Pashu Aadhaar: How will it help control lumpy skin disease in cattle

What is Pashu Aadhaar and how to apply for it? Here's all you need to know

The Central government is creating a numerical database for dairy animals. Pashu Aadhaar will be like Aadhaar cards for humans. The government aims to track the population and health of livestock by assigning them a unique identification number.

Prime Minister Modi on Monday addressed the inaugural ceremony of World Dairy Summit 2022 in Greater Noida. He said that the creation of database will be done with the help of biometric identification. 

What is Pashu Aadhaar?

Pashu Aadhaar aims to expand the dairy sector in India. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is developing the Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH), which will be known as Pashu Aadhaar. As part of the scheme, all animals will be given an ear tag which will contain a bar-coded 12-digit unique identification number. INAPH will have all the data related to the animals registered, including their species, breed, and pedigree. It will also consist of information regarding calving, vaccination, and milk production.

Establishing Pashu Aadhaar was first proposed in 2015 by a government committee to prevent cattle smuggling. The committee's recommendation came after a Supreme Court order on a plea against cattle trafficking.

According to a 2019 report in The Indian Express, in the first phase of the project, the government aimed to cover 94 million productive ‘in milk’ female cow and buffalo population, following which, other bovines such as calves, males and strays would be counted. However, by 2019, about 22.3 million cows and buffaloes were issued the UID and their entire data was uploaded on the INAPH database. Currently, 226,763,928 animals are registered under the project on the INAPH website.

How to apply for Pashu Aadhaar?

• Farmers need to register themselves on the INAPH portal

• Click on 'new account' and register yourself

• They need to enter the verification code which has been sent to your mobile number

• To register the animals online, farmers can access INAPH portal in two ways

• Offline farmers will be required to download the INAPH Farmer Android app, after they receive SMS containing the link

• Online registered farmers will get a text message on their mobile regarding the login details and can start accessing the web application

Farmers can apply online for animal registration by following these two steps:

• Visit the INAPH portal

• Click on the 'animal registration' link and enter all the required details, following which farmers can get the UID number for their cattle.

How will Pashu Aadhaar be beneficial for animals?

Apart from monitoring the health of the livestock, the database is expected to help government to check the outbreak of lumpy skin disease, which has killed over 67,000 cattles in more than eight states in India.

What is lumpy skin disease?

It is a contagious viral disease which causes fever and nodules on the skin of the animals, thereby impacting the milk production. India, the world's largest milk producer, had a cattle population of 192.5 million in 2019, as per the 19th Livestock census.  Some of the worst affected states by lumpy skin's outbreak are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. The total cattle population is around 200 billion and Rajasthan is witnessing as many as 600-700 deaths in a day.

The government is developing an indigenous vaccine for the disease, however, it is likely to take three-four months, according to Jatindra Nath Swain, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department Secretary. Meanwhile, many states are using the 'goat pox' vaccine to treat lumpy skin disease in animals.

What did PM Modi say?

At the World Dairy Day Summit, Modi said that both the central and state governments are trying to control the disease. He also added that the scientists have prepared inidgenous vaccine for the lumpy skin disease.