Low Productivity of Indian Dairy Animals: Challenges & Mitigation Strategies
Asish Debbarma*
Assistant Professor, Department of Livestock Production Management, Institute of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan, Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar-751003, Odisha
*Corresponding email: asishdb68@gmail.com
Introduction
India’s livestock sector stands as a cornerstone of its agrarian economy, intertwining tradition, livelihoods, and modernization. With a diverse array of species ranging from cattle and buffalo to goats and poultry, this sector is pivotal in sustaining rural communities, and ensuring food security. Contributing significantly to agriculture, livestock provide indispensable draft power for farming activities, particularly in regions where mechanization is limited. Moreover, they offer a vital source of income for millions of smallholder farmers, constituting a lifeline for rural livelihoods. At the forefront of this domain lies the dairy industry, where India proudly claims the title of the world’s largest milk producer with 230.58 million tonnes contributing 23 percent in total milk production in the world (BAHS, 2023). Driven by indigenous cattle breeds like Gir, Sahiwal and Tharparkar, alongside robust cooperatives such as Amul, the dairy sector not only fuels rural economies but also caters to the burgeoning urban demand for dairy products. Despite its heavily significance, low productivity plagues its dairy segment, hindering its potential. The average productivity of Indian dairy animals is lower by about 33.5 % of the world average (Kumar et al., 2023). At present, the average yield per animal/day is about 3.44 kg/day/animal for indigenous/non-descript dairy animals whereas the exotic/crossbred yields at 8.55 kg/day/animal (BAHS, 2023). This is one of the biggest constraints that the Indian dairy animals are facing under current scenario.
Challenges
This sector is not without its challenges. Dairy animals face a myriad of constraints stemming from various factors.
- Shortage of feeds and fodder: Despite being one of the largest milk producers globally, India faces challenges in providing quality feeds and fodders to its dairy animals (Singh et al., 2022). Inadequate nutrition is a major contributor to low productivity among dairy animals. Many dairy animals in India do not have access to sufficient quantities of quality feed due to factors such as land scarcity, competition for fodder resources, and inadequate storage facilities. As a result, they often rely on low-quality forage, crop residues, and agricultural by-products, which may lack essential nutrients needed for optimal health and milk production. Poor-quality or insufficient feed leads to malnutrition, results in stunted growth affecting the health and productivity of animals.
- Breeding Practices: Inadequate breeding practices largely contribute to low milk productivity of Indian dairy animals. Though extensive AI breeding programme like National Programme for Bovine and Dairy Development (NPBBDD) and National Artificial Insemination Programme (NAIP) were implemented across the country aiming at improving the high merit germplasm, still traditional breeding methods prevail in many parts of India, leading to a lack of genetic diversity and inbreeding, which compromise the health and productivity of dairy herds.
- Lack of infrastructure and healthcare facilities: Rural areas, where a significant portion (70%) of India’s dairy farming takes place, often lack basic infrastructure such as proper housing, clean water supply, and storage facilities for milk. Limited access to veterinary services, vaccines, and proper healthcare infrastructure exacerbates the problem, which significantly affecting the animal health, leading to reduced milk production and economic losses for dairy farmers.
- Management Practices: Disease outbreaks are common in Indian dairy farms due to unscientific practices, poor sanitation and hygienic practices. Suboptimal management practices, including inadequate housing, sanitation, and herd management techniques, contribute to stress and disease susceptibility among dairy animals, impacting their productivity.
- Climatic conditions: Climatic conditions profoundly affects the productivity of dairy animals in India. India’s diverse climate, ranging from tropical in the south to temperate in the north creates challenges for dairy animals. High temperature and humidity lead to heat stress, thereby affecting animal’s productivity directly or indirectly. Furthermore, forage availability fluctuates due to climate-induced events like drought and floods. Disease occurrence is influenced by climatic factors, with warm and humid environments favoring pathogen proliferation and increasing the risk diseases like mastitis and foot-rot.
As a result, addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted and comprehensive approach for enhancing the productivity potential of dairy animals. Various strategies are to be adopted for achieving the productivity under current scenario which are discussed below.
Mitigation strategies for enhancing productivity
- Nutritional Management: Indian dairy farming faces significant nutritional challenges stemming from limited access to quality feed resources, imbalanced diets, poor feeding practices, and seasonal fluctuations in forage availability. Proper nutrition is essential for maximizing milk production in dairy animals. Innovations such as improved forage varieties, feed additives, and precision feeding techniques help optimize nutrient utilization and enhance milk yield of indigenous animals. The scientific community also conducts research to formulate total mixed ration (TMR) or balanced diets tailored to the nutritional requirements of different categories of livestock along with production stages.
- Genetic improvement: Genetic improvement plays a pivotal role in enhancing milk productivity in dairy animals by selectively breeding for desirable traits related to milk yield, composition, and efficiency. Innovative technologies such as artificial insemination, embryo transfer, MOET and OPU-IVF facilitate the dissemination of superior genetics across dairy herds. However, successful adoption of these technologies by farmers is to be addressed efficiently. Moreover, the scientific community collaborates with dairy farmers to identify superior genetic traits and develop breeding programs aimed at producing high-yielding dairy animals adapted to local conditions.
- Herd health management: Despite having a higher level of immunity to diseases than exotic breeds, indigenous dairy animals might yet contract several diseases as a result of unsanitary circumstances and poor sanitation in the farm. Hence, herd health management in dairy animals become inevitable which focuses on daily cleaning, maintaining biosecurity, regular check-up, deworming and periodic vaccination and this holistic approach would prevent diseases like mastitis, foot and mouth disease, haemorrhagic septicaemia, blackquarter, brucellosis etc. Thus, herd health management significantly boosts milk productivity by ensuring the overall well-being of the herd.
- Proper housing: Adapting housing to local climates is crucial in India. Provision of adequate shelter with sufficient floor space conditions would aids in reducing overcrowding, injury, stress and thereby enhance the animal welfare of dairy animals. Dairy houses should be built with high thermal conductivity materials to combat heat stress, which would help to dissipate heat from the surface and reduce radiant temperature. Construction of dairy farm as per agroclimatic conditions would minimize direct impact of environmental stress to the animals. Dairy animals will therefore live comfortably and easily, thus improving the productivity of animals.
- Awareness among farmers: Raising awareness among Indian farmers about scientifically-backed practices can significantly improve milk productivity. Through targeted education programmes, extension services and community-based initiatives, farmers can adopt these practices leading to enhance milk yields, improve animal health, and sustainable farming operations. The integration of scientific knowledge into everyday farming practices is key to transforming the dairy sector in India.
Conclusion: The Indian livestock sector stands at a crossroads, poised for growth amidst evolving consumer preferences and technological innovations. As the nation marches forward, nurturing its potential for future productivity will remain imperative for achieving inclusive and sustainable development.
References
- BAHS, (2023). Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics. Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, New Delhi, India.
- Kumar, S., Singh, P., Devi, U., Yathish, K. R., Saujanya, P. L., Kumar, R., & Mahanta, S. K. (2023). An overview of the current fodder scenario and the potential for improving fodder productivity through genetic interventions in India. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 23(3), 631-644.
- Singh, D. N., Bohra, J. S., Tyagi, V., Singh, T., Banjara, T. R., & Gupta, G. (2022). A review of India’s fodder production status and opportunities. Grass and Forage Science, 77(1), 1-10.
