Livestock And Fisheries: Challenges, Initiatives, and Opportunities

Livestock in India: Key Statistics and Contributions

Introduction

• Livestock is commonly defined as domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce labor and commodities such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool.
• There are about 300 million bovines, 65.07 million sheep, 135.2 million goats and about 10.3 million pigs as per 19th livestock census in the country.
• According to estimates of the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the value of output livestock sector at current prices was about ₹ 5,91,691 crore during 2015-16 which is about 28.5 percent of the value of output from agricultural and allied sectors.
• India accounts for about 17% of the cattle population.
• 64% of the buffalo population.
• India is the largest producer of milk in the world. Milk production in the country was 188 million tons in 2018-19 with a yearly growth rate of 6.5 percent
• The per capita availability of milk in India during 2017-18 was 375 gm/day.

Significance of Animal Rearing:

• It is well recognized that humans depend upon animals for income, employment, food, social security, fuel (dung cakes), cultural aspects and a variety of other reasons.

• The animal production system in India is principally part of a mixed crop-livestock farming system and important for the security and survival of a large number of poor populaces.
• This production system assumes special significance in economic growth, increasing income, increasing urbanization, changes in taste and preference that have led to nutritional changes reflecting the importance of milk, meat, egg and fish in the daily diets of the people.
• Animal rearing has multidimensional potential. For instance, Operation Flood, launched in 1970, helped dairy farmers direct their own development, increased milk production (“a flood of milk”), augmented rural incomes and ensured reasonable prices for consumers.

Livestock: Key Role in Poverty Reduction Strategies

• It provides self-employment to millions of people, especially rural households.
• It has contributed significantly to the empowerment of women and has increased their income and role in society.
• It is a major risk mitigation approach for small and marginal farmers, particularly across the rain-fed regions of India.
• It is at the centre of poverty alleviation programs from equity and livelihood standpoints.
• It is faster than many other sectors of agriculture and continuing this trend will contribute as a main sector for development of the Indian economy.
• Livestock productivity has been identified as one of the seven sources of income growth by the Inter-Ministerial Committee under the government’s target of doubling farmers’ income by the year 2022.

Livestock Production in India

• According to estimates of the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the value of the output livestock sector at current prices was about ₹ 5,91,691 crore during 2015-16 which is about 28.5 percent of the value of output from agricultural and allied sectors.
• At constant prices the value of output from livestock is about 29 per cent of the value of the output from total agriculture and allied sector. India continues to be the largest producer of milk in the world.

Operation Flood:

• National Dairy Development Board launched operation flood launched in 1970 to replicate Anand (in Gujarat) pattern in other parts of the country.
• The operation made India – world’s largest milk producer.
• Outcomes:
• It increased milk supply and income of the farmers, mainly small and landless farmers
• Women empowerment – Operation flood take assistance from SEWA and established 6000 women dairy cooperative societies
• NDDB has indigenous expertise in animal health, animal nutrition, artificial insemination, Management Information System (MIS), dairy engineering and food technology.

Cooperative dairy:

• Individual farmer submits the milk container at the milk collection centres and gets money according to weight and quality of milk
• Bonus or share from the profit to cooperative members.
• AMUL:
• Farmers of Kheda district with help of Sardar Patel and Morarji Desai organised a cooperative union.
• Further expansion of the cooperative led to the formation of AMUL.
• Amul was first dairy to produce cheese and baby food from buffalo milk
• Amul provides artificial insemination, veterinary facilities, insurance cover and quality green fodder to the farmers of the union.

National Livestock Mission

• Objective: The objective of this mission is to ensure quantitative and qualitative improvement in livestock production systems and capacity building of all stakeholders of livestock economy.

Indigenous cattle

• Indigenous cattle breeds are vulnerable to extinction.
• In India, 83% of the cow population is indigenous.
• But there is a decline in indigenous cattle population.
• There are 37 recognized indigenous cattle breeds in India Examples– Gir, rathi, Sahiwal, Kasaragod, Kankrej, Amrithmahal.
• The average milk yield is lower than hybrid, but their quality of milk is very rich.
• They produce quality compost manure for areca nut, rice and coconut farms.
• They can be fed on kitchen leftovers, straw, local grass and agricultural by-products.
• Existing superior indigenous breeds can provide research input to develop better breeds in the future.

Constraints in Livestock Development: Challenges and Shortcomings

• Improving productivity of farm animals is one of the major challenges. The average annual milk yield of Indian cattle is 1172 kg which is only about 50% of the global average.
• The Frequent outbreaks of diseases like Food and Mouth Diseases, Black Quarter infection, Influenza etc. continue to affect Livestock health and lower productivity.
• India’s huge population of ruminants contributes to greenhouse gases emission adding to global warming.
• Crossbreeding of indigenous species with exotic stocks to enhance genetic potential of different species has been successful only to a limited extent.
• Limited Artificial Insemination: After more than three decades of crossbreeding, the crossbred population is only 16.6% in cattle, 21.5% in pigs and 5.2% in sheep.
• Though globalization will create avenues for increased participation in international trade, stringent food safety and quality norms would be required.
• Livestock sector did not receive the policy and financial attention it deserved. The sector received only about 12% of the total public expenditure on agriculture and allied sectors, which is disproportionately lesser than its contribution to agricultural GDP.
• The sector has been neglected by the financial institutions. The share of livestock in the total agricultural credit has hardly ever exceeded 4% in the total (short-term, medium-term and long-term). The institutional mechanisms to protect animals against risk are not strong enough.
• Currently, only 6% of the animal heads (excluding poultry) are provided insurance cover. Livestock extension has remained grossly neglected in the past.
• Only about 5% of the farm households in India access information on livestock technology.
• Hardly 5% of the cropped area is utilized to grow fodder. India is deficit in dry fodder by 11%, green fodder by 35% and concentrates feed by 28%. The common grazing lands too have been deteriorating quantitatively and qualitatively.
• Lack of access to markets may act as a disincentive to farmers to adopt improved technologies and quality inputs. Except for poultry products and to some extent for milk, markets for livestock and livestock products are underdeveloped, irregular, uncertain and lack transparency. Further, these are often dominated by informal market intermediaries who exploit the producers.
• Likewise, slaughtering facilities are too inadequate. About half of the total meat production comes from un-registered, make-shift slaughterhouses. Marketing and transaction costs of livestock products are high, taking 15-20% of the sale price.

Measures to Boost Livestock Sector Development

• Increasing commercialization of livestock products by improving technologies, increasing market connectivity, processing and storage centre, training etc.
• Making provision for adequate availability of quality fodder.
• Targeting a significant portion of cultivable land for growing fodder crops.
• By setting up a consortium with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to fund the dairy cooperatives.
• Keeping a disaster management fund for livestock in case of natural calamities.
• Cross breeding of indigenous species with exotic stocks to enhance genetic potential of different species.
• To distribute the disease-free, high genetic merit bulls of indigenous breeds for natural service.
• Encouraging Public-Private Partnership for sustainable livestock rearing.
• Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) launched.

Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF): Stimulating Livestock Sector Investments

• This Fund will incentivize infrastructure investments in dairy, meat processing and animal feed plants.
• Size of the fund is 15000 Crore.
• Who is eligible? Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), MSMEs, Section 8 Companies, Private Companies and individual entrepreneurs with only 10% margin money contribution by them.
• Rest of the Funds: The balance 90% would be the loan component to be made available to them by scheduled banks.
• GOI will provide a 3% interest subsidy to eligible beneficiaries.
• There will be a 2 years moratorium period for repayment of the loan with a 6 years repayment period thereafter.

20th Livestock Census Report: Trends in Livestock Population, Cattle Dynamics, and Milk Production

• The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has released the 20th Livestock Census report recently.
• The total Livestock population is 535.78 million in the country showing an increase of 4.6% over Livestock Census-2012.
• West Bengal Observed the highest increase of 23%, followed by Telangana (22%).
• The total number of cattle in the country has shown an increase of 0.8 %.
• The increase is mainly driven by a sharp increase in cross-bred cattle and higher female indigenous cattle
• Uttar Pradesh Has observed a maximum decrease in cattle population though the state has taken several steps to save cattle.
• West Bengal Has seen the highest rise of 15% in cattle population.
• The population of the total exotic/crossbred cattle has increased by 27%.
• Cross-bred animals contributed around 28% to India’s total milk production in 2018-19.
• The milch population of exotic and crossbred cattle such as Jersey or Holsteins shows higher milk yields and thus farmers prefer animals yielding more milk.
• A decline of 6% in the total indigenous cattle population has been observed.
  • India’s indigenous cattle numbers continue to decline, not with standing the government’s efforts to promote conservation of desi breeds through the Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM).
  • The sharpest fall has been observed in the states (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, etc.) with tough cow slaughter laws.
• The total milch animals have shown an increase of 6%.
• Due to higher yields, foreign breeds constitute more than half the population of milch animals.
• The more the number of animals that produce milk, the more pressure on land and fierce competition between man and animals for survival.
• The figures show that nearly 75% of total cattle in the country are female (cows)– a clear sign of dairy farmers’ preferences for milk-producing cattle. This also gained momentum in the past couple of years due to the government’s assistance in providing sex-sorted artificial insemination (AI), with semen of high-yielding bulls, free of cost at farmers’ doorstep.
• The backyard poultry has increased by around 46%.
• The sharp increase in backyard poultry is a significant change in the rural landscape which shows a sign of poverty alleviation.
• Total Bovine population(Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun and Yak) has shown an increase of about 1%.
• The population of sheep, goat and Mithun grew in double digits while the count of horses and ponies, pigs, camels, donkeys, mules and yaks

Role of Livestock in Farmers’ Economy

• Engages lots of women and encourages participation of women in the workforce.
• Income generation
• Employment generation
• Food security
• Social security – acts as insurance against the uncertain agriculture sector.
• Dung and manure production for agriculture.

Fisheries Development: Key Marine Fishing Regions in the Northern Hemisphere 

Marine fishing

Major Fishing Areas

The world’s most productive fisheries are found in the cold and shallow waters above the continental shelves located in the Northern Hemisphere.

• The North-West Atlantic à The region extends from Greenland in the north to Cape Hatteras in the south. The fisheries of this region are based on a rich combination of rivers, bays and shallow offshore banks. The fishing banks extend along the coasts of New England and Eastern Canada from Nantucket Island to New Found-land and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The grand bank of New-Found land is by far the largest, and fished both by Europeans and North Americans.
• The North-East Atlantic à The region includes the fishing grounds of north western Europe extending from north to the Arctic circle to the Mediterranean The remote cold waters around Iceland are fished by Iceland, Norway, Russia, the Netherlands, France, and Britain. The most intensively fished region is the North Sea, where all the surrounding countries, chiefly Norway, Britain, Germany and Denmark, share the catch of herring, cod, and flat fish.
• The North-West Pacific Region à Extends from the Bering Sea to the East China Sea. It is the world’s greatest fishing region. Japan leads in catch, followed by China, South and North Koreas, and eastern Russia. Within the enclosed seas, e.g., the Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea and the East China Sea are found intensive forms of inshore as well as deep-sea fishing. There are probably more people engaged in fishing here than in any other part of the world. Commercial fishing is best developed in Japan where the industry is very highly organized and modern fishing methods are in use.
• The North-east Pacific à The region extends from Alaska to California and owes its importance to the large quantities of salmon and tuna. Large quantities of crabs, shrimps and oysters are also caught for the North American market. Catches in the north-east Pacific by the USA and Canada are smaller than those by Japan and Russia.

India’s Fishing Potential: Expansive Coastline and Growing Fisheries Sector

• India has a coastline of 7516.6 Km (6100 km of mainland coastline + coastline of 1197 km Indian islands) touching 13 States and Union Territories (UTs).
• Indian ocean – least exploited of all oceans in the world in terms of fishing.
• In India, 75% of marine fish production comes from the west coast.
• Presently India is the second largest fish producing and second largest aquaculture nation in the world.
• The Indian fisheries sector is a sunrise sector.
• India is also a major producer of fish through aquaculture and ranks second in the world after China.
• India is home to more than 10 percent of the global fish diversity (According to FAO). The total fish production during 2017-18 (provisional) stood at 12.61 million metric tonne (MMT) with a contribution of 8.92 MMT from the inland sector and 3.69 MMT from the marine sector.

Fisheries in India: Coastal Abundance and Production Leaders

• Gujarat is the leading state in Marine fish (7.01 Lakh tons) in the country. (Handbook on Fisheries Statistics – 2018)
• Kerala is the second largest producer followed by Maharashtra, Tamil nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Problems of Marine Fisheries in India

• Chronic Poverty among the fishing community.
• India’s off-shore and deep-sea fishing is very poor.
• Low use of technology – landing, freezing, canning, transport.
• Lack of standardization of fishery products.
• Poor infra – cold storages, mechanized boats
• Marine fishing – seasonal (monsoon and tropical cyclone hinder fishing)

Fisheries: Characteristics of Deep Sea Fishing Operations

• Generally, at an average sea depth of 200m.
• Large mechanized fishing vessel
• Technologically advance and large net/ gears
• On –board Refrigeration facilities.
• GPS system (most recently, NAViC)

Fisheries: Open Sea Cage Farming for Sustainable Aquaculture

• Floating cage in open sea.
• Hatchery produced seedlings in cage
• Fishes are fed by fishermen + patrolling
• Central Marine Fishery Institute provide skills to fishermen

Inland Fishing: Integral Component of the Fisheries Sector

• Fisheries sector

1. Marine
2. Inland
3. Aquaculture

Fisheries: Significance of Inland Fishing and Aquaculture in India

• According to FAO à Inland fisheries are “any activity conducted to extract fish and other aquatic organisms from inland waters”.
• Capture fisheries in inland waters have long provided an important source of food for mankind. They are critical for a subset of countries in the world, providing an important source of nutrition, food security as well as micronutrients.
• Inland fisheries (Also known as Freshwater aquaculture) are the commercial fishing operations taking place in freshwater bodies – lagoon, backwaters, lake, artificial ponds, etc.
• India has large natural resources, and water bodies such as ponds & tanks, wetlands, brackish water, cold water, lakes & reservoirs, rivers and canals.
• Largest species of fish are found in India, and there is also a tremendous scope for breeding of colorful ornamental fish.
• The total fish production of 12.59 million metric tonnes was registered during 2017-18 with a contribution of 8.90 million metric tonnes from the inland sector.
• The percentage contribution of inland fish production in the total fish production of 29% during the year 1950-51 and has increased to 71% in the year 2017-18.
• Andhra Pradesh has recorded the highest production of inland fish. (Handbook on Fisheries Statistics – 2018)

Fisheries: Leading States in Inland Fishing Production and Market Dynamics

• Andhra Pradesh: fishing cooperatives – supply to West Bengal
• West Bengal: Ganga delta, large demand
• Gujrat: low local demand, 97% export
• Kerala: lakes and lagoons -85% of produce is processed – intensively fished area

Fisheries: Blue Revolution – Transforming Aquaculture in India

• Started during 1970s – 5th FYP
• set up a Fish Farmers Development Agency.
• Later on brackish water fish farmers development agency was set up
• Objective:
• Adoption of new technique of fish breeding, fish rearing, fish marketing and fish export
• It led to an increase in production of Shrimp – Nellor of Andhra Pradesh – Shrimp capital of India.

Fisheries: Brackish Water Aquaculture and Carp Culture in India

• Carp culture introduced in 1980s
• Artificial brackish water ponds are called carp culture.
• Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra.
• Andhra Pradesh: >73% of carp production (shrimp, prawn)

India’s Robust Fisheries Sector

• India recorded an average annual growth of 14.8 percent in production of fish and fish products in the last decade as compared to the global average of 7.5% in the same period.
• The 232-billion-dollar fish and fish related products global industry is expanding at a rate of 6 percent annually and India has huge potential to meet this ever-increasing demand.
• India exported fish worth 45,000 crore rupees in 2017-18 and has the potential to scale this figure to 4 lakh 50 thousand crore rupees.
• The export of Marine Fish products has registered growth of 21.35% (Quantity) and 19.11 % (Value) during the year 2017-18.

Fisheries: Successful Initiatives in Indian States

• Gujarat shifted from an insistence on cooperatives as lessees of ponds and tanks to a public auction and changed the tenure of lease from a single year to several years.
• This created a huge incentive to the entrepreneurs. This has increased the production manifold.
• Private entrepreneurs strengthened the ponds, replenished water when it started drying up, and spent money for protection against poachers.
• Cage fisheries in large reservoirs seem to be yielding good results in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh.
• Cage aquaculture involves the growing of fishes in existing water resources while being enclosed in a net cage which allows free flow of water.
• Its aim is to augment fish production to achieve its target of 15 million tonnes by 2020 under the blue revolution and raise it thereafter to about 20 million tonnes by 2020 to 2023.

Fisheries: Challenges Impacting the Sector’s Sustainability

• The sector suffers from low-scale, stagnating yields of inland and freshwater aquaculture, and poor infrastructure such as cold storage facilities, leading to an estimated 15-20 % post-harvest loss.
• The access to quality seed and feed for fish farming coupled with inadequate availability of credit makes the poor fisher communities not to invest in fish farming.
• For inland harvesting of fish there is no code of conduct for leasing of water bodies and no separate provision of drought affecting this sector.
• Loss of habitat and indiscriminate fishing, marine fishing has declined due to depleting resources, energy crisis and resultant high cost of fishing.
• Enhanced human activity in aquatic areas creates the frequent occurrence of dead zone/ Hypoxic zones leading to shifting or permanent loss of fishing zones.
• With the increased usage of Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP), and poor-quality boats have amplified leading to ill-effects on marine culture.

Fisheries: Strategic Steps for Sector Development and Sustainability

• On par with agriculture: Aquaculture needs to be treated at par with agriculture in terms of water, power tariff, tax benefits, subsidy, insurance and credit.
• Research on aquatic health management and development of disease resistant strains of fish.
• Implementation of B Meenakumari committee recommendations such as creation of buffer zones (between 200 meters and 500 meters in depth) and scientific use of fishing net should be implemented.
• Special insurance system for the fishing community and cooperation in safety and security of fishermen with neighbouring countries should be paramount to avert the loss of many fishermen’s lives. The policies should aim at protection of livelihoods of fishers from various other economic and conservational activities.
• Revival of cooperative sector with constant engagement of center government would help in achieving the doubling the famers Income 2022.
• In the inland sector, while reservoirs and freshwater aquaculture would be the two main pillars of growth, other resources such as upland water bodies, floodplain lakes and wetlands, irrigation canals, saline and waterlogged areas also need to be gradually mainstreamed to start contributing to the production.
• Programmes aimed at production and distribution of quality seed and feed for aquaculture and also culture-based-capture fisheries, husbandry of farmed species would be essential to optimize production and productivity from inland fisheries and aquaculture in the country.
• While the estimated potential of the offshore waters offers opportunities for increase in production, the fishing fleet has limited capacity to harness the deep-sea resources. This calls for up- gradation of the fleet as well as skills and capacities of the fishers and incentives to promote diversified fishing in the offshore waters. Use of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and Artificial Reefs (ARs) for stock enhancement and promotion of mariculture could enhance production.
• In the area of legislation, the existing Marine Fishing Regulation Act (MFRA) of the coastal States/Union Territories (UTs) needs revision to incorporate the requirements of Code of conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF), Similarly, a model bill is needed for inland fisheries and aquaculture and a Central Act is required to regulate fishing by wholly Indian-owned fishing vessels in the EEZ.

Meena Kumari Committee on deep sea fishing, 2015:

• The Blue Revolution in India was started in the 1970s during the Fifth Five-Year Plan.
• Fishing in India is a major industry in its coastal states, employing over 11 million people.
• The committee has its focus on the Blue Revolution in India, according to which the new deep-sea fishing policy was drafted. The new policy–
  1. Promotes imports of foreign technologies.
  2. Will increase foreign investments.
  3. Will help increase revenue and production of fisheries which at present is below optimal level.
  4. Develop backward and forward linkages, cold storage and supply chain.
  5. Big vessels with a length 15 meter or more can be owned or acquired by Indian entrepreneurs of the country with collaboration of foreign investment up to 49 per cent.

Challenges in Implementing Recommendations: Addressing Stakeholder Concerns and Inclusivity

• EEZ guidelines allow deep sea fishing with a letter of permission from the center but 10 coastal states have opposed this.
• Foreign and commercial interests in the deep sea will lead to indiscriminate fishing and prove hazardous to marine resources.
• The big vessels have the permission to export their catch directly from the sea without touching the shore.
• View-points of the fishing community are not consulted.
• Traditional fisherman community too is not very pleased with the Meena Kumari committee’s suggestion of creating a buffer zone between the near and off shore regions in order to enhance resources in coastal and deep sea regions.
• The concerns of this community needs to be addressed at the earliest because though India needs a blue revolution and modern technology, it should not be at the cost of livelihood.
• A more inclusive and comprehensive approach at grass root level needs to be looked at.

India’s current deep-sea fishing policy and guidelines:

• Deep-sea fishing begins at the end of the continental shelf and generally at an average sea depth of 200m.
• Expert Committee report headed by Meenakumari by defining deep sea fishing as “fishing activities beyond 12 nautical miles from the coastline” acknowledging the distance rather than the depth of the sea.
• It further recognized fishing vessels of length above 15m as deep-sea fishing vessels. This covers almost all the vessels of India.
• It allows private investment in deep-sea fishing (enterprises with 49 % foreign equity can now operate in EEZ). This will increase competition and conflict with the traditional fishers as they use to do fishing beyond Territorial Sea (TS). Further they would require a license for beyond 12 nautical miles. In that case, they would be departed from fishing in their Territorial Seas.
• To help breeding in monsoon a 60 days moratorium is placed on fishing in coastal areas from June to July. This has also been objected by fishermen as it will adversely affect their livelihood.

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