After Covid, lumpy skin disease hits cattle fairs; rural trade hit

With cattle fairs being cancelled this year in the state, this time due to rise in lumpy skin disease (LSD), this will be the third consecutive year that the important rural activity is being missed. For the past two years, fairs were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

These fairs are vital trade events with transactions worth Rs 25 lakh in smaller fairs at an average. Bigger fairs saw transactions worth Rs 2.5 crore, according to organisers. At fairs, a cow might fetch between Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 lakh. Buffaloes cost between Rs 25,000 and Rs 90,000. A minimum of 600 cows participate in small cattle fairs and farmers sell at least 50 to 60 bovines. In big fairs, over 2,000 cows participate and at least 500 are sold.

Before the pandemic, around 100 cattle fairs were held at the end of the year or in January. Some include the Suttur, Mudukthore and Chunchunakatte cattle fairs in Mysuru district, Hemagiri fair in Mandya district, Siddaganga Mutt cattle fair in Tumakuru district, Ghati Subramanya cattle fair in Bengaluru rural district and Birur cattle fair in Chikkamagaluru district.

H N Nanjappa, co-ordinator of the Suttur cattle fair says, "Many farmers feed cows well to sell them during the fairs. Some even sell because of financial difficulties. These fairs also provide a platform for buyers to get good breeds. Now, all of that is lost."

As of January 5, as many as 2,90,330 domesticated bovines in the state were suffering from LSD. About 25,621 have died due to the disease in 17,798 villages after September 2022, according to sources in the department of animal husbandry. On an average, over 2,000 cases and 200 deaths are reported in the state in a day.

The infection spreads through the pox virus. Bovines suffer from visible nodules on their skin and legs. Cattle suffering from respiratory symptoms are dying.

The disease seems to be afflicting cows the most. In Mysuru, for example, out of 3,736 bovines, only 4 to 5 buffaloes suffer LSD, according to officials of the department of animal husbandry. None of the buffaloes died.

Farmers are also suffering losses as they are unable to sell milk from cows having LSD. It takes a bovine about 7 to 15 days to recover. As a result, farmers suffer a loss of at least Rs 5,000 a cow.

Of the 1.14 crore cattle heads in the state, 87% are vaccinated. "Around 9,34,070 doses are in the stock," says Shadakshari Swamy, deputy director, Department of Animal Husbandry.

Farmers are getting ex gratia of Rs 5,000 for the death of a calf, Rs 20,000 for milk-yielding female bovine and Rs 30,000 for male cattle used for ploughing.