Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Minister T.B. Jayachandra on Tuesday told the Legislative Assembly that the government would take up the seventh round of vaccination of cattle in the State against the foot and mouth disease (FMD) from August.
Replying to Janata Dal (Secular) member N. Cheluvarayaswamy during the Question Hour, the Minister said the vaccine was being supplied free of cost by the Union government. About 58 per cent of the livestock had been vaccinated in the first round, while these figures stood at 82 per cent in the second round, 73 per cent in third round, 83 per cent in the fourth round, 95 per cent in the fifth round and 96 per cent in the sixth round, he said.
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He maintained that vaccination was the only effective method of protecting cattle against the foot and mouth disease, and no cattle had died due to this disease after taking up the vaccination programme. As many as 14,441 heads of cattle died in the State due to the disease from September 1 to December 20, 2013.
A total compensation of Rs. 23.73 crore had been given to farmers who lost their livestock due to the disease, he said.
The Minister said that 230 veterinary assistants, who were recently recruited, would be given postings within a week to tide over the shortage of manpower in the department.
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