Cattle wealth in India—Its organisation and utilization
• India contains one-fifth of the world’s total head of cattle. They are vital to agriculture and thus to the economy as a whole. In the villages, bullocks are the main source of motive power for locomotion and agricultural operations.
• The cow is central to the agro-economy and also in the social and religious environment. Though most of the Indian cattle are of poor breed, there are a few excellent and well known breeds. They have been useful for improving the milk.
• The draught breeds are Nagori, Bachaur, Kenkatha, Malvi, Kherigarh, Hallikar, Amritamahal, Khillari, Bargur, Kangayam, Ponwar and Siri.
• The cattle development programmes aim to cross breed the Indian cows with bulls of foreign distinctive breeds such as Jersey, Brown Swiss, Guernsey and German Feleckireh.
• Five central cattle breeding farms have been established. Several projects have been set up under the intensive cattle breeding programmes.
• The Key Village Scheme has set up several key village blocks all over the country.
• Buffaloes are more commonly used for milk production than cows in many places. It is estimated that 61% of milk produced in India is from buffaloes.
• The growing dairy industry of India depends a great deal on buffaloes. 50% of the world’s buffalo population is in India.
• Development of fodder production programmes is indispensable for the preservation of healthy cattle and their improvement. Technology transfers on scientific fodder production have been effected in many areas.
• Regional stations and the Central Fodder Seeds Production Farm at Hessarghatta in Bangalore have been responsible for a production of over 350 metric tonnes of seed fodder crops and pasture grass which is used by state government and also by individual farmers.
• The high yielding fodder Maize HGT-3, developed at Hessarghatta is extremely popular all over the country.
• Proper organisation and utilisation of our cattle wealth is a pre-requisite for our developing dairy industry. In the matter of dairy development the first major project known as Operation Flood I covered the period July 1970 to March 1981.
• It involved an expenditure of Rs 116.62 crores mainly relating to infrastructural facilities for the rural areas in the matter of cattle breeding and milk production.
• Four Central Dairies were set up at Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras and 7730 villages were subjected to the technical input programmes.
• The second phase Operation Flood II was launched in 1978 and involved an investment of Rs 485.80 crores in 1985.
• This programme was more extensive and intensive and extended to almost all the states. 25 contiguous milk shed areas in 155 districts formed clusters for establishment of Milk Producers Union so as to increase both milk production and quality.
• By the end of Operation Flood II more than 35,000 dairy cooperatives had been organised.
• The third phase of Operation Flood called Operation Flood III involves an expenditure of Rs 681.29 crores. The World Bank approved a loan of 300 million dollars for this operation.
• This loan was sanctioned after an assessment made by the World Bank-EEC team which visited India in 1987.
• This operation involves enrolment of more members in the dairy cooperatives, increasing milk processing and marketing facilities and consolidation of existing facilities. The programmes are implemented by the National Dairy Development Board and the Indian Dairy Corporation.
Sheep rearing—Its uses, distinct zones and different programmes
• Sheep population in India is estimated at 48.7 million. India ranks sixth after Australia, USSR, China, Argentina and New Zealand in sheep breeding. The production of raw wool is approximately 37 to 39 thousand tonnes and the yield is about 1 kg per sheep.
• Wool in India is mostly produced from sheep which are slaughtered for meat production. Shearing of live sheep is not extensively practised.
• Major portion of Indian wool is internationally known as coarse carpet wool and is inferior in quality to the Australian and South African varieties. As Indian wool is not so suitable for high class apparel-making, the industry depends somewhat on imported wool.
• Geographically there are three distinct zones of sheep areas in India.
• Northern Temperate Region or the Himalayan Region which has excellent grazing facilities after the melting of the winter snows.
• The Dry North-Western Region covering Rajasthan, South-East Punjab, Gujarat and parts of U.P. where grazing facilities are less.
• The semi-arid Southern Region comprising Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and parts of Madhya Pradesh. Here sheep are reared both for wool and mutton and have a furry coat.
• Sheep development programmes are mainly concerned with improving the breeds by selective breeding among indigenous types and also with foreign breeds like the Australian, Russian and Spanish Merinos, etc. Programmes for sheep shearing, wool grading and marketing have been organised with U.N.D.P. assistance in Rajasthan.
Poultry farming
• Fowls in India are classified into the “Deshi” or indigenous variety and the improved imported variety.
• Desi breeds include all indigenous fowl which are not of any pure breed. Some of the well known desi breeds are Chitagong, Punjab, Brown, Chajas, Tellicheri, Kalahasthi, etc.
• The imported breeds consists of fowls which have been brought into India from abroad and have got acclimatised to our conditions.
• The well known of such breeds include White Leghorn, Rhode Island Red, Black Minocra, Plymouth Rock, Australays, New Hampshire, Light Sussex, Brown Leghorn, etc.
• The largest poultry population in India is in Andhra Pradesh. Urban centres have caused development of such farms near important cities because of the demand for poultry products.
Live stock health
• While improvement in breeds of livestock and poultry is very important, an equally important matter is ensuring proper health of the existing animal wealth.
• The task of breed improvement is in fact co-extensive with that of preserving the health of the animals and birds which abound in our farms. The Union Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for this aspect of animal wealth management.
• The work involves administration of prophylactics to control common diseases in animals and diagnosis and speedy treatment of diseases if they occur. A chain of veterinary hospitals and dispensaries throughout the country looks after the job of prevention and cure of animal diseases.
• Further, indigenous vaccine producing units have been set up in the public sector for making diseases control operations quicker and cheaper. There are 18 such centres producing 4000 lakh doses of vaccines, antigens, etc.
• The National Veterinary Biological Products Quality Control Centre has to ensure that indigenously produced veterinary vaccines and diagnostic reagents are of requisite standards and quality.
• The Ministry of Agriculture is also establishing five regional diagonostic laboratories for investigating obscure and new diseases.
• Poultry protection is also sought to be secured by strengthening state poultry disease diagnostic laboratories. 250 such laboratories are in existence.
