IAFS-III sponsored training programme concludes at ICAR-NIANP, Bengaluru, India
A short-term training programme on “Feed and Fertility Management in Livestock” was organised at ICAR-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology Bengaluru from 9 to 18 August 2019.
It was sponsored by the India-Africa Forum Summit, IAFS-III by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India for the benefit of African nationals. Eight participants representing Kenya, Egypt, Sudan and Namibia participated in the training.
The training had a mix of lectures and practical classes focused on (i) agronomic management of new varieties of forage crops and fodder trees (ii) alternate feed resources for livestock, conservation of fodder, hydroponics and azolla cultivation (iii) nutritional management, precision feeding and ration balancing (iv) Amelioration strategies for greenhouse gases (v) ration balancing tools (vi) management of stress to improve productivity of livestock, fertility assessment and management of bulls (vii) embryo transfer technology (viii) assisted reproductive technologies and sorting of the sexed sperms, besides field trip to cattle feed plant, KMF, Bangalore.
Dr. Raghavendra Bhatta, Director, ICAR-NIANP was the Course Director and Drs. S. Anandan, S.B.N. Rao and S. Selvaraju were the course coordinators. The trainee participants from the African nations in their feedback appreciated the training curriculum and expressed their gratitude to the Government of India for nominating and sponsoring the entire training. Dr. Raghavendra Bhatta highlighted the importance of feed and fertility management of livestock for improving the efficiency of production and the need for capacity building in these areas through regular training.
Dr. S. Abdul Rahman, current executive president of the Commonwealth Veterinary Association was the chief guest of the valedictory function. After releasing the compendium and distributing the certificates to the participant trainees, he highlighted the current challenges of the livestock sector in terms of the food security and safety, emerging diseases, climate change and antimicrobial resistance and the need for the department staff to be prepared to address these challenges.
