Port Blair, Dec 20: A three-day training program entitled “Training cum Field day on Scientific Livestock Management” was organized by ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair at Harminder Bay village, Little Andaman during 10th-12th December, 2022. The training was organized by the Scientists of Division of Animal Science of ICAR-CIARI namely, Dr. K. Muniswamy, Dr. P. Perumal, Dr. Arun Kumar De, and Dr. P.A. Bala, along with Dr. Ashish Kumar, Senior Veterinary Officer, Department of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services, Hut Bay. A total of 80 tribal farmers rearing different livestock species participated in the training. The Captain Mr. Andrew Mosses and the Secretary Mr. Festus of Harminderbay graced the occasion and were the ice-breaker; they translated the gist of the programme in their native language and encouraged the participants to interact with the Scientists. On the first day, Dr. A. K. De and Dr. P. Perumal lucratively explained about scientific management of pigs and bovines, respectively, later Dr. K. Muniswamy explained about the scientific rearing of backyard chicken farming. Finally, the day ended after the visit to the farmer’s field and collection of biological samples. The next day training was started with Dr. P.A. Bala’s sumptuous deliberation on strategies to feed different livestock with local feed ingredients. Later, Dr. P. Perumal explained about sustainable goat farming. On the final day, Dr. P. Perumal briefed about the management of reproductive health of different livestock; later Dr. K. Muniswamy and Dr. P. Perumal demonstrated the deworming procedure for various livestock species with anthelmintics. Finally, the training programme ended with distribution of inputs like pig feed (concentrate mixture), feed supplements and health tonics after explaining them about how to use these inputs. Mr. Andrew Mosses and Mr. Festus thanked the scientists for their efforts and urged them to conduct more programmes with distribution of various inputs. They also thanked the village farmers for their active participation. The training and input distribution was done under the guidance of Dr. E. B. Chakurkar, the Director and Dr. D. Bhattacharya, the Head of Animal Science Division, ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair.
