GUWAHATI, Nov 10 - The curtain closed down on the National Livestock and Poultry Show-2019 at the College of Veterinary Science playground, Khanapara, with Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi calling upon the stakeholders to create a more entrepreneur-friendly environment for the livestock industry to contribute to the growth of the State and country. �
The Governor awarded Dipankar Sharma�from Barpeta as the best farmer and Juna Tamuly Barman from Barpeta as the best female�farmer. Also, awards were handed over to Sailesh Chaudhary for dairy farming, Ratan Gogoi for piggery, Dilip Chetia for poultry�farming, and Bhupen Deka for goatery farming.
Prof Mukhi said that India�s livestock sector was one of the largest in the world with a holding of 16 per cent of the world�s livestock population.
�The contribution of the livestock sector to the national economy in terms of GDP is 4.11 per cent and it shares 25.6 per cent of the total contribution of the agricultural sector to the GDP. India has 56 per cent of the global buffalo population and is ranked number one in the world in milk production. India is�third and fifth in the world in egg and poultry production respectively, which is why the sector is an important source of foreign exchange earnings. The share of Assam in the country�s animal population is 3.25 per cent for livestock and 8.36 per cent for poultry,� he said.
The Governor added that considering the high potential of the region, the North-East was considered the new engine of growth and that India�s foreign policy to deal with the country�s South East and East Asian nations, Assam and other North-Eastern States had a great role to play.
�In the Act East Policy, Guwahati has been tipped to be the gateway to South East Asian countries. These opportunities have opened up a huge market and a vast consumer base for the livestock and poultry industry,� he observed.
Pointing out that production and productivity in the North-East remained low despite having a huge livestock population, the need of the hour was to develop the livestock industry in the State. He hoped that the National Livestock and Poultry Show organized after a gap of 24 years would give a future roadmap to assess the present position of Assam and elevate its position accordingly.
The Governor said that the show had given a commercial and scientific platform for all the stakeholders like farmers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, knowledge organizations, NGOs and others to share their knowledge and address the shortcomings hindering the growth of the livestock industry.
Minister of Agriculture Atul Bora, MLAs Sanjay Kisan, Pradip Hazarika, former Vice-chancellor of AAU Prof KM Bujarbarauh, and Chairman of Assam Livestock Development Corporation Manoj Saikia along with a host of dignitaries were present in the closing function.
