ICAR Secretary Visits ICAR-NIVEDI, Bengaluru; Calls for Strengthening Advanced Disease Intelligence for Animal Health Security

23 June 2026, Bengaluru

Shri Gyanendra Dev Tripathi, Additional Secretary, DARE and Secretary, ICAR, visited the ICAR–National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru, during the CSR and Technology Conclave–2026. The visit underscored the importance of leveraging advanced disease intelligence and predictive analytics to strengthen India's animal health security.

The visit commenced with the plantation of a sapling in the presence of Dr Baldev R. Gulati, Director, ICAR-NIVEDI, and Dr A. Sahoo, Director, ICAR-NIANP. Shri Tripathi toured the institute's major facilities, including the WOAH Reference Laboratories for Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) and Leptospirosis, the National Animal Disease Referral Expert System (NADRES), and the NIVEDI Agri-Business Incubation Centre (NaaViC).

During the visit, Dr Gulati presented an overview of the institute's mandate, key achievements, and its significant contributions to national animal health through disease surveillance, forecasting, diagnostics, epidemiological intelligence, and support to disease control programmes. He also highlighted ICAR-NIVEDI's scientific advisory role to the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Government of India, and emphasized the need for continued scientific and technical support to further strengthen the institute's role in disease intelligence and evidence-based policymaking.

Appreciating the institute's accomplishments, Shri Tripathi commended ICAR-NIVEDI for its contributions in disease analytics, digital epidemiology, diagnostics, and innovation. He emphasized the importance of systematically estimating disease burden and economic losses, evaluating the benefit-cost outcomes of disease control programmes, and documenting their socio-economic impact on livestock farmers.

Highlighting the future direction of animal disease surveillance, Shri Tripathi called for enhancing predictive disease analytics from the district level to block and village levels. He also advocated integrating mathematical modelling with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)-based forecasting systems to strengthen early warning mechanisms, improve disease preparedness, and support timely policy interventions for safeguarding livestock health.

(Source: ICAR–National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics, Bengaluru)