It?s official. The next time you cough up more for that glass of milk, blame it on the blister in the mouth of the cow at the nearby dairy or the infection in hooves of the neighbourhood bovine.
In a first, the government has conducted a comprehensive study to gauge the economic impact of the widely prevalent foot and mouth disease (FMD) among cattle and buffalo, and the revelations are startling: It is dragging down India?s milk output by 20 million tonne, or more than 17% of its annual production. The direct impact on the economy due to losses in production of milk and meat stands at a staggering R18,000 crore a year.
FMD is a viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cows, buffaloes, sheep, goats and pigs. ?Now that the rinderpest (cattle plague) is wiped out, FMD is the biggest challenge for us, considering that both direct and indirect losses are enormous,? KML Pathak, deputy director-general (animal sciences), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, told FE.
The losses are due to a productivity dip among cows and buffaloes ? the primary species affected by the disease ? and the losses would mount if other animals are also included, said R Venkataramanan, the joint director of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute.
Now, sample this: The disease reduces the animal?s milk output by 25% and hurts its breeding as well as work capacity.
The meat doesn?t fetch good returns in local markets and exports of livestock products of infected animals are banned. But the farmer will still have to feed the animal if he chooses not to kill it, inflating his fodder cost ? all these drive up total losses to more than R30,000 crore a year.
Interestingly, the disease doesn?t kill the animal, which probably cloaks its ferocity from the public eye, unlike the rinderpest infection that killed cattle. Significantly, most of whose livelihood depends on cattle and buffalo are small and marginal farmers.
The loss of milk output makes a hole in the consumer?s pocket as the country is facing a shortage despite being the world?s largest producer. India?s per capita milk availability lags many of its Asian peers. The country?s milk demand is set to exceed the expected production of 115 million tonne in this fiscal, said a senior industry executive, leading to suppliers increasing prices frequently.
The government was forced to ban exports of milk powders, casein and casein products in February as milk and its products have been a key driver of food inflation.
The perception that the disease has a presence in India is also affecting exports of quality beef. While meat from the US, which has not witnessed FMD for years now, is available in the international market at $4,000 a tonne, Indian meat is fetching only around $1,000 a tonne, said Venkataramanan.
He said the government is undertaking a massive vaccination drive to cover the entire country, which currently has around 304 million cattle and buffaloes, by 2015. One animal is required to be vaccinated twice a year. The vaccines are produced in four cities with private participation and the government buys all the vaccines and supplies them to farmers for free, he added.
ICAR?s Pathak said the Council will seek financial assistance of R4,000 crore during the next five-year plan (2012-17) for eradication of the disease.
Since the demand for vaccines to cover the entire country can?t be met by the existing manufacturers due to constraints of capacity, the government will invite participation of other private players, he added.