Astra 2024 [Indian Agriculture Module]

T.9 Economics of Animal-Rearing.

Animal husbandry sector & dairy sector

Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for
meat, fiber, milk, eggs, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding
and the raising of livestock.

Data:
Livestock plays an important role in Indian economy:
1. About 20.5 million people depend upon livestock for their livelihood.
2. It also provides employment to about 8.8 % of the population in India.
3. Livestock provides livelihood to two-third of rural community.
4. India is the highest livestock owner of the world. As per the 20th Livestock Census, the total
Livestock population is 535.78 million in the country showing an increase of 4.6% over
Livestock Census-2012.
there are 303.76 million bovines
(cattle, buffalo, mithun and yak), 74.26 million sheep, 148.88 million goats, 9.06
million pigs and about 851.81 million poultry.

Important components of animal rearing and their success stories:

Dairy industry India ranks first in milk production in the world. Its milk output of 230.58
million tonnes during 2022-23 accounted for nearly 24.64% per cent of
global milk supplies. Milk is the country’s largest agricultural commodity,
surpassing rice and wheat in terms of both volumes and value of production.
The per capita availability of milk is 459 grams per day in
India during 2022-23 as against the world average of 322 grams per day in 2022
(Food Outlook June 2023).

Poultry Industry India ranks 2nd in egg production.Egg production in the country has
increased from 78.48 billion in 2014-15 to 138.38 billion Nos. in 2022-23. This
amounts to a per capita availability of around 101 eggs per year.

Meat Industry India ranks 5th in terms of meat production, production Meat production in the
country has increased from 6.69 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 9.77 million
tonnes in 2022-23. Buffalo meat alone accounted for nearly two-thirds of meat
products exports.

Sericulture Industry India’s Silk Industry is world’s second largest after China. The total raw silk
production in India was 33,739 MT in 2020-21.
Silk Industry provides employment to 7.9 million people
in India

Fishing Industry With record fish production of 175.45 lakh tons in FY 2022-23, India is the third
largest fish producing country in the world accounting for 8% of global
production and contributing about 1.09% to the country's Gross Value
Added (GVA) and over 6.724% to the agricultural GVA.
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Importance of livestock
1. Economic benefits:
1. Economic contribution to India’s GDP- According to the ES 2022-23, the livestock
sector has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.9% during 2014-15 to
2020-21 (at constant prices) → Livestock sector contributes 30.19% of Agricultural and
Allied Sector GVA and 5.73% of Total GVA in FY 2021-22.
2. Fiber and skins: The livestock also contributes to the production of wool, hair, hides, and
pelts. Leather is the most important product which has a very high export potential. India is
producing about 47.9 million Kg of wool per annum.
3. Store of value: Livestock are considered as "moving banks" because of their
potentiality to be disposed off during emergencies. They serve as capital, asset and as
guarantee for availing loans from informal sources such as money lenders.
4. Animal rearing sector is a major avenue for women employment. For ex- Women
made up 31% of total members of the 190,000 in dairy producer cooperatives
in 2020–21.
5. Employment: It also provides employment to about 8.8 % of the population in
India.
6. Dung: In rural areas dung is used for several purposes which include fuel (dung cakes),
fertilizer (farm yard manure), and plastering material (poor man's cement)
2. Social benefits:
1. Food: Livestock provides food items like milk, meat and eggs for human consumption.
2. Farming: Bullocks are backbone of Indian agriculture. Farmers still depend upon bullocks
for various agricultural operations due to poor mechanization.
3. Livestocks add to the cultural self-esteem when they own prized animals such as
pedigreed bulls, dogs and high yielding cows/ buffaloes. People also use the
animals like cocks, rams, bulls for competition and sports like cock fights, ram fights and
bull fights (jallikattu).
4. Equitable distribution: Livestock wealth is more equitably distributed than land. Thus,
giving more opportunities to poor to ensure growth.

Issues and challenges related to Animal Husbandry and Dairy sector

1. Productivity : As per Integrated Sample Survey, average annual productivity of cattle in
India during 2019-20 is 1777 kg per animal per year as against the world average of
2699 kg per animal per year during 2019.
2. Economic Issues
➢ Formal and informal credit: Inadequate budgetary allocation and high cost of credit in
informal sector. In the 2023-24 Union Budget, the allocation for the Department of Animal
Husbandry and Dairying is merely Rs 4,328 crore while well over Rs 4 trillion has
been allocated to food, fertiliser, and other agricultural subsidies
➢ Poor governance of cooperatives: Low prices kept by cooperatives disrupting the
profit, shortage of manpower and funds in cooperatives.
➢ Animal products lack price and marketing support that are enjoyed by the
crop-based commodities in the form of MSP and official state procurement by FCI.
➢ Export policy: Ad-hoc export policies and a ban on exports limit market growth limit the
export potential of products.
3. Shortage of feed/fodder
➢ The Jhansi-based Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute has estimated
that there is a deficit of 12% green fodder, 23% dry fodder, and 30% grains-based
concentrated animal feeds.
➢ Other: Diversion of feed and fodder ingredients for industrial use along with degraded and
encroached grazing lands.
4. Education and training:
➢ Reluctance on part of management to provide training on quality due to cost involved, not
seen as an alternative career opportunity, etc. due to this less youth are attracted towards
animal husbandry.
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5. Other issues
➢ Quality of animals: Limits availability of quality breeding bulls and low acceptance of
artificial insemination in buffalos.
➢ Low productivity: Lack of policy focus on strengthening indigenous breeds and induction of
crossbred animals in areas of poor in feed resources.
➢ Animal health and breeding services
➢ Vaccines: Deficiency of vaccine and vaccination set up along with less awareness
compounds the problem,
➢ Quality of milk acts as a barrier to entry in export markets especially the US and Europe due
to sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions.

Government Initiatives:
1. Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF)
2. National Animal Disease Control Programme
3. Rashtriya Gokul Mission
4. National Livestock Mission: National Livestock Mission (NLM) scheme has been
restructured for 2021-22 to 2025-26. The scheme focuses on entrepreneurship
development and breeds improvement in poultry, sheep, goat and piggery,
including feed and fodder development.
5. Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) scheme
6. National Artificial Insemination Programme: To suggest novel methods of bringing
about impregnation in female breeds and prevent the spread of certain diseases which are
genital in nature.
7. Kisan Credit Card (KCC)

Way forward
1. Credit: Increase access to credit through dairy farmers organization and other agencies.
2. Regulation: Create regulations to make mandatory testing as a basis for setting milk price.
3. Rational export policy: To promote acceptance of Indian products in foreign markets
thereby increasing income of farmers,
4. Private investment: Support a level playing field for private investment and encouraging
PPP for sustainable livestock rearing.
5. Linkage: Increase link between rural production areas and urban markets.
6. Increasing commercialization of livestock products: By improving technologies,
storage center, etc.
7. Government should focus on Research & Development in livestock sector to increase per
livestock productivity
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#OPERATION FLOOD:
The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), chaired by Verghese Kurien ('Father of
White Revolution in India'), was established in 1965 to revolutionize India's dairy industry.
Inspired by the successful "Anand Pattern", NDDB launched the White Revolution, also
known as Operation Flood in 1970, connecting rural milk producers with urban consumers
through dairy cooperatives.
● It was the world's biggest dairy development program which gave a major thrust to the milk
production of the nation.
● Production by masses:
● The bedrock of the program was village milk producers' co-operatives, which procure milk
and provide inputs and services.

#Phases of white revolution:

● Phase 1 [1970-81]: It carried the objective of setting up dairy cooperatives in 18 milk
sheds in 10 states and to connect them with four best metropolitan markets.
● Phase 2 [1981-85]: Built on designs of phase 1, it assisted Dairy development
programmes in Karnataka, Rajasthan and MP
● Phase 3: The final phase of the programme, emphasized to improve the productivity and
efficiency of the dairy sectors for long-term sustainability.

#Achievements:
1. Self-sufficient: In 1955, India's butter imports were 500 tons per year and by 1975 all
imports of milk and milk products were stopped as India became self-sufficient in milk
production.
2. India ranks first in milk production in the world. Its milk output of 230.58 million
tonnes during 2022-23 accounted for nearly 24.64% per cent of global milk
supplies. Milk is the country’s largest agricultural commodity, surpassing rice and wheat
in terms of both volumes and value of production.
3. The per capita availability of milk is 459 grams per day in India during 2022-23 as
against the world average of 322 grams per day in 2022 (Food Outlook June 2023).
4. The Indian dairy sector is growing by 6% per year as compared to the global
average of 2%.
5. National milk grid: It created a national milk grid linking producers throughout India
with consumers in over 700 towns and cities.
6. Price variations: It reduced the seasonal and regional price variations.
7. Reduced role of middlemen: It ensured that the producer gets a major share of the price
consumers pay, by cutting out middlemen.

#Issues:
1. Milk yield per animal is very low in most of the states of India: According to FAO,
milk yield of Indian cow is only 2/3rd of the World average.
2. The success of dairy revolution in India is not translated into export. Dairy export
constitutes only 2.6 per cent of India’s agri export reported by APEDA (crop plus livestock)
which is much lower than 24% share of milk output in value of crop and livestock output.
3. Frequent outbreaks of diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease, Black Quarter
infection, and Influenza significantly impact livestock health and lower productivity.
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4. Agriculture contributes approximately 16 per cent of India’s greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions which is released by cattle during dairy farming. Methane from ruminant
belching and animal waste contribute about 75 per cent of the total GHG emissions of the
dairy sector.

SECOND WHITE REVOLUTION

Need for second white revolution:
1. The average annual rate of growth of demand is higher than the average annual growth in
supply.
2. Changed nature of products:
a. For ex- Until 1990s, dairy business was specific to butter, ghee, skim milk powder
but post-1991, there has been product diversification towards nutrition-based health
drinks, packaged milk products took place.
3. Negligence of development of recognized Indian breeds:
4. Adulteration of milk and rising demand for organic milk:
5. Changing lifestyle: Consumers are becoming more health conscious which is fuelling growth
for organic and natural milk products

Promoting Second White Revolution

1. The use of sex-sorted semen increases the
probability of female calves being born to over
90%, compared to the 50:50 ratio with conventional
semen. This technology ensures a higher proportion of
future milk-producing cows, enhancing the productivity
of dairy herds
2. Feeding Cost Reduction: Intervention is necessary to
reduce the feeding costs of animals by cultivating
high-yielding, protein-rich green fodder grasses. This
reduces reliance on expensive compound cattle feed and
oil-meal concentrates.
3. Large scale integrated dairy farms
4. Hub and spoke model: The main farm (hub) has all
the integrated facilities for milking, feed production and
milk processing with a cattle count of over 500 cows. The
connected/ satellite farms (spokes), with 50 to 200 cattle each, have basic infrastructure.
● Benefits: It offers the benefits of product and process control; it is socially inclusive and
lends itself to quick scale-up.
● Constraints: Control systems to ensure that farm management administration is of desired
level, milk output quality adheres to the set standards and the land requirement is
distributed over multiple locations.
5. Progressive dairy farmer: This is an entrepreneurship model.
● Benefits: This helps farmers achieve economies of scale, results in superior dairy
management systems and enables the smallest dairy farmers to avail the benefits of
technology, scale and systems.
● Constraints: Limited capital investment capability and inability to monitor farm operations.
4. Community Model: Community ownership and management of common infrastructure for
housing, breeding, feeding, and milking under a cooperative/ producer company model shall be
applicable here.

The strategy going forward to address the supply demand challenge needs to be aimed at
strengthening supply systems which are sustainable and scalable. Drivers of success for each
model need to be tested on the ground.
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PINK REVOLUTION
Pink Revolution refers to the modernization i.e. specialization, mechanization, and
standardization of processes of the meat and poultry processing sector.
Data: While the production of agricultural crops has been rising at a rate of 1.5-2 % per
annum, eggs and broilers has been rising at a rate of 8-10% per annum.

Importance of Pink Revolution:

● Employment: The bovine meat industry plays a significant part in employment generation in
the agricultural sector.
● Nutritional security: It will be instrumental to meet nutritional security of our population
with high protein levels.
● Source of income: It can act as additional source of income during droughts, famines, etc.
● High export potential
● Cost of production: It is much lower in India compared to its competitors like Brazil and
Australia
● Geographical location: Distance plays a crucial factor in the trade of perishable
commodities [gravity model] like bovine meat. Due to India's location, it can easily cater to
markets in Gulf and East Asian countries.
● Shift in food preferences: Rising incomes in the developing world and an expanding youth
population, food preferences are shifting towards a protein rich diet.

Concerns about Pink Revolution:

1. Environmental issues
● Global Warming: 18% of Greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock production
[FAO].
● Huge energy consumption: To produce 1 calorie of animal protein, 11 calories of fossil
fuels are required in feed, transportation, processing, etc [UNEP].
● Contamination and Pollution: Untreated animal excreta leads to contamination of
surface water
● Cruelty to animals: Cages and farms in which poultry or other animals are kept, are not
of adequate sizes and are kept under harsh conditions [PETA].
2. Social issues:
● Health risks: Swine flu, bird flu, zoonotic diseases like brucellosis, foot and mouth disease,
etc. arises from these animals.
3. Infrastructural issues:
● Poor infrastructure, such as proper abattoirs and cold storage facilities, which are essential
for this industry to thrive
4. Lack of government support:
● Government schemes: While government has brought several schemes for dairy sector, no
such policy eagerness has been noticed for the bovine meat industry.
5. Other issues
● Unorganized market: Meat production segment is largely unorganized. Traditional
production systems and disorderly practices have spoilt the reputation of the Indian meat
industry.

Way Forward:
1. Crossbreeding: Crossbreeding of indigenous species with exotic stocks to enhance the genetic
potential of different species has been successful only to a limited extent.
2. Recommendation by FAO
● Processing plants: Setting up of state-of-the-art meat processing plants.
● Production technologies: Developing technologies to raise male buffalo calves for meat
production.
● Diseases free zones: Establishing disease free zones for rearing animals.
● Increasing the number of farmers rearing buffalo under contractual farming.
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FISHERIES SECTOR AND BLUE REVOLUTION
Blue Revolution is the concept of rapid increase in the production of fish and marine product
through package programme. It was launched in India during the seventh Five-year plan
(1985-1990).
● Inland fisheries: They are fully managed by state governments,
● Marine Fisheries: They are a shared responsibility between the Central and Coastal State/UT
Governments
With record fish production of 175.45 lakh tons in FY 2022-23, India is the third largest fish
producing country in the world accounting for 8% of global production and contributing
about 1.09% to the country's Gross Value Added (GVA) and over 6.724% to the agricultural
GVA.
Fisheries sector provides livelihood, employment and entrepreneurship
to more than 2.8 crore fishers and fish farmers at primary level.
In the recent past, Indian fisheries has witnessed a paradigm shift from marine dominated
fisheries to inland fisheries, with the latter emerging as a major contributor of fish production from
36% in the mid-1980 to 70% in the recent past.

Advantages of Blue Revolution/Significance of fisheries sector

● Export potential: Fisheries are the country's single-largest agriculture export, with a
growth rate of 6-10 % in the past five years.
● Increase in bargaining power: The Blue Revolution will also increase opportunities for
business incubation and Fish Farmer Producer Organizations that will increase bargaining
power for fishers.
● Growth of subsidiary industries
● Food security and nutrition: Among animal protein sources, seafood is among the
healthiest for human consumption.
● Resource-use efficiency: Aquaculture can have a lower environmental footprint than
most meat production
● Limited land use: Land-based crops face uncertainties due to climate change Aquaculture
can use scarce natural resources in more efficient ways.
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Challenges faced by fisheries sector
1. Economic issues
● Capital intensive
● Limited access to modern fishing technology, such as fish finders and GPS navigation
systems, restricts the ability to locate fish stocks accurately
● Improper transport facilities, marketing and lack of cold storage facilities for the proper
transport and marketing facilities for the products.
● India uses only about 40% of the available ponds, tanks and other water bodies
for freshwater aquaculture and 15% of total potential of brackish water
resources.
2. Environmental issues
● Over-exploitation: Nearly 90% of the global marine fish stocks have either been
fully exploited or overfished
● Damage to aquatic life: Discharge of harmful substances like plastics and other waste into
water bodies that cause devastating consequences for aquatic life.
● Climate change is causing changes in ocean temperature, salinity, and currents. These
changes can disrupt fish migration patterns and make it more difficult for fish to survive
and reproduce.
● Harm to mangroves/wetlands
● Outbreaks of pathogens
● Impact on native species
3. Women play a vital role in the Indian fishing industry, but they are often
marginalized and discriminated against. Women in the fishing industry often have to
work long hours for low pay, and they may not have access to the same resources and
opportunities as men
4. Technological issues
● Traditional boats: Marine capture fishery comprises largely of small fishermen who operate
traditional boats that cannot operate beyond near shore waters.
5. The Standing Committee on Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying observed
that the private sector is not taking up on the Fisheries and Aquaculture
Infrastructure Development Fund, as it only provides interest subvention. Currently it
provides a 3% interest subvention for loans whose interest rates are greater than 5%.
6. The Committee noted that while some fish are at risk of overfishing, some fish
witness low commercial breeding. These fish species include Magur, Singhi, Pabda, and
Koi. It noted that this may be due to lack of adequate hatchery infrastructure, and
recommended establishing such infrastructure.

Government Initiatives
1. The Blue Revolution 2.0 encompasses various fisheries activities, including inland
fisheries, aquaculture, marine fisheries, mariculture, and more, overseen by the National
Fisheries Development Board.
2. PMMSY aims to enhance inland fisheries and aquaculture by improving output,
productivity, quality, technology, infrastructure, value chain, and traceability.
● The PMMSY is a Rs. 20,050 crore scheme that aims to increase fish production and
generate employment in the fisheries sector.
● The Department of Fisheries seeks to generate 55 lakh jobs by 2024-25 under PM
Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
● Under PMMSY, the central government has set a production target of 22 million
metric tonnes of fish by 2025.
3. National Genetic Improvement Facility for shrimp breeding has been established
under the PMMSY scheme. To reduce reliance on a single species and to favour indigenous
species over invasive prawn species
4. National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD) to
enhance farmer-based disease surveillance in aquaculture.
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5. The ‘Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) :
Under the FIDF, the Department of Fisheries provides interest subvention up to
3% per annum for providing the concessional finance by the Nodal Loaning
Entities(NLEs) at the interest rate not lower than 5% per annum. Loan lending
period under FIDF is five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23 and maximum repayment period
of 12 years inclusive of moratorium of 2 years on repayment of principal
6. The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) formed in 2006, aims to
increase fish production and coordinate fishery development in an integrated manner under
the Ministry of Agriculture.
7. Kisan Credit Card (KCC) The Hon’ble Finance Minister announced Rs.2 lakh crore
concessional credit boost to Rs.2.5 crore farmers including fishers and fish farmers under
Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme as a part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package.
8. The government launched the e-Gopala app in 2020, to assist farmers involved in
agriculture and aquaculture.
9. “SagarParikrama” is a government initiative that focuses on resolving challenges faced
by fishermen and promoting their economic upliftment through various fisheries policies
and programmes like PMMSY and KC.
10. Budget Announcements:
● Announcement of Seaweed Park in Tamil Nadu: The initiative intended under Budget
announcement would link and promote Seaweed farming and the seaweed-based industries
together to bring out full-fledged expansion of this sector.
● Announcement of Development of 5 Major Fishing harbours as hub of economic
activities : 5 major fishing harbours – Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and
Petuaghat – will be developed as hubs of economic activity with world class infrastructure and
amenities, Seamless and quality cold chain and Hygienic handling, reduce post-harvest losses
for which around 600 crores would be spent.

Way Ahead (Neelkranti to Arthkranti)

1. In India only 40% of available freshwater bodies are utilized for aquaculture and
brackish water resources are utilized at 15% of their potential. India’s extensive
coastline can help the economy accomplish the Blue Revolution’s goals. [FAO]
2. Currently, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) carries out national fishery
research. The Standing Committee suggested that given the importance of the
sector, a separate research council should be constituted.
3. The Committee recommended that breeding and propagation of important fish species
must be ensured. Suitable hatchery infrastructure may be developed for it.
4. India has about 5,700 large dams and many small and medium reservoirs. The
Committee suggested that these should be harnessed to enhance fish production.
5. With technological advancements and government initiatives, aquaculture has the potential
to rival agriculture in popularity and profitability.
6. The government has implemented a comprehensive strategy for achieving ‘Fish for Health
and Fish for Wealth’ (Neelkranti to Arthkranti).

Best practices:
● National ocean policies: Australia, Brazil, U.K., U.S., Russia, and Norway have developed
dedicated national ocean policies with measurable outcomes and budgetary provisions.
● Legislation and hierarchal institutions: Canada and Australia have enacted legislation and
established hierarchal institutions at federal and state levels to ensure progress and
monitoring of Blue Economy targets.

The fisheries industry plays a crucial role in income, employment, subsidiary sectors, health, and
nutrition. It provides balanced protein intake, addresses hunger and nutrient shortages, and
contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).