ROLE OF LIVESTOCK IN INCREASING THE FARMERS INCOME
Ajeet Kumar Singh. Veterinary Surgeon, Global Veterinary Clinic and Surgery Center, Gorakhpur
Abstract:
The livestock species play very important economic and socio-cultural roles for the wellbeing of rural households, such as food supply, source of income, asset saving, source of employment, soil fertility, livelihoods, transport, agricultural traction, agricultural diversification and sustainable agricultural production. Livestock also contribute indirectly to food security by increasing crop output through providing manure. Livestock assist to mitigate the impact of variations in crop production on the availability of food, and thereby stabilize food supply. To increase the farmers income through livestock sector in real terms requires restructuring livestock processes & policy interventions. Fundamentally there are three ways in which income of farmers may be enhanced, viz., increasing the gross income, reducing the costs, and stabilizing the income. Increasing incomes by improving productivity, integrated and diversified farming system, better market price realization and special policy measures are needed. The strategies require four critical pillars—technology, institutions, infrastructure and incentive structure. Livestock based policy should be based on the principles of social acceptability, economic feasibility, technical viability and resource conservation ability. Increasing incomes by improving productivity along with stabilizing income and risk management through holistic approach are needed to double the farmers income.
Keywords: Farmers income, livestock sector, farming system, Livestock based policy.
Introduction:
Livestock has been given very much importance since time immemorial all over world even in developed countries. It is very important in developing countries, where level of mechanization in agriculture is very low. In these countries livestock rearing is draught power for the agriculture sector. On the other hand, the use of animals for draught purpose is low in developed countries owing to high level of farm mechanization and the animals are mainly reared for the consumption of meat and milk. The livestock species play very important economic, social and cultural roles or functions for rural households once they contribute to improve income and wellbeing of the farm family. Livestock helps on food supply, family nutrition, family income, asset savings, soil productivity, livelihoods, transport, agricultural traction, agricultural diversification and sustainable agricultural production, family and community employment, ritual purposes and social status (MOYO et al., 2010). Livestock has an important contribution for food supply of rural and urban areas and contributes to the family nutrition, supplying animal protein. As household income increases, the consumption of protein increases, principally from animal origin, allowing the substitution of vegetal by animal protein. Besides milk, eggs and meat used as a source of food, other livestock products are used for domestic consumption and local sale such as skins, hides and horns.
Livestock feature as living savings can be converted into cash whenever the family needs it, is a security asset influencing access to informal credits and loans and being also a source of collateral for loans. In many rural regions, in special where financial markets are absent or non-existent, livestock stocks or herds are a source of asset accumulation and a measure of prosperity. Livestock stocks or assets can be mobilized at any time, satisfying planned expenditures such as children school fees and bride wealth or unplanned expenses such as the illness and death of family members. This livestock asset could be seen as “bank account” and it is also an important source of family savings that can be used in years of low crop production, reducing income insecurity and household vulnerability, being an important source of risk reduction and security increase. Livestock production is closely interrelated with crop production. The use of livestock and its sub product manure are important in crop production. Livestock is a source of energy providing draught animal power while manure improves soil structure and fertility as well as water retention. Both uses are environmentally friendly improving energy and nutrient cycling. Livestock is also used to transport agricultural inputs and outputs and people.
Livestock production is an important mean of exchange between rural households and, when sold, contributes to boost and strengthen rural markets. Rural markets are an important piece in the operation mode of rural communities and a significant contribution for rural families’ wellbeing and wealth.
Livestock production and agriculture are intrinsically linked, each being dependent on the other, and both crucial for overall food security. Livestock sector is an important subsector of the agriculture of Indian economy. Animal husbandry promotes gender equity. The agricultural sector engages about 57% of the total working population and about 73% of the rural labour force. Livestock employed 8.8% of the agricultural work force albeit it varied widely from 3% in North-Eastern states to 40- 48% in Punjab and Haryana. Therefore, in order to increse the livestock farmers income is a need for much greater effort and focused attention.
Current Livestock Population in Nation
As per the 20th Livestock census, India’s livestock sector is one of the largest in the world, the total livestock population shows an increase of 4.6 per cent over the Livestock census 2012. Total Bovine population (Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun, and Yak) is 302.79 million in 2019 which shows an increase of 1.0 per cent over the previous census. The total number of cattle in the country is 192.49 million in 2019 showing an increase of 0.8 per cent. The female Cattle (Cows population) is increased by 18.0 per cent. The Indigenous/Non-descript female cattle population has increased by 10 per cent in 2019. The population of the total Exotic/Crossbred Cattle has increased by 26.9 per cent in 2019. There is a decline of 6 per cent in the total Indigenous (both descript and non-descript) Cattle population.
Table 1: Livestock and Poultry Population (million nos.) as per 2019 Livestock census in India
Sr.No Livestock/Poultry Livestock Census (2019) % Increase
/Decrease(2012-2019)
1 Cattle 192.49 0.8
2 Buffaloes 109.85 1.0
3 Milch animals (in-milk and dry) in cows and buffaloes 125.34 6.0
4 Sheep 74.26 14.1
5 Goat 148.88 10.1
6 Pigs 9.06 -12.03
7 Mithun 0.39 30.0
8 Yak 0.058 -24.67
9 Total Poultry 851.81 16.8
10 Backyard Poultry 317.07 45.8
11 Commercial Poultry 534.74 4.5
Complications in Livestock Sector To Increase The Farmers Income
Livestock sector has remained underinvested; and neglected by the financial and extension institutions. Livestock markets are under-developed, which is a significant barrier to the commercialization of livestock production.
Major difficulty in livestock sector to increase the farmer’s income are listed below.
• Improving productivity in a huge population of low-producing animals is one of the major challenges. The average annual milk yield of Indian cattle is 1172 kg which is only
about 50% of the global average. Likewise the meat yield of most species is 20-60% lower than the world average.
• The deficit of dry fodder, concentrates and green fodder currently is 10, 33 and 35%, respectively. Only 25% of forage seeds are available, that too of 15-20 years old varieties. Nearly 4% of total cultivated area utilized for fodder production is nearly constant from last three decades. The common grazing lands too have been deteriorating quantitatively and qualitatively.
• Frequent outbreaks of diseases like Foot and Mouth Diseases, Black Quarter infection; Influenza, etc. continue to affect Livestock health and lowers productivity
• Available veterinary support in terms of infrastructure (for hospitals and diagnostic labs) and technical manpower are insufficient.
• The livestock sector did not receive the policy and financial attention it deserved. The sector receives only about 12% of the total public expenditure on agriculture and allied sectors and about 4-5% of the total institutional credit flowing to agriculture and allied sectors. Insufficient funding, subsidy and bank loan as compared to other agriculture sectors
• Insufficient Livestock insurance coverage- Only 6% of the animal heads are provided insurance cover.
• Livestock extension- Livestock extension remains grossly neglected. Only about 5 per cent of the farm households in India access information on livestock technology. These indicate a sub-optimal outreach of the financial and information delivery systems.
• Livestock derives a major part of its energy requirement from agricultural by-products and residues. Hardly 5 per cent of the cropped area is utilized to grow fodder. India is a deficit in dry fodder by 11 per cent, green fodder by 35 per cent and concentrates feed by 28 per cent. The common grazing lands to have been deteriorating quantitatively and qualitatively.
• Organized slaughtering facilities are too inadequate. About half of the total meat production comes from un-registered, make-shift slaughterhouses. Marketing and transaction costs of livestock products are high taking 15-20 per cent of the sale price.
• Lack of access to organized markets and meager profits distract farmers from investing into improved technologies and quality inputs. Informal market intermediaries often exploit the producers.
• Crossbreeding of indigenous species with exotic stocks to enhance the genetic potential of different species has been successful only to a limited extent. Limited Artificial Insemination services owing to a deficiency in quality germplasm, infrastructure and technical manpower coupled with poor conception rate following artificial insemination have been the major impediments.
• Access to markets is critical to speed up the commercialization of livestock production. Lack of access to markets may act as a disincentive to farmers to adopt improved technologies and quality inputs. Except for poultry products and to some extent for milk, markets for livestock and livestock products are underdeveloped, irregular, uncertain, and lack transparency. Further, these are often dominated by informal market intermediaries who exploit the producers.
Recommendations to increase the farmers income through livestock sector
Increasing incomes by improving productivity along with stabilizing income and risk management through holistic approach, by improving productivity in a huge population of low-producing animals by Crossbreeding, Upgrading and Selective breeding are the most effective way for improving productivity. Crossbreeding of indigenous species with exotic stocks to enhance genetic potential of different species has been successful only to a limited extent. Distribution of improved bulls can be practiced in remote areas where A.I. facility is not available.
Increasing funding, subsidy and bank loan- Bulk of the investment for livestock development comes from the state governments. The central government contributes about 10% to the total investment. There is hardly any private sector investment in animal husbandry. Investment linked tax incentives and attractive credit facility to private investors are missing which is needed to increase. Integrating all central and state subsidies instead of reducing costs of inputs, need to be targeted to empower farmers through infrastructure development in rural areas to promote agribusiness, food processing, dairy, poultry, fisheries and enterprises etc.
Building dairy cooperative network – like AMUL, URMUL etc. Besides handling liquid milk along with value-added products formation fetches higher price. Testing of milk for safety and quality parameters at the collection centres to get higher price. Establish food testing laboratories duly accredited by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to check adulteration.
Compulsory Livestock insurance- Livestock insurance provided by the public sector insurance companies could cover only about 6% of the animal heads. Innovative and acceptable insurance models may be designed to evolve a suitable scheme for various species.
Livestock production activities are largely in the hands of women. Appropriate policy and institutional arrangements would facilitate availing credit, insurance and other inputs and marketing services. Training women would reduce drudgery to women and improve animal productivity and enhance their economic returns.
Fix minimum support price (MSP) for livestock products Farmer is mainly concerned with the profit he gets from a particular commodity. Upward push in MSP in favour of proposed diversification livestock products will be a practical option to achieve this objective. Better market price realization is essential.
Eradication of Infectious diseases- Infectious diseases are a major burden on the farmers’ economy. The recently launched the National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP), aims at eradicating Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and brucellosis in livestock. The program aims to vaccinate over 500 million livestock heads, including cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and pigs, against FMD, and some 36 million female bovine calves annually against brucellosis. The program has received 100 per cent funding from the Centre, amounting to Rs 12,652 crore for five years until 2024, the release said.
Conclusion:
Policymakers in India are finally acknowledging a structural shift in the agriculture sector they have been noticing for a decade. Livestock now controls a quarter of the agriculture gross domestic product (GDP). The livestock sector is performing well in the manner of production, value addition, and export of dairy, fishery, wool, poultry, and other products. Apart from its performance, some threats also exist; we need to overcome them to grab the global market opportunities. This approach to making agriculture and related activities more remunerative for the agriculturist can only succeed if governments at the centre and the states, district and block officials as well as the banking system remain committed to the purpose and work in tandem towards the goal of increasing farmers income.
References
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Annual Report. 2019-20. Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
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Report on Doubling Farmer’s Income by 2022.NABARD.
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