Challenges in the Indian livestock sector and suggested interventions: An overview

Abstract

Livestock is an integral part of agriculture, and it plays a significant role in the nutritional security of the people. The sector provides livelihood to more than two-thirds of the rural population. India has the largest animal husbandry sector and contributes 18.6 percent to the total milk production of the world. There are many challenges the sector will come across, during the process of achieving any set target in the future, like disease outbreaks, antimicrobial resistance, greenhouse gas emission, inadequate human resources and infrastructure for veterinary services, low productivity of animals, non-remunerative milk prices, the unorganized markets for livestock products, poor livestock extension, and scarcity of feed and fodder. The adoption of sex-sorted semen technology, by-product utilization, use of feed supplements, replacement of low producing animals with the high producers, judicious use of antibiotics, promotion to organized market, livestock-based integrated farming system, and public-private partnership in the livestock sector are some of the suggested interventions to mitigate these challenges. The livestock sector has more equitable distribution than agriculture, so each scheme or policy of the government directly affects the individual household. Each sub-sector of the livestock has an annual growth rate of more than 5 percent, validating the enormous potential for a rainbow revolution in the sector. Hence, it can be truly said that livestock is the new growth dynamo of the agriculture sector.