CIRB to organise monthly milk contests for buffaloes

The Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes (CIRB), Hisar, will resume organising the monthly milk competition for buffaloes and the annual buffalo fair.

Director General of the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR–CIRB) Dr ML Jat asked the institute to resume both these events which were stopped during the Covid pandemic. He was in Hisar to attend a national workshop on ‘Advancing Buffalo Rearing through Integration of Climate-Smart, Precision and Digital Technologies’ at the institute today.

Addressing the scientists, he said that merely increasing milk production would not be sufficient as the efforts should also focus on value addition. He urged the scientists to work not just for one state but for the entire nation.

The workshop was organised by CIRB in collaboration with the Indian Society for Buffalo Development and the Asian Buffalo Association.

Dr Jat said ,“Engage in open dialogue with farmers. Think big, think about what can be achieved with Murrah buffaloes and how far you can go. Then plan how to reach that level and align your work with the country’s vision,” he told scientists. He added that they must assess what contribution buffaloes could make to a developed India by 2047.

He stated that the outcomes of research must reach the people and data quality would play a key role in this. He remarked, “While we reform, perform and transform, if we fail to inform, our efforts lose impact.”

CIRB Director Dr Yashpal, workshop convener Dr Ashok Balhara, NRCE Director Dr TK Bhattacharya, Vice-Chancellor of BASU Patna Dr Inderjeet Singh, ICAR DDG Dr Raghavender Bhatta, ICAR DDG Dr Rajbir Singh and Agrinnovate CEO Dr Praveen Malik were present at the event. Scientists from various institutes and livestock farmers also took part.