Information and Communication Technologies for Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry in Jammu and Kashmir

Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is growing in all spheres of activity. Veterinary Sciences andAnimal Husbandry should therefore be no exception. Efforts are needed to incorporate ICT in all endeavours related to livestock development in Jammu and Kashmir. All organizations and departments concerned with Veterinary Sciences andAnimal Husbandry need to realize the potential of ICT for the speedy and timely dissemination of information modules to the livestock rearers.The awareness among livestock rearers about the information and availability of ICT services is the first step to be taken to increase livestock rearers' participation in ICT initiatives.Access to information and communication is essential to the stakeholders at alllevels in the process of development. Various information and communication technology tools in knowledge and information dissemination needed for livestock rearers and possible IT application tools in realizing their needs in Jammu and Kashmir are discussed.


INTRODUCTION
Organized data into meaningful form within a specific time interval is termed as information and information is the basic need of every society. Communication is the exchange of thoughts, knowledge or information in the form of audio, video, signals, gestures, behaviour etc. Technology is the development, modification, usage and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, traits, systems, modules in order to solve problems related to any discipline. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Veterinary Scienceand Animal Husbandry refers to the application of information and communication technologies within the field of Veterinary Sciences. Mostly the number of changes that we see occurring in every sphere of life is the result of application of ICTand Animal Husbandry is not an exception. ICT in VeterinaryResearch, Development and Extension are becoming an indispensible part of our societyin Jammu and Kashmiras well. The ICT advances in last few years have created new opportunities and challenges for Veterinary professionals like Veterinary students, Veterinary technicians, Livestock farm managers, Livestock assistants and above all Livestock rearers. Veterinary Sciences and Animal husbandry occupies an important place in the economy of our state. The share of Veterinary and allied sectors in the Gross state domestic product for the year 2013-2014 (preliminary) stands at 38%on the other hand nearly 70% of the population in the state derives its livelihood directly or indirectly from the agriculture and animal husbandry sectors (Anonymous 2014).

II.
ICT IN VETERINARY SCIENCES AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY Livestock census actually covers the census of livestock, poultry, implements and machinery used for livestock rearing. It is the only source for providing various kind of detailed information for these groups. India has largest livestock numbers in the world. Sound and timely available database are the basic requirement for any planning and policymaking purposes. The conduct of livestock census is thus essential for making plans and policies for growth of livestock sector and also for overall growth of the economy. Livestock Census in our country started in the year1919 and since then the process has been continuing on five year basis. Large body of data generated as a result of census needs to be tabulated analysed and interpreted. Use of ICT not only eases the mammoth exercise but helps in its better tabulation, analysis, interpretation and presentation. Teaching and Learning of Veterinary Sciences is greatly enhanced by use of ICT technology. With growing animal welfare concerns more of videos, animations and simulations are being used in teaching and learning process in place of animal experimentation. The ICT provides new pedagogical models for Veterinary professionals.Similarly Veterinary and Animal Science Research that is gaining importance day by day is greatly benefited through use of bioinformatics tools and statistical programs. Veterinary and Animal Husbandry extension system is playing an important role in disseminating technology to stakeholders of the State. ICT will strengthen our extension system manifold by use of various information technology(IT) tools in technology dissemination and empowering Veterinarians with the desired information.
Their use with right perspective will provide information services to the Veterinarians timely, logistically and effectively. Shaiket al.(2004), Griffin et al.(2008) and Rajaet al. (2013) have worked on applications of ICT in Agriculture.
The present paper discusses various techniques of information simulation and dissemination needed for livestock rearers of the Jammu and Kashmir for the upliftment of Veterinary and Animal husbandry sector.

Information Needed
The focus of ICT in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry is to meet the modern advances in research and extension technologies. A Veterinary practice at a Veterinary centre or a Veterinary clinic or an Animal hospital is in most cases a small business offering a range of services to clients and livestock owners. Many people are involved in delivering the service and ensuring that you as the client get the best care for your animal, in the most efficient manner. The delivering of services and efficiency is taken care by use of ICT. Information on cost, quality of treatment, availability of medicines and inputs like history of animals, species, breed, are required by veterinary professionals at various levels of practice. imilarly for more remunerative production of farms (dairy, sheep, goat, poultry etc.)accurate, reliable, timely and precise information should reach to the investors at proper time as and when required. The information needed by the investors in veterinary field can be broadly categorized into following.  Input Procurement

Input Procurement
Information relating to availability of various inputs and their cost is the first priority.Livestock rearers frequently require the information regarding various inputs such as germplasm, feed, medicineetc in terms of cost, quality, availability and possible sources.

Business Project Planning
Proper planning of an enterprise goes a long way in running a successful enterprise. Entrepreneurs desirous of taking up livestock rearing require expert advice in drafting viable project proposals. Livestock business proposals tailored to specific conditions, specific areas and specific regions are required.

Package of Practices
The area specific package of practices for various livestockspecies is pre-requisite.Preparation of package of practices its continuous updating with changing times and its timely dissemination among livestock rearers is essential. The package of practices includes breeding, feeding, housing and management practices. Disease forecasting and fore-warning Diseases take a heavy toll of livestock enterprise on account of morbidity and mortality. Availability of timely disease forecast can help farmer to take prophylactic measures well in advance and prevent losses.

Preservation and Value addition
Livestock products being of perishable nature their preservation is very essential. Methods that enhance shelf life of various livestock products are required by the livestock owners. At the same time methods of value addition and product development are also required.

Past trends
Information on past trends regarding production, consumption ,utilization, environmental factors and climatic conditions are of immense use in decision making regarding rearing of livestock.

Marketing Information and Intelligence
After the harvest, the most important query is about its marketing, so that the farmer may not fall prey to middle man and hoarders. At this very time, information related to processing and grading, any government interventions like Forecasting System, to produce information in desirable way. Database system is a group of hardware and software for addition, modification, compilation, processing and reporting of data.

Information Retrieval System
Store and retrieval of information in user friendly manner is ultimate objective of an information system.Such systems uses search engines, user friendly interfaceandother controls to mine the data from database and present the same in the form of reports, graphs, images, tables, etc. On the same line information retrieval system is developed to retrieve information as and when required.

Decision Support System
A veterinary meteorological decision-support system, VetMet developed by Danish Meteorological and Veterinary Research Institutes and authorities firstly implemented it at the Danish Meteorological Institute andit was used by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, which has the responsibility for prevention and control of animal diseases. By estimating the risk of atmospheric spread of airborne animal diseases, including first of all foot-and-mouth disease, VetMet improved the preparedness and the disease eradication. The Internetbased system is being used for decision support regarding establishment of surveillance and eradication zones. VetMet can describe both local spread of infectious airborne diseases between neighbouring farms and long-range dispersion, including disease spread to or from other countries.

Expert Support System
An Expert system is a computer programmewith artificial intelligence, knowledge base andinference engine to solve problems that are difficult enough to require significant human expertise for their solution. A knowledge base is the repository of facts and rules about the specific problem. An inference engine is the software for solving theparticular problem using the knowledge base. It is an efficient IT tool and is referred as a tool for Transfer of Technology (TOT) from scientist to farmer. This disables dilution of contents by reducing the number of agencies involved in technology transfer process.
Such IT system can provide instant solution to problems faced by livestock rearers. Expert system can be developed to help and guidethe veterinarian under various situations such as feed and fodder, health check-ups, disease control and vaccine scheduling. It can also suggest control measures on the basis of symptoms.

Trend Analysis and Forecasting
Forecasting and trend analysis are purely statistical techniques. Study of statistical trends regarding live stock, weather data, utilization, consumption patterns, disease attacks, fertilization, etc. may be executed with IT tools. Trend analysis assists livestock rearers in decision making during entire process of livestock production and marketing. Graphical or pictorial trends may be generated using the database of specific parameters. Analysis of trends enables the forecasting and prediction inlive stock production system. For example, forecasting weather is a useful endeavour in deciding the various Livestock operations. IT has many tools to develop such forecasting system.

Electronic Network and Messaging System
Internet has made the world ina global community and enables information transfer and exchange quickly. Ready available online modules are available to livestock rearersfor quick disposal of their problems. Websites can be developed to provide information to livestock rearers in their own regional languages. E-mails,Chatting and conferencing will help livestock rearers in getting discussions with experts and other livestock rearers to exchange views and information and find solutions to problems. Mobile phones are widely being used and have facilitated in addressing the day to day issues of the livestock rearers. Internet and its application are highly involved in planning, weather forecast, post-harvest management, marketing, disaster management, extension management and thus a very powerful source to disseminate knowledge to the livestock rearers. It provides a gamut of information through online sources of information regarding different crops and thus in turn will shape the future of veterinary and animal husbandry development in the State.

Kisan Call Centre
The Purpose of KisanCall Centre is to respond to issues raised by livestock rearesinstantly in the farm of local language. Queries related to Veterinary and allied sectors are being addressed through these centres. A Kisan Call Centre is a combination of ICT and agricultural technology.
It uses a backend data support system, which is inbuilt in Management Information System (MIS). It consists of a complex telecommunication infrastructure, computer support and human resources organized to manage effectively and efficiently the queries raised by livestock rearers instantly in the local language. Mainly, Scientists,