Srinagar: A week-long skill training program on managing infectious diseases in livestock through traditional practices concluded at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shuhama campus.
The Existing-Management Development Program (E-MDP) on ‘Ethnoveterinary Practices: A concomitant training for managing prevalent infectious diseases of farm animals in Kashmir’ was organised by the SKUAST-K’s Division of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences in collaboration with KVK Srinagar and KVK Ganderbal under the sponsorship of the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Entreprises. The purpose of this training programme was to aware the participants about the rich herbal/plant biodiversity of the Valley and demonstrate the cultivation practices, means and methods of their preservation and utility in animal disease management.
About 50 unemployed youth from the twin districts of Ganderbal and Srinagar participated in the weeklong training. The majority of the participants were female students keen to establish livelihood units in the area of Medicinal plants that can be used in human and animal health management either alone or in combination with modern allopathic medicine.
During the concluding ceremony, Director Extension, SKUAST-K, Prof Dil Mohammad Makhdoomi enlightened the audience about various skill and entrepreneurship programs of the university that aim to build skilled human resources for Agriculture 4.0. Earlier, during the inaugural function, Prof Rafiq A Shahardar, Dean of Students Welfare, SKUAST-K and Prof Mohammad Tufail Banday, Dean, FVSc & AH, Shuhama spoke about the importance and scope of using traditional and indigenous practices for the management of animal diseases that could mitigate the use of antibiotics in food animals. During the training course, the participants had a healthy and fruitful interaction with domain-specific experts at Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Shuhama, at the Faculty of Forestry, Benihana Ganderbal and the Regional Research Institute for Unani Medicine, Habbak, Naseembagh.
