Thursday, October 05, 2006
Gandhi's Birthday Celebrated as Goat Development Day
By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: An animal husbandry institute in an Uttar Pradesh village marked Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary as goat development day, recalling the leader's love for goat milk.
Central Institute of Research on Goats at Makhdoom village in Farah, 25 km. from here, held a function extolling the virtues of goats called the "poor man's cow" by Mahatma Gandhi.
Institute Director Narendra Pal Singh explained how goat milk could not only be used as a health tonic and a cure for various diseases like tuberculosis, high blood pressure, stomach ailments, insomnia and asthma, but also as a profitable economic activity in rural areas.
Member of Parliament Manvendra Singh, who is also an executive committee member of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research was the chief guest Monday.
He said the results of the researches conducted by the CIRG should be passed on to farmers and goat owners at the village level. He also asked, "if former prime minister V.P. Singh could take to goat farming, why the villagers in the state could not take it up on a big scale".
CIRG was in news last month for genetically producing an in-vitro goat, an experiment that has opened up immense possibilities of rearing better goat breeds in India.
Indian subcontinent has 20 well-characterized goat breeds, which vary in their genetic potential for the production of milk, meat and fiber; disease resistance; heat tolerance; and fecundity. Indian goats make up 20% of the world's goat population.
CIRG was initially a small centre started by Indian Veterinary Research Institute in 1976. The centre was renamed CIRG after it was awarded national status by the ICAR in1981.
Agra: An animal husbandry institute in an Uttar Pradesh village marked Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary as goat development day, recalling the leader's love for goat milk.
Central Institute of Research on Goats at Makhdoom village in Farah, 25 km. from here, held a function extolling the virtues of goats called the "poor man's cow" by Mahatma Gandhi.
Institute Director Narendra Pal Singh explained how goat milk could not only be used as a health tonic and a cure for various diseases like tuberculosis, high blood pressure, stomach ailments, insomnia and asthma, but also as a profitable economic activity in rural areas.
Member of Parliament Manvendra Singh, who is also an executive committee member of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research was the chief guest Monday.
He said the results of the researches conducted by the CIRG should be passed on to farmers and goat owners at the village level. He also asked, "if former prime minister V.P. Singh could take to goat farming, why the villagers in the state could not take it up on a big scale".
CIRG was in news last month for genetically producing an in-vitro goat, an experiment that has opened up immense possibilities of rearing better goat breeds in India.
Indian subcontinent has 20 well-characterized goat breeds, which vary in their genetic potential for the production of milk, meat and fiber; disease resistance; heat tolerance; and fecundity. Indian goats make up 20% of the world's goat population.
CIRG was initially a small centre started by Indian Veterinary Research Institute in 1976. The centre was renamed CIRG after it was awarded national status by the ICAR in1981.
# posted by mediabhartiwebsolutions @ 9:43 AM 
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