Foot and Mouth disease cause Rs 20,000 cr revenue loss in India

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India annually suffers a staggering revenue loss of about Rs 20,000 crore due to Foot and Mouth Disease that afflicts the bovine population, according to an expert.

The disease, which is yet to be controlled, has been claiming the lives of livestock, besides impacting on milk production, Chairman of BIOVET, a Hyderabad based integrated biotechnology company, Dr Krishna Ella said in Bangalore.

Biovet has launched Asia's first bio safety level 4 (bsl-4) facility that enables product development and manufacturing of FMD vaccine.

Ella said that unless FMD was eradicated, it would spell doom for the rural economy in India, as livestock contributed USD 6.71 billion per annum, accounting for 25 per cent of the country's agricultural output.

Milk production of 84 million tonnes a year contributed Rs 1.02 lakh crore to the economy and India was set to become the world's largest food factory, valued at USD 140 billion by 2009, he said.

Commenting on the vaccine production scenario for livestock, Ella said that a majority of the biological units are now owned either by states, the Centre or cooperatives.

"Due to lack of vision, finance and containment facility they are unable to cope up with emerging diseases and market requirements," he pointed out.