The patterns of livestock products consumption in India: A recent trends and future prospects

Abstract

This paper examines both consumption and production diversification towards livestock products in India. A clear structural shift in consumption from food grains, particularly cereals, to high-value commodities (HVCs) along with non-vegetarian comprising mainly livestock based foods is witnessed in both rural and urban India. Livestock sector contributes about 6 percent to the Gross Domestic Product and 25 percent to the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product. Over the last two decades liveestock sector has grown at an annual rate of 5.6 percent, which is higher than the growth in the agricultural sector (4 percent). This suggests that livestock is likely to emerge as an engine of agricultural growth in the coming decades. It is also considered as one of the potential sector for export earnings. The study shows that there has been a rapid rise in the demand for livestock products in India. Within the livestock products group, milk and milk products hold the dominant share. Our analysis further suggests that India’s rapid rise in the demand for livestock products may far outpace its domestic supply. Additionally, the structural changes in terms of development of markets, road network, irrigation, technology, urbanization and growing income levels have positively influenced agricultural diversification towards HVCs specially livestock based products.