Answer: 

Introduction:

Livestock sector plays an important role in the Indian economy. India has vast livestock resources. Livestock sector contributes 4.11% of GDP and 30.1% as a contribution to total agriculture GVA (at constant prices) in 2020-21. Rapid growth of this sector can lead to more egalitarian and inclusive growth. This is because those engaged in it are mostly small landholders and the landless farmers.

Livestock productivity has been identified as one of the seven sources of income growth under the government’s target of doubling farmers’ income.

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Contribution of Livestock in the Indian Economy:

• Income: Livestock is a source of subsidiary income for many families in India. Cows and buffaloes provide regular income to the livestock farmers through sale of milk. The animals also serve as assets which provide economic security to the owners.
• Employment: It provides employment to about 8.8 % of the population in India. It provides self-employment to millions of people, especially rural households. The landless people depend upon livestock for utilizing their labour during lean agricultural season.
• Opportunities for women: More than 3/4th of the labour demand in livestock production is met by women. The share of women employed in the livestock sector is around 90% in Punjab and Haryana where dairying is a prominent activity.
• Protection against disasters: Livestock are the best insurance against the drought, famine and other natural calamities. Majority of the livestock population is concentrated in the marginal and small size of holdings. Further, agricultural productions get valuable organic manure provided by the livestock.

Important Initiatives by the Government:

• Rashtriya Gokul Mission to develop and conserve indigenous breeds of bovine population.
• National Livestock Mission to ensure quantitative and qualitative improvement in livestock production systems and capacity building of all stakeholders.
• National Artificial Insemination Programme
  • Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF): Under this scheme, the Central Government provides a 3% interest subvention to the borrower and credit guarantee up to 25% of total borrowing.
• Livestock Health and Disease Control (LH&DC) Scheme
  • National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP): It is being implemented to control Foot & Mouth Disease and Brucellosis.
  • Animal Husbandry Startup Grand Challenge: To appreciate innovations coming from the villages to expand the dairy sector in India.

Suitable measures to promote Livestock sector in India:

• Sufficient resources: Providing sufficient fodder and drinking water is the need of hour to increase productivity of livestock rearing in India, especially in the rain-shadow region.
• Marketing: Trade Policies like marketing have to be more effective for promotion of various livestock products like egg, fish, milk etc. and providing sufficient price to farmers.
• Promoting indigenous breeds: Our indigenous breed of cattle shall be promoted, because most foreign breed cattle are not suitable to our climate and thus provide low quality products.
• Training: Necessary training and subsidies shall be provided to farmers to adopt livestock rearing as an alternate source of income.
• Research and development in the livestock sector to increase per livestock productivity to provide more benefits to small & marginal farmers.

Conclusion:

The objective of animal rearing is to make livestock useful for human beings for a variety of purposes, many of which have an economic value. Therefore, it has a big potential for providing non-farm employment and income in rural areas.