploit its potential in fisheries. It ranks number one in the country with inland fisheries resources but 10th in inland fish production, he pointed out.
Updated education
Globalisation and climate change have forced a restructure in veterinary education. “We need to introduce newer areas like nuclear medicine, cryosurgery, bioinformatics, value addition to indigenous dairy products, fishery biotechnology, and others in the curriculum. We also need more undergraduate degree courses in livestock business management, animal biotechnology, food science and technology and MBA in related fields,” he said.
He asked the universities to use IT to improve the quality of education. “We need campus-wide networks, virtual lectures and digital libraries, online programmes. There is a need to work with overseas universities in this regard,” he said.
He said the KVAFSU should open a distance education mode.
The university should focus on research to create disease-free zones, development of diagnostic kits, wildlife research, social problems like stray dog menace, value addition and reduction of post harvest losses, and making farming more remunerative, he said.
Governor and Chancellor Vajubhai Vala, Vice-Chancellor C. Renuka Prasad, members of the board of management, officers and others were present.
We need to introduce newer areas like nuclear medicine, cryosurgery, bioinformatics, value addition to indigenous dairy produce and fishery biotechnology, in the curriculum
K.M.L Pathak
Deputy Director-General, Animal Science, Indian Council of Agricultural Research
