Poisonings in animals

 🔴Poisonings in animals🧪

🔻Poisons are substances that cause disturbances in animal body by chemical reaction or other activities , when vital organ of animal body absorbs a sufficient quantity of poison .

🟢Three Main Principles of treatment in cases of poisoning :

1- Removal of the residual poison from the alimentary tract or skin. 

2- Provision of chemical and physiological antidotes to the poison that has been absorbed 

3- Effective supportive care, nursing, and convalescent care. 

🛑In farm animals

🔻Gastric lavage and emetics are of little or no practical value and the removal of residual poison from the alimentary tract depends largely upon the use of adsorbents and purgatives.

🔻The only effective adsorbent is activated charcoal. The dose rate is 1-3 g/kg BW

🔻A purgative is necessary to remove the combined adsorbent and poison;it can be administered simultaneously with the adsorbent. 

🔻The non-absorbable oil purgatives(e.g. mineral oil) are preferable in case of irritant  

poison

🔻Saline purgatives (sodium sulfate) are of value in the treatment of non-irritant poisons such as cyanogenetic glucosides. 

🧪Antidote are substances which oppose the effects of poisons without causing damage to body 

🔴Types of Antidotes 

1_Mechanical or physical antidote: 

🔹These substances prevents the absorption of poison by their presence eg:demulcents(fats, oils, milk, egg albumin) are used for corrosive and irritant poisoning

🔘Activated charcoal is used for strychnine and mineral poisoning. 

2_Chemical antidotes: 

🔹These substances neutralize the chemical action or oxidize the poison into nontoxic or insoluble form eg: Dilute acetic acid ,dilute alkali(milk of magnesia),tannin(strong tea),potassium permanganate 

3_Physiological or pharmacological antidotes 

🔹These produce action or effects opposite to that by poison eg:atropine and oximes for organophosphorous poison,naloxone for morphine, N-acetylcysteine for acetaminophen

4_Chelating antidote : 

🔹These are substances which produce form chelates(non ionized complexes) with cations these are mostly used in heavy metaul poisoning eg:

🔶EDTA is used in Arsenic,mercury,lead 

🔸BAL(dimercaptopropanol) is used in heavy metal poisons 

🔸Versenate is used in Arsenic,mercury and lead 

5_Universal Antidote:

🔹It is Given when unknown poison is ingested 

💊Composition:

(1)_Powdered charcoal 2 parts 

(2)_Magnesium oxide 1 part 

(3)_Tannic acid 1 part

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Cow Parturition Indicators

 Cow Parturition Indicators:

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How to know when a cow will calve?

Cow calving and knowing when your cow will calve is important because it can mean the difference between the life or death of your calf, cow or both. 

So therefore it is important to know what to look out for when your cow is about to give birth. Cows are very much like humans, all different with different problems.

Many people dream about the good life and homesteading and also would like to own a milking cow for cheese making. However, this also means that the cow has to be mated on a regular basis and she will eventually have her calf or sometimes calves if there are twins. When you are placed in a situation like this without having any knowledge of cow calving it can be a little overwhelming.

Hopefully, when your cow was mated you were present and know the month that the calf is expected. It is also hoped that your cow was mated with a bull of either the same cattle breed or size. You would have lots of problems if your Jersey cow had been mated with a large Hereford bull.

1.Calving and knowing the due date:

Knowing the month of the calf's due birth makes things a lot easier and if you are vigilant you will be able to follow the progress. One of the first signs of cow pregnancy will be the cow's increase in appetite and enlarging of the udder. 

The enlarging of the udder usually happens at 7 months. If you are still milking your cow, she should be dried off 6 weeks before the calving. If your cow is very small, it is even better to dry her off at 12 weeks before the calving to allow her to put on weight and take time to grow a little.

2.Calving and the week before:

In the last week of before cow calving there are obvious signs known. The abdomen is distended, milk veins under the stomach can easily be seen, often in a v-shape under the belly. 

The backside of the cow becomes loose and the udders start to swell. Also the ribs won't be that visible and increased feeding with a heavy dropped stomach are other signs.

3. 24 hours before calving:

Within 24 hours of cow calving the cow will move very slowly, dragging her back legs slightly or walking with a rolling gait. 

The ribs are also more evident now as the stomach has dropped. As much as two days before the calving process your cow will start looking for a quiet calving spot away from the rest of the cows or farm noise. So look out for this type of behavior in looking for that quiet bush or tall reeds to hide in.

4.Hours before calving:

Within the hours of cow calving the cow is acting strangely, often restless and a white transparent membrane is often seen weeping from the back passage. Within an hour or so of seeing this you will see the calf's hooves appearing. 

If the hooves are in the proper position they should be coming out together, one on top of the other and facing downwards. If the hooves are facing upwards this means trouble because it means that the calf is either upside down or back to front - both conditions need a vet.

5.During the calving:

During cow calving the cow will stand or lie down as often as she feels comfortable and her moving between these two positions is quite normal. 

As soon as her waters break she will sniff the area and start mooing as she believes that the calf is somehow there. 

However, when the contractions come thick and fast and she is ready to calve the cow will lie down and start pushing. 

With the hooves emerging first the head follows, and then the shoulders. Because this is the broadest part of the calf this is the most difficult for the cow and she may take her time during this process. 

Once the calf is finally out the cow will lick the calf vigorously getting rid of the membrane covering the calf.

Licking the calf is important in cow calving as it stimulates the calf's blood flow and it will also form an important bond between mum and baby. 

Mum will often moo and the calf will answer and try to stand on its wobbly legs. Within 20 minutes it will be up on its feed and start

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Bloat in cow/ Tympany in cow

 ✓BLOAT🐄🐄

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Bloat is an over distention of the rumen and reticulum with the gases of fermentation.Tympany is caused by a physical or functional obstruction or stenosis of esophagus resulting in failure to eructate .

In adult animals, free-gas bloat is less frequent and usually more acute because disturbances of the adult rumen tend to be more rapid and severe .Prodigious volumes of gas are continually generated in the rumen through the process of microbial fermentation. Normally, the bulk of this gas is eliminated by eructation or belching, which ruminants are spend a lot of time doing. Certainly, anything that interferes with eructation will cause major problems for a ruminant. The problem, of course, is called ruminal tympany or, simply, bloatBloat is the overdistension of the rumen and reticulum with gases derived from fermentation. The disorder is perhaps most commonly seen in cattle, but certainly is not uncommon in sheep and goats.

                ✓               Clinical Signs. 

                               _______________

2There is discomfort and the animal may stand and lie down frequently, kick at its abdomen and even roll.

3. Frequent defecation and urination are common.

4. Dyspnea is marked and is accompanied by mouth breathing, protrusion of the tongue, salivation and extension of the head.

5. The respiratory rate is increased up to 60/min.

6. Ruminal contractions are usually increased in strength and frequency in the early stages and may be almost continuous, 

            ✓        Treatment and Control

                     _______________________

Bloat is a life threatening condition and must be relieved with haste. For animals in severe distress, rumen gas should be released immediately by emergency rumenotomy. Insertion of a rumen trochar through the left flank into rumen is sometimes advocated, but usually not very effective unless it has a large bore (i.e. 1 inch), and is often followed by complications such as peritonitis.

In less severe cases, a large bore stomach tube should be passed down the esophagus into the rumen. Free gas will readily flow out the tube, although it may need to be repositioned repeatedly to effectively relieve the pressure. In the case of frothy bloat, antifoaming medications can be delivered directly into the rumen through the tube; the animal should then be closely observed to insure that the treatment is effective and the animal begins to belch gas, otherwise a rumenotomy may be indicated.

Use mineral oil 

Charcoals 

Carminatives.

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When Cow should be Inseminated

 When should cows be inseminated?

If cows are inseminated too early the sperm will no longer be viable when they meet the egg; if they're inseminated too late then the reverse will occur.

However, there is more leeway with the former than the latter. The golden rule of timing of insemination remains: inseminate before the cow releases the egg ('ovulation') - we want the sperm to be in the oviduct before the egg gets there.

This means that the timing of insemination is based on predicting when ovulation is likely to occur not when it has occurred. In the cow, ovulation occurs 24 to 32 hours after the start of standing heat; this means that we can tie the timing of insemination to observing heat, with initial research showing that the best conception rates occurred when cows were inseminated  from mid oestrus until 2 to 3  hours after the end of oestrus.

The am/pm rule

This research led to the development of the 'am/pm rule' - where a cow which was seen on heat in the evening was inseminated the next morning, while a cow that was seen on heat in the morning was inseminated the following evening.

However, the modern dairy cow shows heat less intensely (fewer than 50% of cows in oestrus stand to be mounted compared to >70% in the 1980s) and shows it for a shorter period of time (duration of standing oestrus has decreased from an average of 15 hours to 5 hours), so the question is often asked as to whether the am/pm rule needs to be changed.

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Vitamin Used for Growth Promoter

Vitamin Used for Growth Promoter
Vitamin;
Vitamins are organic compounds require by an organism as vital nutrient in limited amount. Vitamins are group of substance that are essential for normal cell function, growth and development.
Vitamins are 2-types

1.      Fat soluble (vit A, D, E, K)

2.      Water soluble (vit C, B-complex)

A.    Fat soluble vitamin

These vitamins stored in body fat. There are 9-water soluble vitamins.

B.     Water soluble vitamin

All water soluble vit excreted from body through urine. Vitamin B12 only water soluble vit which Store in Liver for many year

Function of vitamin:

a)      Vitamin A: (Ratinol)

·         Help in epithelization, teeth, bones, soft tissue.

·         Obtain from animal origon (milk product, egg yolk, liver)

·         Formed in body by B. carotene.

·         From vegetable origin (cabbage, lettuce, carrot)

b)     Vitamin B1:(Thiamin)

·         Carbohydrate metabolism strength nerve and heart.

c)      Vitamin B2:(Riboflavin)

·         Help in formation of RBC &Body growth

·         Important for tissue respiration

·         Sources; Liver, milk, egg.

d)     Vitamin B3:(Niacin)

·         Also called nicotinic acid.

·         Healthy skin nerve.

e)      Vitamin B5: (Pantothenic Acid)

·         Hormones level control and also cholesterols level control

·         Play important role in transfer acetyl group in body

f)       Vitamin B6: (pyridoxin)

·         RBC formation,

·         Brain functioning enhance

g)      Vitamin B12: (cyanocobalamin)

·         Maintain CNS

·         Sources; Liver, fish, egg

h)     Biotin:

·         Help in protein&CH2O metabolism. Also help in production of hormones and cholesterol.

·         Fat metabolism, fatty acid synthesis, gluconeogenesis

·         Sources; egg yolk and liver.

i)        Folic Acid:

·         Metabolic role of this is interdepended with Vitamin B12.

·         Help in nucleic acid formation, both require in rapidly growing cell.

·         Sources; yeast extract, liver, leafy vegetable

j)       Vitamin C:(Ascorbic acid)

·         Stress condition, healing, gum, teeth.

·         Sources; Potato, orange.

k)     Vitamin D:

·         cheapest vitamin, help in Calcium absorption from intestine and Calcium deposition in bone, teeth, bone strengthen.

l)        Vitamin E:

·         Also Called Tocopherol and tocotrienols.

·         It is given wit selenium

·         Antioxidant, RBC formation

·         Sources; oil, egg, butter, whole meal cereal.

m)   Vitamin K: (menaquinone)

·         Blood clotting (by forming Prothrombin in liver)

·         Made in large intestine

·         Leafy vegetable and meat

Dose rate of vitamin per day;

·         B 1-50 mg/kg

·         B 2-25 mg/kg

·         B 3-11 mg/kg

·         B 6-30 mg/kg

·         B 9-15 mg/kg

·         B 12-9-22 mg/kg

Food Source of Vitamins;

·         Vit A: green vegetable

·         Vit D: sunlight, fish

·         Vit E: green vegetables, plant and seed oil

·         Vit K: liver, beef, green vegetables and oil

·         Vit B: egg, leguminous plant, meat, green plant

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BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND METHODS TO OVERCOME THEM

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND METHODS TO OVERCOME THEM

Objectives

·         The various barriers to effective Communication

·         The basic techniques which can be used to overcome these barriers.

·         A broad understanding of the different types of Communication flow in an organization

Introduction

The transfer of information from the sender to the receiver, with the information being understood by the receiver, is known as communication. The problems which are likely to be encountered in a communication process and discuss how these can be

Overcome are discussed here. It includes:

·         Barriers to effective communication

·         How to overcome the barriers to effective communication.

·         Communication flow in an organisation (vertical, horizontal and diagonal).

·         Official and semi-official communication

Barriers to Effective Communication

There are many barriers which can come up at any stage of the communication process. Some of the more common barriers or obstructions to effective communication will be discussed. If these barriers are overcome, message is likely to be clearly understood. The main barriers to effective communication that we will discuss are:

·         Filtering

·         Psychological factors

·         Defensiveness

·         Language

·         Lack of planning

1.       Filtering

Filtering refers to the sender manipulating information so that it will be seen more favourably by the receiver. In this he / she sends only partial information concealing the slightly unpleasant bit of the information. Advertising commonly makes use of this technique. You may have noticed that several advertisements promise exciting deals. The unpleasant clauses are always filtered or kept in fine-print, so that you do not understand them.

2.      Psychological factors

The receiver in the communication process interprets the message based on his psychological makeup – his likes, dislikes, experiences, background and other personal characteristics. This factor should always be kept in mind while making communication.

3.       Defensiveness

When the receiver interprets the sender’s message as a threat, they often respond in ways that prevent effective communication. For example, when there is an upward communication in an organization, the subordinates due to fear or hesitation may not clearly express their thoughts or give the right feedback.

4.       Language

Language should be carefully chosen as it can lead to misunderstandings or distortions in the communication process. We must remember that words mean different things to different people. Meanings of words also change from culture to culture. All these factors should be kept in mind while communicating.

For example, in a tribal village, the tribal people used to consume water from a lake nearby. The government realized that in due course the water of that lake had become unsafe to drink. So the govt. put a board outside the lake “UNSAFE WATER, DO NOT CONSUME”. Yet the tribal people continued to use the water. WHY? It was because the board was printed in English…a language not known to the tribal people. Hence the communication was not effective due to language barrier.

5.      Lack of planning

Lack of Planning is one of the important reasons of poor communication or failure of communication. Communication is a complex process. To be a good communicator, a person has to:

·         Formulate his idea clearly

·         Understand the capabilities of the receiver.

·         Anticipate how his message can be misinterpreted and correct it in advance accordingly

·         Use simple, concise and precise language.

All this requires skill and good planning, which can be developed with practice.

Overcoming Barriers

The following tips should be kept in mind for effective communication:

·         The Planning for communication should be done properly. One must know what is to be communicated, to whom it is to be communicated and how it is to be communicated.

·         The sender should have a clear understanding of the receiver’s environment and should be able to visualize how the message will be understood by the receiver.

·         The message should be clear, concise and brief. Span of human attention is very short. Long, complicated sentences confuse people.

·         The tone of voice, the choice of language, the manner in which communication is made, should be appropriate for the occasion.

·         Facial expressions, body language, gestures etc., should be in harmony with the message.

·         To ascertain whether we have communicated the message clearly, it sometimes helps to repeat the important part of the message and sometimes also to ask the receiver to repeat what he has understood.

·         In written communication, the sender should ensure that the grammar and punctuation are appropriate. Also the language of the message should be drafted in a way that it is understood in the same manner by both the sender and the receiver. For example “Bear eats, shoots and leaves” does not imply the same as “Bear eats shoots and leaves” due to the punctuation error in the first sentence.

Having discussed the various barriers to effective communication and how to overcome them, let us now briefly understand how communication flows in an organisation.

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LIVESTOCK EXTENSION EDUCATION

LIVESTOCK EXTENSION EDUCATION

Features of livestock

·         Plays an important role in the rural.

·         Additional income to the livestock farmers.

·         variety of livestock are available for

o   draught power

o   milk

o   meat

o   eggs

o   wool ensures

·         have an intimate relationship with livelihood particularly in arid and semi-arid areas

·         a major source of supplementary income for rural households

·         highly livelihood intensive

·         provides sustenance during drought and other natural calamities to rural families

·         an important pathway for increasing the income of marginal and small farmers and landless labourers

Concept of Extension Education

·         James Stuart - father of University Extension in England in 1867-68

·         The term extension education was first used by Cambridge University in 1873

·         Land Grant Colleges in the United States of America formally established the Agricultural Extension work by integrating different activities of the colleges.

Branches of Extension Education may include;

·         agriculture extension

·         livestock extension

·         home science extension

·         fisheries extension

Defination

The word extension is derived from the Latin roots “ex” meaning “out” and “tension” meaning “stretching”. “Extension education is stretching out to the people who are beyond the limits of educational institutions”.

The National Commission on Agriculture (1976) refers to extension as an out of school education and services for the members of the farm family and others directly or indirectly engaged in farm production to enable them to adopt improved practices in production, management, conservation and marketing.

Extension involves the conscious use of communication of information to help people to form sound opinions and make good decisions (van den Ban and Hawkins 1996).

Extension is also defined as a professional communication intervention deployed by an institution to induce change in voluntary behaviour with a presumed public or collective activity (Roling, 1988).

These definitions indicate that extension is for;

i)        extending educational advantages

ii)      forming sound opinions to make good decisions

iii)    inducing changes in voluntary behavior.

The education is effective when it results in changes in all the following behavioural components as specified by Paul Leagans:

i)                    Knowledge - What an individual knows?

ii)                  Attitudes -What he thinks?

iii)                Skills (both Physical & Mental) -What he can do?

iv)                Action - What he actually does?

Objective of livestock extension education

·         to empower the farmers with appropriate and recent technological knowledge and skills

·         to teach people living especially in rural areas how to raise their standard of living by their own efforts using their own resources of manpower and materials with the minimum assistance from Government

·         to help people to solve their own problems through the application of scientific knowledge

·         to bring desirable changes in the quality of life of the target group

·         development of livestock farmers

Philosophy

According to Ensminger, Extension involves

·         changing attitudes, knowledge and skills of the people.

·         working with men and women, young people, boys and girls to answer their needs and wants.

·         helping people to help themselves

·         principles of “Learning by doing” and “Seeing is believing”

·         development of individuals, their leaders, their society and their world as a whole.

·         working in harmony with the culture of the people.

·         a two way channel

·         a continuous educational process.

Extension Educational Process

According to Leagans the sequence of steps involved in the process are (i) situation analysis (ii) formulation of objectives (iii) deciding the content and teaching methods (iv) outcome evaluation and impact analysis and (v) feedback and formulation of corrective action.

Effective Teaching Learning Situation

Teaching in extension education reflects the philosophy of change in knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, beliefs and understanding.

The teaching learning process is usually explained with the help of the following six steps:

Attention: Bringing attention of the learner is the first and foremost step in the teaching learning process.

Interest: Once the learners’ attention is focused next responsibility of the teacher is to arouse the interest in the learner towards the subject matter.

Desire: Once the interest is created the teacher has to sustain the interest and stimulate the learner to convert the interest into desire.

Conviction/ Belief: The action followed when desire, conviction and satisfaction of the learners is achieved. Therefore, the teacher should see that the learner knows what action is necessary and just how to take that action. He also should help the learner to visualize the action in terms of his own situation and gets confidence in his ability to apply the things by himself in practice.

Action: In this step the conviction is converted into action and the job of the teacher is to make his student act in the lines of the knowledge acquired. Action means implementation in the actual situation.

Satisfaction: The end product of the teaching effort is the satisfaction that comes to the learner as a result of solving the problem, meeting a need, acquiring a new skill or some other change in behaviour. The goals of learning are achieved through accomplishment of the learner in applying the knowledge and achieving satisfaction out of the results.

Research revealed that people learn

·         1 % through taste

·         1.5 % through touch

·         3.5 % through smell

·         11 % through hearing

·         83 % through sight

Dale Edgar’s (1964) illustrates that people tend to remember

·         10 % of what they read

·         20 % of what they hear

·         30 percent what they see

·         50 percent of what they hear and see

·         70 percent of what they say

·         90 percent of what they say and do

Elements of an effective learning situation

It comprises of

·         Teacher

·         Learner

·         Subject matter

·         Teaching materials

·         Physical facilities

Fig 1: The Elements of a Learning Situation

Teacher: The teacher plays an important role in arousing the interest of the learner and sustains it throughout. He should be able to create a congenial learning situation wherein the learner participates actively in the teaching process.

Learner: The participation of the learner in the teaching process depends upon the extent to which the subject matter is useful to him and it was communicated in a manner that he can understand very well. The learner’s ability in learning a subject depends upon the extent to which his sense organs are involved in the process of learning.

Subject Matter: The topics chosen for teaching must address the needs of the learners which is necessary to sustain the interest of the learners. It is advisable for the extension professionals to conduct need analysis to assess and prioritize the areas of interest to the learners.

Teaching Materials: There are various ways of teaching a subject matter to the learners. Here too the teacher plays an important role in selecting appropriate teaching materials or aids which suit to the subject matter, learners and local situation. But in no case these materials will substitute a teacher. These are only aids which need to be used judiciously taking into consideration various factors which include the characteristics of the learners, availability and cost of aids, familiarity with the use of aids and subject matter to be delivered.

Physical Facilities: The place where the subject matter has to be taught is very important. Depending upon the subject matter and the characteristics of the learners an appropriate place could be chosen which preferably should represent a real life situation. The place must be adequate, easily accessible and a learning atmosphere comparatively free from noise. He should try to involve as many senses of the learners as possible in an effective learning process. The extension teacher must bear in mind that the flow of teaching in extension is horizontal as he also gains from the livestock owners which is possible by encouraging the livestock owners to participate actively in the learning process.

Purpose and Significance of Livestock Extension Education

Livestock extension involves systematic and organized communication with livestock owners with a view to helping them in such a way that the livestock owners

·         obtain a better insight into their present and future position as livestock owners

·         acquire sufficient knowledge and skills necessary to increase production or reduce cost of production

·         develop positive attitudes of livestock development

·         able to choose feasible and optimum objectives

·         able to identify problems, look for solutions, solve the problems identified

·         evaluate the results within the farming system situation in which they are operating

The subject matter delivered should be directly applicable to the livestock owners, which is necessary for livestock development. This could be accomplished by designing the training programme based on needs of the livestock owners. It is also equally important for the extension agencies to help the development of leadership among the livestock owners. Development of appropriate local leaders helps the extension agencies in several ways. There are no means by which a large number of livestock owners spread throughout the length and breadth of the country can be forced to practices animal husbandry in a specific way. Such attempts usually meet with passive and even at times active form of resistance. The better option could be is to influence their decision making through livestock extension so that their decisions will be to their own and to their society’s advantage. Livestock extension alone is seldom sufficient to increase animal production.

Livestock extension cannot operate in standalone situation as it needs the support of various institutions and several groups of people. In addition to livestock extension, the other elements required for increasing animal production are;

i)                    remunerative market

ii)                  assured water and electricity supply

iii)                local availability and accessibility of inputs such as feeds, medicines, vaccines, technical services and equipments

iv)                roads, transportation and storage facilities

v)                  credit supply

vi)                appropriate policy on animal husbandry.

The domain of knowledge covered by Livestock Extension are;

i)                    technical problems such as selection of livestock, improved breeding, better feeding, housing and management

ii)                  farm economics and organizational problems which include importance of culling of animals, labour management, labour saving equipments (milking machines, meat processing equipments) acquisition of credit and its repayment, farm plans etc. How to reduce cost of production of milk, meat or eggs etc. is forms an important aspect for the livestock owners. ?

iii)                issues pertaining to globalization and WTO regulations

The change must be

i)                    felt by the livestock owners as important

ii)                  significant economically and socially to a relatively large number of people

iii)                related to the primary needs of the society.

People must undergo change because

i)                    it is the people who must make changes in farming, home-making, health, community etc. that contribute to development

ii)                  change in people, educationally, is a pre-requisite to the attainment of other

iii)                changes in a free society

iv)                changes in the mind (Head) and heart of people precede changes in actions (Hands).

Livestock Situation and Challenges for Livestock Extension

1.      Millions of people depend on livestock whether directly or indirectly

2.      Livestock owners spread throughout the country

3.      Resource poor livestock farmers contribute a lot to production of milk, meat, egg, wool etc.

4.      Common property lands are shrinking leading to increased dependency on purchased inputs

5.      Majority of livestock keepers are poor and women

6.      Veterinarian is the most credible source of information on livestock rearing

7.      The market for livestock and livestock products is mostly unorganized

8.      Per capita consumption of milk among the resource poor milk producers is very low

9.      Majority of the poor own few less productive animals

10.  The livestock owners have no control on quantity and quality of production.

This dynamic livestock situation is posing several challenges to livestock extension services. Some of the challenges with which the extension personnel have to cope up with are;

1.      How to reach millions of livestock owners spread in every nook and corner of the country especially those who are thriving in Complex, Diverse and Risk prone (CDR) environment?

2.      How to improve the living standards of the rural livestock owners through livestock rearing especially when the pressure on land is increasing and common property lands are slowly fading out forcing the rural poor to maintain the animals on purchased fodders?

3.      How to sustain the production of livestock products with decreasing area under fodder and increase in the competition for feed resources and decreasing interests of the people in livestock rearing?

4.      How to face the emerging livestock development situation as a sequel to the technological and development interventions?

5.      How to take cognizance of the changes that are taking place in the society which include : Shift from farming to industry; Shift from rural to urban (migration ); Shift from grazing to stall feeding; Shift in focus from social to economic issues.

Target Groups:

Livestock development involves a number of target groups with whom the extension agents need to work with. These groups include;

1.      Livestock owners: All those who own livestock (dairy farmers, sheep and goat keepers, poultry farmers, etc.)

2.      Livestock service providers: Animal Husbandry department personnel, Marketing institutions like Milk Cooperatives, APEDA, Training institutions like KVKs, NGOs, Research / Academic institutions – Veterinary Universities/ Colleges, ICAR animal science institutes, Bankers, Insurance agencies etc.

3.      Input suppliers: Semen banks, feed mixing plants, Pharmaceuticals, vaccine production units, Livestock product processing units, Fodder seed production units, Agro related industries etc.

4.      Policy makers: Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Secretaries of AH organisations, Senior officials of AH Department, Milk Federations, Researchers, Farmer organisations etc.

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