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CABINET APPROVES 15000CR FUND TO B O O S T A N I M A L H U S B A N D R Y INFRASTRUCTURE

In pursuance of recently announced Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package for ensuring growth in several sectors, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved setting up of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) worth Rs. 15000 crore. Government has been implementing several schemes for incentivizing the investment made by the dair y cooperative sector for the development of dairy infrastructure. However, the government realizes that even MSMEs and Private companies also need to be promoted and incentivized for their involvement in processing and value addition infrastructure. AHIDF would facilitate much-needed incentivisation of investments in the establishment of such infrastructure for dairy and meat processing and value addition infrastructure and establishment of animal feed plant in the private sector. The eligible beneficiaries under the Scheme would be Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), MSMEs, Section 8 Companies, Private Companies and indi vidual entrepreneur with a m i n i m u m 1 0 % m a r g i n m o n e y contribution by them. The balance 90% would be the loan component to be made available by scheduled banks.

India's doctors call for stricter meat industry rules to prevent future pandemics

According to reporting, hundreds of doctors sent a letter to Harsh Vardhan demanding stricter meat industry regulations to avoid future pandemics. The letter cites the likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic: a wet market in Wuhan, China. The letter calls for a ban on such marketplaces due to their ability to spread deadly viruses. The latter also calls for the closure of slaughterhouses that do not follow India's guidelines or established norms under India's 2001 slaughterhouse rules.

India's poultry farmers seek $2.7 billion of relief after COVID-19 panic

According to reporting and, farm gate chicken prices have slumped by as much as 70 percent in March compared to January prices. Poultry farmer and Chairman Suresh Chitturi explained that the drop forced many farmers to cull their flocks, causing huge losses. Though prices have recovered, banks aren't willing to lend to farmers.

Aviagen Lends a hand to help with COVID testing

Global poultry breeding company Aviagen® has loaned a molecular diagnostic testing machine to a medical facility in Mobile, Ala. The Aviagen Diagnostics Testing Facility in Elkmont, Ala., uses the KingFisher Flex extraction machine to strengthen the health of its internal flocks by routinely testing for Avian Influenza and Salmonella. Coincidentally, the same system can be used to test for COVID-19 positivity in humans. “By performing a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test on human samples, the presence of viral RNA can be detected” explains Aviagen Laboratory Manager Dr. Lola Crespo. According to Crespo, a PCR test rapidly makes millions to billions of copies of a specific DNA/RNA sample, and amplifies it to an amount large enough to study in detail. Because of the significant need for COVID-19 testing, equipment needed to process samples has been in short supply. The big advantage of this equipment is that it can extract 96 samples per run, taking 30-45 minutes for processing. The Elkmont veterinary laboratory currently has two KingFisher extraction machines. In order to help out, the team is doubling up on internal testing for AI or Salmonella, making do with the one machine.