Will control foot and mouth disease: Minister Harish Rawat

India Monday said it was committed to controlling foot and mouth disease (FMD) to increase the productivity of the livestock sector and improve the livelihood of farmers.

“The biggest impediment to growth of the livestock sector is the prevalence of foot and mouth disease,” Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat said here.

He was addressing the inaugural session of a three-day international conference on the disease.

Agriculture ministry officials said FMD adversely affects the performance of the animals and results in direct economic losses to the tune of Rs.20,000 crore per annum.

Indirect losses due to reduced work capacity, such as abortions, subsequent infertility and sterility, which cause reduced milk production, have not been quantified, they said.

The presence of FMD has also affected export potential of the livestock industry.

Rawat said India produces about 300 million doses of trivalent vaccine to treat FMD per annum and the demand is expected to go up to 600 to 800 million doses in the next three to five years.