Advanced Livestock Technology and Feed Systems (ALT&FS)
Why in News?
The High-Level Dialogue on Advanced Livestock Technology and Feed Systems (ALT&FS) is in the news because it was successfully convened on June 1, 2026, under India's 2026 BRICS Chair ship.
About
- Hosted virtually by India's Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD) from Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, the dialogue united policymakers, researchers, and global experts across BRICS nations to establish an integrated framework for future-ready, resilient food systems.
Objectives of the ALT&FS Dialogue
- Fostering BRICS Cooperation: The platform acts as a critical mechanism for international collaboration among BRICS member states (including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the UAE).
- Tackling Global Challenges: It explicitly targets urgent bottlenecks in global farming, such as low livestock productivity, acute feed shortages, emerging transboundary animal diseases, and severe climate change impacts.
- Knowledge and Best Practice Exchange: Countries shared successful case studies on animal nutrition, sustainable feed formulation, and advanced genetic or digital applications to empower smallholder farmers globally.
Key Pillars of Advanced Livestock Technology (ALT)
- Precision Livestock Farming (PLF): Utilizing on-animal wearables, IoT sensors, thermal imaging, and acoustic monitoring to dynamically track animal health parameters.
- AI-Driven Management: Deploying Artificial Intelligence to run micro-planning frameworks, optimizing green fodder-to-dry feed ratios based on individual animal profiles.
- Early Disease Detection: Implementing automated tech like rumen biosensors to continuously track ruminal pH and temperature, helping detect conditions like mastitis or metabolic issues early.
- Robotics and Automation: Deploying autonomous milking robots and automated feeding machines to cut down intensive manual labour while optimizing operational accuracy.
Innovations in Feed Systems (FS)
- Nutritional Value Upgrades: Utilizing specialized biochemical feed technology to safely treat and convert low-grade raw materials or agricultural by-products into high-value animal diets.
- Climate-Smart Feed Solutions: Promoting institutional research on drought-resilient fodder options and sustainable feed formulations that systematically lower methane and greenhouse gas emissions from cattle.
India's Contributions Highlighted at BRICS 2026
- Digital Transformation: India showcased its flagship National Digital Livestock Mission (NDLM) via the Bharat Pashudhan platform, demonstrating how data-driven architectures can successfully catalogue millions of animals.
- Blockchain and Farmer Apps: The country highlighted its digital ecosystem comprising open-source Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for milk unions, blockchain-based traceability, and direct-to-farmer apps.
- Sustainable Green Energy: The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) presented its efforts in scaling up biogas generation, organic manure adoption, and clean energy logistics to optimize smallholder dairy value chains.
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