ROLE OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY SECTOR IN DEVELOPMENT OF “ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT”
India recently hoisted the Tricolor for 74th time on the occasion of Independence day. The largest democratic country in the world is being 74 yrs. young now. With the dawn of each year we are accomplishing new milestones in each and every sector whether it may be space research where we are centered on the fascinating and enthusiastic world of stars and comets or on the ground, medical research where we are unzipping innovative technologies for easy diagnosis and treatment of the ailments. We all are well aware of negligence shown by the Government towards the health sector or the health department. The funds which we should get for the overall improvement of the sector are not enough. These loopholes in the system have been put forward by a tiny virus CORONA (Though it’s a largest virus when comes to the size) or COVID-19 virus. The virus showed us that “No individual entity should be considered as inferior” as it has covered the entire world behind the mask. At the same time, it has no visa and passport still it has managed to travel all the world. All of us know that each and every sector is being hit by the virus badly at a lightning speed and agriculture sector is not exception as our economy is mainly dependent on the GDP produced from it. We all have to accept that nature has not been good to the farmers. Irrespective of the monsoon, they are getting affected by all the possible means say for eg. rate they are getting for the product. But still if we are getting two times meal to eat that too in a pandemic situation then we must be grateful to the farmers. Whenever we recite the term ‘Agriculture’ we can’t separate Animal Husbandary from it. Both goes hand in hand. These two terminologies are like two wheels of the cart for the farmers. If one is damaged the life comes to standstill. The minute virus is a culprit behind the generation of unemployment. Many people have lost their jobs and returned from the metro cities to their native places making them meditate and think about their future in agriculture and animal husbandary sector and last but not the least “Reality of these metro cities and quality of the life”. This minute entity has forced us to introspect ourselves in many ways. Most of those returning are youngsters or middle aged. These migrants do not want to go back and stay here in their state. Although it is not appropriate to impose any occupation on them to ensure their livelihood in the villages itself, an option of animal husbandry can be put before them. For this, they need to be made aware of the incentives and facilities provided under the National Livestock Mission launched by the Government of India. Though this pandemic has lot of questions to ask us every day, the number of youngsters who will be engaged in these activities is going to increase which will surely revolutionise the aforesaid sectors in the coming years. These individuals have the power of technology in their hands, they are used to it very well. They are quite aware of the power and the range of online or digital marketing. Every coin has two sides, every dark cloud has a silver shining. Animal husbandry sector is vast, for the sake of convenience we have divided it into cattle, poultry, piggery, fishery etc. But apart from these, we must know the importance of allied sectors that are glued with it. Recently, as we all know, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for the establishment of the Rs. 15,000 Crores Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF), in line with the self-sufficient India campaign incentive package. The Government has taken the responsibility of funding for livestock development. In this, the Livestock Insurance Scheme has also been started in the name of Risk Management Insurance. Its purpose is to protect the cattle owners from the harm caused by the death of animals. In this insurance scheme, there is a provision for ensuring cattle animals like buffalo, buffalo, horse, donkey, mule, camel, sheep, goat, sugarcane, and rabbit. Goat and sheep rearing and poultry farming are also being encouraged under the mission. There is also a provision for subsidy for animal husbandry. Along with the Central Government schemes, different State Governments are working with great interest in this direction. Recently, Haryana Agriculture Minister Jayaprakash Dalal has launched the first animal farmer credit scheme worldwide for farmers and especially cattle rearers. To double farmers’ income by 2022, Livestock Credit Card Scheme has been started on the lines of Kisan Credit Card. In this scheme, loans are being given to farmers at very low-interest rates. Under this scheme, loans are given to the livestock owners for fisheries, poultry, sheep and goat farming, cattle, and buffalo farming. The farmers are given loans under this scheme at 7 percent interest rate. In this, the Central Government gives a subsidy of three percent and the Haryana Government is giving a rebate on the remaining 4 percent interest. In this way, the loan taken under this scheme will be without interest. All the cattle rearers of Haryana can take advantage of animal credit card scheme. Like the state of Haryana, financial assistance is being provided to the farmers through new schemes to promote animal husbandry across the country. There is need to spread the details of such schemes which I think is possible with the help of technology since everyone is having a basic gadget now-a-days i.e. smart phone. Also, milk competition programs are organized in Haryana to promote indigenous breeds of cows (Haryana and Sahiwal). The event is organized at the level of every village in which the incentive amount is distributed to the livestock owners as per the following. Going back, in the late 70s, most of the dairy farmers fail to get remunerative returns due to the long chain of middlemen and lack of access to organised markets. The scenario changed after the adoption of a three-tier cooperative model, popularly referred to as the Amul model, with the three-phase implementations of Operation Flood I, II and III (1970-1996) under the leadership of Dr. V. Kurien. This enabled our country to be self-sufficient in milk production, while other Asian countries are still dependent on import of milk products. Milk production in India has been growing at a CAGR of 4.5% over the past 20 years, compared to less than 2% CAGR of the world. India is not only the largest milk producer, but also the largest consumer of milk globally. It is one of the fastest growing markets for branded dairy products. This is the bull’s eye we should hit. Our focus should be on production of dairy related products rather value added products since the market is vast. Here, I want to quote an example, for 200 gms. Paneer preparation, we require 1 lit. of milk (4-5% Fat and 3-4% Protein). For 1 Kg. Paneer preparation, we will require around 5 lit. of milk. We all know cost of Paneer and milk right. So let’s do a little bit calculation, 5 lit. milk would cost around 250 Rs. Cost of 1 Kg. Paneer is around 350-400 Rs. This cost of milk further cuts down for 1 lit. at the village level since packaging and branding of milk is not practised. Whatever the milk is produced, gets sold out nearby. Even if this price gets reduced by 10 Rs. at village or farmer level then we can expect a profit of 30-50 Rs. more per Kg. than the earlier case. This is just an example of profit behind 1 Kg. Paneer production. So one can imagine, the market size. In today’s scenario, directly or indirectly most of the people have turned out to be vegetarian. Since Paneer is the only option available to the vegans, it’s market is vast. Here we can co-relate the other livestock products in a similar way and can just build a castle in air. It is said that “Necessity is the mother of invention” which is cent percent true. If we can find out what is demand of the market, then definitely the solution will come into existence. By considering all of the above mentioned points, one can imagine a tremendous scope in Animal Husbandry sector in making India “A self-reliant nation”. Not only the marginal land holder dairy farmers but also the youngsters can join this venture. It will be a great amalgamation of experience and technology then. The unemployed youth should adopt their luck in this. The Government is emphasizing on encouraging animal husbandry activities to be adopted as the best means of self-employment. Today, even the educated unemployed youth of the cities are earning big by doing so. Today it has taken the form of separate business and is being adopted as a better business not only in rural areas but also in urban areas. So, the time has come now to be a flag bearer and to create our own empire and be a king. And last but not the least “Build your own dreams or someone else will hire you to build theirs”.
Dr. Akshay J. Wankhade M.V.Sc (Animal Nutrition) Fine Organics Industries Limited 8657580179
