Officials along with the participants during the field outreach programme in Manipur.
Imphal, August 14 (MExN): A three-day field outreach programme on mithun breeding, health management, scientific husbandry and conservation was conducted in Kamjong and Tengnoupal districts of Manipur as part of an ongoing North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Society (NERCORMS) initiative under the North Eastern Council (NEC)-funded project on establishing mithun breeding and conservation centres in Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
The programme was conducted by the ICAR-National Research Centre on Mithun (ICAR-NRCM), Medziphema, in collaboration with the ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Manipur Centre, Lamphelpat, and the Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Services, Government of Manipur.
The programme began on August 10 with a breeding-cum-health camp for improvement and conservation of mithun at Louphong village in Kamjong district, attended by 55 mithun farmers.
During the camp, 14 mithun were vaccinated and ear-tagged, while body morphometric measurements were recorded for systematic identification, traceability and documentation.
Farmers were sensitised on scientific breeding, preventive healthcare, timely vaccination and proper herd record maintenance. A practical demonstration was also conducted on estimating mithun body weight using a measuring tape developed by ICAR-NRCM, enabling farmers to estimate body weight under field conditions without weighing equipment.
On August 11, a farmers’ training on scientific breeding and husbandry practices for improvement and conservation of mithun was conducted at Machi village in Tengnoupal district. The training was attended by 58 participants, including mithun farmers, NGO representatives and officials of the state veterinary department.
The training highlighted the importance of mithun as an indigenous livestock genetic resource and its socio-economic significance to tribal communities.
Technical sessions covered planned breeding, selection of superior breeding animals, prevention of indiscriminate mating, herd record maintenance, scientific feeding, disease prevention, reproductive management, animal identification and regular health monitoring.
The importance of community participation in establishing sustainable mithun breeding and conservation systems was also emphasised.
The programme concluded on August 12 with an FMD vaccination and health camp for mithun at Machi village, attended by 54 mithun farmers.
More than 25 mithun were vaccinated against Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), besides ear-tagging and body measurements for identification and systematic documentation.
Veterinary personnel from the Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Services, Government of Manipur, supported the vaccination, animal identification and healthcare activities.
Veterinary treatment was also provided to animals affected by tick infestation and skin infections. Farmers were sensitised on regular FMD vaccination, disease prevention, biosecurity and preventive healthcare to reduce disease-related losses and improve herd productivity.
Across the three-day programme, 167 farmer/participant attendances were recorded.
The interventions covered scientific breeding, vaccination, animal identification, morphometric recording, veterinary care, disease prevention and improved husbandry practices, providing an integrated field-level approach to mithun improvement and conservation.
The programme reaffirmed the commitment of ICAR-NRCM, the ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Manipur Centre, and the Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Services, Government of Manipur, towards strengthening community-based mithun breeding, preventive healthcare and conservation.
The initiatives under the NERCORMS project are expected to contribute to improved mithun productivity, conservation of valuable genetic resources and sustainable livelihoods of tribal mithun-rearing communities in Manipur.
