COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Dung adds Rs 950m a day to Indian economy!

Animal dung alone earns the country between Rs 750 to 950 million a day while animal power earns a similar amount.

In total, animal husbandry contributes Rs 5 billion every day to the national exchequer but receives barely 0.6 per cent of the total plan outlay in the Eighth Plan, agricultural experts said today in New Delhi.

They gathered for the national seminar on ''Role of Veterinarians in the National Economy''. And deplored the low status given to the animal husbandry sector in spite of its impressive contributions.

For more than 70 per cent of the population lives in the rural areas, and animals are their backbone in an agriculture-based sustenance, the experts said.

India has the finest livestock resource in the world and ranks first in cattle, buffaloes and goat populations. However, many indigenous breeds are facing the danger of extinction due to cross-breeding programmes.

Veterinarians will have to play a key role in India's economy, said Dr Ravindra Sharma, one of the speakers.

UNI