Bhubaneswar, April 27: Amidst the challenge of climate change, veterinarians had the onerous task of ensuring the country’s food security, an eminent scientist has said.
“The vets are the unseen protectors of the nation’s food security and in the face of climate change the subject of food and nutrition cannot be thought of without them,” Dr. Pramod Kumar Sahoo, Director of the ICAR-Central Institute for Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA) here said on Saturday.
Dr. Sahoo said the veterinarians had achieved a lot and diseases like rinderpest, an illness afflicting cattle, had been eradicated from India while they had done an excellent job in the area of in-vitro fertilization.
He was addressing the World Veterinary Day program organised by the Institute of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry (IVSAH), faculty of veterinary sciences of SOA Deemed to be University here in collaboration with Odisha Livestock Development Society and Odisha Veterinary Council as the guest of honour.
Dr. Sahoo also praised the achievements of vets saying India had been ranked No. 1 in milk production and No. 2 in egg production while the country had become self-reliant in production of vaccines.
Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Vice-Chancellor of SOA, who graced the occasion as chief guest, said the contributions of the veterinarians was well recognized as their patients could not speak. The relationship between humans and animals had continued for ages, he said while referring to a recent incident when a dog fought with a cobra entering a school premises to protect about 30 young students while laying down its own life.
Dr. Sushanta Kumar Das, Dean of IVSAH and President of Odisha Livestock Development Society (OLDS), who presided over the event, said the IVSAH was now functioning as a referral hospital equipped with latest facilities and extending services round-the-clock.
Several retired veterinarians were felicitated on the occasion. They included Dr. Bibekananda Tripathy, well known athlete, and Prof. Pragati Panda, Odisha’s first woman veterinarian. Dr. Srinibas Das, Medical Superintendent of the Veterinary Clinic and Chairman of OLDS, proposed the vote of thanks.
