Low Productivity of Indian Dairy Animals: Challenges and Mitigation Strategies
Ranjana Sinha1, D.N. Singh2, Anandita Srivastava3 and Ashish Ranjan4
1- Assistant Professor, Livestock Farm Complex, Bihar Veterinary College, BASU, Patna-14
2- Associate Professor, Livestock Farm Complex, Bihar Veterinary College, BASU, Patna-14.
3- Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Physiology, Bihar Veterinary College, BASU, Patna-14
4- Touring Veterinary Officer, Animal and Fish Resources, Government of Bihar.
India is the world’s largest milk producer and consumer of dairy products, using up nearly 100% of its milk production. Milk produced in India comes from buffalos, cows as well as a very small proportion from small ruminants and camel. The constraints that the industry faces begin at the animal rearing and management stage, which has a cascading effect on milk production and thereafter, milk processing and value addition. The major constraints facing development of the dairy sector are the low productivity and very large numbers of low producing animals across all species. The Indian dairy industry’s biggest challenge is low producing nondescript cattle that produce only 1-2 kg milk per day. To increase these animals’ productivity, appropriate management plans, feeding regimens, and breeding polices would be required. By offering loans, technical assistance for breeding, feeding, and management inputs, and market access, it would help in improving livestock holding capacity to farmers. It may also improve production system.
Among the management practices, balanced feeding practices play a major role in improving the livestock health, reproductive efficiency and milk production. At present, most of the marginal farmers kept their dairy animals on agriculture and agriculture by-product and allied food crops residues such as oilseed processing, fruit juice and distilleries units. Also, farmers still kept their animals on grazing instead of stall feeding, but due to the shrinkage of pasture land, the availability of grass for animals has been reduced. Since there is no way to expand the area used for fodder production, it is necessary to look into alternate sources for fodder production. New technologies, such “hydroponics,” have the potential to solve the issue of inadequate feed in regions having limited water resources. Because this method does not require soil to grow fodder, it also addresses the issue of residues, which are transferred to livestock products. Unfortunately, the feed industry has not kept pace with the needs of the livestock sector. The problem is not only the shortage of feed ingredients, but also the poor management of feed resources. Since feed is the raw material used to produce meat, fish, poultry and milk. In order to meet the demand and fulfil the aim of milk and other animal product production, the feed industry must prepare for the challenge.
Challenges and Mitigation
- Breeding policy:Cross breeding of local cattle with elite exotic breeds has definitely contributed to improved animal productivity and increased milk production in the country. But poor heat tolerance and more susceptibility to disease and pest infection to the cross bred cattle have proved to be a problem, leading to higher investments in their feeding and management. It is believed that, even though cross-breeding is likely to maintain, in order to maintain the milk production to meet the demand, the germplasm of high yielding indigenous animals should also be conserved. The breeding policies should be such that crossing of elite indigenous breeds with exotic germplasm should be discontinued. The non-descript breeds should be continuously improved using semen of elite indigenous breeds.
Sustainability in animal breeding can be understood as continuous availability of breeding animals and their germ plasm products for commercial production in the future, meet the requirements of a broad range of stakeholders: breeders, farmers, livestock keepers, producers, consumers and others, while respecting animal welfare and optimistic more sustainable agriculture. The purpose of breeding objectives is to facilitate the realisation of sustainability in the areas of quality, diversity, acceptability, environment and economy.
Animal breeding is significantly impacted by government policies and strategies, which set the institutional framework, regulatory structures, and legislative framework for the development of the livestock industry as national priorities. Implementation of international agreements supports policy development for sustainability in animal breeding and production.
- Adoption rate of Artificial Insemination:The genetic improvement of animals has been severely hampered due to a lack of good-quality semen and insufficient infrastructure for artificial insemination, mainly in the unorganised sector. Embryo transfer technology (ETT), Genomic selection, Marker Assisted Selection (MAS), Semen sexing, Cloning, developing markers for the diagnosis of subclinical mastitis and pregnancy and electronic nose for oestrus detection through genomics, proteomics, biotechnology and genetic engineering are some of the research and technology interventions that would help for improvement in performance.
Buffaloes being the highest contributors to the milk production of the country, their breed improvement and management should not be ignored. To maximise their genetic potential for milk production, high milk producing buffalo breeds must be selectively bred within their home tracts in order to preserve and improve their genetic makeup. Another potentially significant step is to replace non-descript buffaloes with superior and improved breeds. The demand for the milk from small ruminant animals has increased due to its special medicinal and health-improving properties. These qualities, if exploited, the dairy sector may become the primary source of naturally produced milk biomolecules as ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry.
Examples of possible interventions may be the use of progeny-tested semen for artificial insemination, door-to-door quality AI services, embryo transfer technologies and improving farmers’ awareness of scientific breeding techniques. Furthermore, rather than concentrating on pure indigenous breeds, cross-breeding and grading up should be adopted to improve the genetic makeup of non-descript animals.
- Shortage of feed and fodder:One of the main issues with the current livestock production system is inadequate management and a shortage of high-quality feed and fodder. In India, there is a lack of good-quality livestock feed and fodder. There is a deficiency of 11 percent of dry fodder, 35 percent of green fodder, and 44 percent of concentrate feed. Only 5 percent of the cropped area is utilized for fodder production. With the increasing animal population and the unavailability of cultivable land for fodder crops, the shortage of both green and dry fodder will worsen in the near future. Therefore, it is essential to implement efficient strategies to ensure a consistent supply of feed and fodder. In order to increase the total amount of cultivable land for the fodder production to at least 10%, the land use strategy must be restructured. Poor nutritional content in feeds and imbalanced feeding are also significant issues that affect their growth, conception, and production. According to Singh et al. (2019), rearing animals with a balanced diet increases productivity and reduces feeding costs. Replacing low-producing animals with high-producing animals is one potential solution to meet demand for feed and production. Additional practices that can be used include azolla farming, balanced feeding, feed additives, and the utilisation of crop residue and by-products.
When it comes to using the grain and fodder that are readily available, there are too many inefficient animals competing with profitable dairy animals. The amount of grazing land is being drastically reduced each year as a result of industrial growth, which causes a shortage of feeds and fodder to meet demand. Dairy sector animals’ performance is hampered by the widening feed and fodder supply-demand mismatch. Additionally, providing dairy cattle with the feed of inadequate quality limits the system for animal production. The small and marginal farmers, as well as the agricultural labourers working on the growth of the dairy sector, have limited financial resources, which leads to inadequate nutrition. Mineral deficiency disorders are caused by a mineral mixture that is not supplemented. High-cost feeding lowers the dairy sector revenues.
- Disease outbreaks: Approximately 80% of the animal diseases listed by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) are found in India. These include Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)., Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS), Brucellosis, Anthrax, Glanders, Paste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), and highly pathogenic Avian Influenza, and New Castle Disease (NCD) etc. National Animal Disease Reporting System (NADRS) needs to be strengthened with digitalization and infrastructure support, in order to promote real-time reporting of disease outbreaks. Another potential intervention is implementing the vaccination program against diseases that can be prevented by vaccination, aimed to protect susceptible livestock species. For distant locations, mobile veterinarian services are recommended as a means of providing first assistance, artificial insemination, deworming, and immunization treatments right to farmers’ doorsteps (Brook et al., 2010). Increasing the number of veterinary facilities in proportion to the population of animals is absolutely necessary. They can work as registered livestock care providers by completing short-term skill development courses and institutional training for para-veterinary professionals. Consequently, expanding the reach of veterinary services delivery to farmers’ doorsteps and strengthening human resources.
- Antimicrobial resistance:Antimicrobial resistance, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is the ability of a virus, bacteria, or some parasites to evade the effects of antimicrobials such antibiotics, antivirals, and antimalarial. This is an issue that is becoming more and more prevalent worldwide. Antibiotics are used not only to cure infectious diseases but also to promote animal growth for human consumption. Antibiotics are most commonly used when an animal has mastitis. According to Sumanth et al. (2017), India is ranked fourth in the world for the use of antibiotics in animals, with the chicken industry being the biggest source of antibiotics. Although the use of antibiotics cannot be completely control, it can be use them carefully. Another strategy to counter antibiotics resistance is to gradually increase the concentration of one or more antibiotics. By increasing stakeholders’ awareness of and education regarding antimicrobial resistance, the use of antibiotics can be decreased. Laboratory facilities are able to test livestock products for drug residue.
- Milk Pricing: Milk price is a big challenge as the livestock farmers are not getting a reasonable price of milk. The profit is quite small when compared to the cost of manufacturing per litre of milk. A reasonable strategy for milk pricing could be one of the suggested remedies, allowing farmers to recoup their input costs. It is necessary to structurally reform the dairy cooperatives with the backing of the National Dairy Development Board. Improved marketing facilities and supply chain management for animal products could be the third potential intervention. Other states, including as Telangana, Haryana, and Karnataka, may also provide farmers with incentives during the months when excess milk supply causes prices to decline. Unstructured Industry The supply network is inadequate, and the livestock market is underdeveloped. Cooperatives for dairy products
- Extension activity: Livestock extension is very poor or almost absent since only 5.1 percent of households have access to livestock-related information. The majority of services are animal health-focused rather than livestock extension-focused, and there is no program specifically for livestock extension. Need-based extension services represent potential measures that could be made in this regard. Since the industry makes up around 26% of the agricultural GVA, it is necessary to have a distinct livestock extension cadre. Another option would be to assign animal husbandry experts to the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK), as needed. Distribution of information to livestock farmers through the use of communication and information tools. The Livestock Innovation System is structured similarly to the Agriculture Innovation System. Through increasing their expertise, livestock extension agents might be employed as certified livestock advisors.
References
Singh, M, S S Lathwal, C K Prasad, D Dey, A Gupta, M Saini, I Lathwal, B Sharma, M Kumar and V Sharma (2019): “Availability of Feed Sources and Nutritional Status of Hariana Cattle in Different Seasons in the Breeding Tract”, Biological Rhythm Research, Vol. 52, No. 6, pp. 862-868.
Brook RK, Kutz SJ, Millins C, Veitch AM, Elkin BT, Leighton T. Evaluation and delivery of domestic animal health services in remote communities in the Northwest Territories: A case study of status and needs. Can Vet J 2010;51(10):1115-1122.
Sumanth G, Joshi J, Trett A, Laxminarayan R. Scoping Report on Antimicrobial Resistance in India, Washington, DC: Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy 2017
