Ethnoveterinary medicine for responsible dairying

India is the largest milk producer in the world with 22 percent of the global share and engages around 6.3 crore rural households. The cost and availability of animal health services for small dairy holders in a country like India has always been a cause of concern. There is a growing apprehension about the presence of drug residues in milk and milk products as well emergence of drug resistant bacteria and its associated health risks due to indiscriminate use of these products. The cost of therapeutic medicines, antimicrobial resistance and the residues in milk, meat and other animal products have forced the animal health sector to look for alternate forms of therapy to overcome these deficiencies. The new alternatives should be affordable, farmer friendly and lead to minimal or no residues in milk and other products. Practice of Ethno-Veterinary Medicine (EVM) is an approach that fulfils the above criteria. However, animal health service providers have very limited knowledge about EVM which in India is largely based on Veterinary Ayurveda. EVM has been used throughout the world by traditional animal rearing communities. EVM has been used for most common ailments in almost all domestic animal species. While there are efforts to document these practices, such documents are not widely available. Only recently, scientific scrutiny of these treatments for efficacy, mode of action and active ingredients has been initiated. National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) along with Sabarkantha District Cooperative Milk Producers Union, Sabarkantha, Gujarat and Trans-Disciplinary University, Bengaluru, evaluated the use of EVM initially for management of bovine mastitis and subsequently for management of other common ailments of dairy animals. It was observed that EVM was helpful in successfully managing mastitis (85%), diarrhoea (86%), fever (85%), indigestion (87%), anoestrus (77%), worm infestation (89%), wound healing (79%) and ecto-parasite infestation (87%) with high clinical cure rate. It was economical compared to conventional allopathic treatment. A reduction in residues of common antibiotics (quinolones, tetracycline, sulphonamide, s-lactam) in milk was observed in the area of operation. Drug resistant bacteria ( S. aureus including methicillin resistant S. aureus – MRSA; and E. coli including Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase producing – E. coli - ESBL), were isolated from the milk of bovines suffering from mastitis. EVM was able to cure even these animals. However, awareness about EVM is limited among animal health service providers and other stakeholders. EVM needs to be given adequate focus and mainstreamed. This would entail concerted efforts and initiatives in policy, research and development and infrastructure.