ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND FISHERIES
I
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING
INTRODUCTION AT present only a fraction of the Contribution which animal husbandry and dairying can make to the growth of the rural economy and to a rise in living standards is being realised. In the Second Five Year Plan provision has been made for an outlay of over Rs. 56 crores on animal husbandry, including dairying, and it is expected that during the coming years greater progress will be made in this branch of agricul- ture than has been possible hitherto. The-object of animal husbandry programmes is to increase the supply of milk, meat and eggs, a greater consumption of which is very essential in- order to balance the present customary diets, and to provide efficient bullock power for agricultural operations in every part of the country. The quality of the cattle is thus of critical importance to the rural economy. There are also certain animal products such as wool, hair, hides and skins. etc., the efficient utilisation of which as industrial raw materials has a growing economic significance. Animal husbandry programmes, however, continue to encounter serious practical difficulties. Before solutions for them can be found, it is necessary that the size and the nature of the problem and its essential features should be widely understood.
2. According to the livestock census of 1951 the numbers of cattle in India were as follows:-
(in millions)
Cattle
Breeding cows 4634
Breeding bulls 0.65
Work stock:
Male 58.41
Female 2.31
Young stock 43.49
Others 3.89
TOTAL 155.09
Buffalo
Breeding buffaloes 20.99
Breeding bulls 0.31
Work stock:
Male 6.01
Female 0.53
Young stock 14.73
Others 0.78
TOTAL 4335
Despite this large population, in 1950-51 the net value of live- stock products amounted only to Rs. 664 crores or about 16 per cent of the income from agriculture. Studies indicate that the present cattle population is considerably in excess of the available supplies of fodder. It is commonly considered that in relation to the supplies of dry fodder at least one-third of the cattle population may be regarded as surplus and that in relation to the supplies of green fodder and concentrates the position is still worse. Owing to the increase in the requirements of food for the human population, areas, where grazing was possible, have. steadily diminished. Large numbers lead to poor feeding and poor feeding comes in the way of attempts to raise productivity. There is thus a vicious circle which it is difficult to break.
3. Apart from by-products of agricultural crops, grazing areas have hitherto been the main-stay of cattle. Cattle raising has now to under go a basic change, in that its future will lie more on a mixed farming system. Most of the fodder will have to be grown pro- gressively on the holding of the farmers. This aspect has to be kept in view in evolving suitable patterns for the reorganisation of agriculture.
4. Famines and epidemics having been largely brought under control, there is a tendency for the number of surplus cattle to increase even in the ordinary course and this trend will become more marked owing to action taken in recent years to place a total ban on the slaughter of cattle. Proposals for bans on the slaughter of cattle derive from a widely prevalent sentiment which has found expression in the Constitution and must inevitably also enter into national planning. Article 48 of the Constitution prescribes that the states shall endeavour to organise agriculture and
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animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle. But in giving effect to this Directive Principle care has to be taken to see that conditions are not created which. may defeat the very objective. which the Constitution seeks to achieve,
5. An expert committee on the prevention of slaughter of cattle was appointed by the Government of India in 1954 to suggest measures to arrest the deterioration of cattle. The committee came to the conclusion that the present fodder and other resources of the country are grossly inadequate even for maintaining the existing cattle population. A complete ban on the slaughter of all cattle would tend to increase their number further and to jeopardise the well-being of the limited number of good cattle which the country possesses. It might also result in rapid increase in the numbers of wild cattle. The committee estimated that if slaughter of cattle were totally binned, the cattle population would increase at the rate of nearly six per cent per annum. Such trends were noted in 1953 in Uttar Pradesh by the Gosamvardhan Enquiry Committee Which estimated that fodder and cattle feeding resources available in the State were sufficient only for about 58 per cent of the cattle population and that stray and wild animal, were already causing damage to crops in several districts.
6. At the beginning of the first five year plan it was felt that gosadans might offer a possible solution of the problem. Accordingly. the plan provided for the establishment in the firt phase of 160 gosadans to serve a cattle population of 320,000. The scheme did not make satisfactory progress.. Altogether, about 22 gosadans for 8,000 cattle have been established and many of these have found it difficult to secure die areas of land needed for their operations. During the second plan it is proposed to set up 60 gosadans for about 30,000 cattle, It is obvious that even if it were a question only of establishing gosadans for the care of unserviceable and unproductive cattle, it would be impossible to establish enough of them. The conclusion, therefore, is that in defining the scope of bans on the slaughter of cattle States should take a realistic view of the fodder resources available and the extent to which they can get the cooperation of voluntary organisations to bear the main responsibility for maintaining Unserviceable and unproductive cattle with a measure of assistants from the Government and general support From the people.
7. During the second five year plan it is proposed to select. 350 goshalas out of a total number of 3,000, as centres to be for livestock improvement. These goshalas will send their unserviceable and unproductive, cattle to the nearest gosadans. Each gosadan will have facilities for the better utilisation of hides, bones and other products. The proper utilisation of the products of dead animals has considerable economic significance and the All-India Khadi and Village Industries Board has a number of programmes in this field. Each Goshala will be provided by Government with a certain number of animals of improved breed and will be required to secure an equal number front its own resources. Financial assistance will also be given. About Rs. 1 crore have been provided for the scheme.
CATTLE BREEDING POLICY AND PROGRAMMES 8. There are as many as 25 well-defined breeds of cattle and six well-defined breeds of buffaloes in India. These are distributed in different parts of the country. High class specimens in each breed are limited in number and are found in the interior of the home of each breed. Around this home there are animals of the same type but of poorer quality. A few of these breeds are of the dairy type in which the females yield a large quantity of milk, while the males are poor for work. A large majority of the breeds are of the draught type; the cows are poor milkers but the bullocks are of high quality. In between, there are a number of breeds which may be called "dual- purpose" in the sense that the females yield more. than an average quantity of milk, while the males are good working bullocks. These well-defined breeds are found in the dry parts of the country. Outside these areas, over large parts of the country in the east and the south of India where rainfall is very heavy, the cattle are nondescript and do not belong to any definite breed.
9. In order that best results may be obtained, an all-India breeding policy has been drawn up by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and accepted by the Central and State Governments. This policy is briefly as under:
(a) In the case of well-defined milch breeds the milking capacity should be developed to the maximum by selective breeding and the male progeny should be used for the development of the nondescript cattle.
(b) In the case of well-defined draught breeds, the objective is to put as much milk in them as possible without materially impairing their quality for work.
Thus, the breeding policy is generally designed to increase the production of milk in the country without affecting the position in regard to the supply of bullocks required for culti-
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ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND FISHERIES
vation. In every draught breed there is always a small number which give more than an average quantity of milk. By selecting bulls from this group the milk production of the population can then be progressively increased by further selection And breeding, When this is done in the interior of the breeding tracts, the bulls produced can be used in the outer areas in order that general improvement may be brought about in the entire population.
10. For the implementation of this policy each State has been divided into zones according to the breeds used in them. Thus, in the districts of Ahmedabad, Kaira, Broach and Surat, the breed that will be used is `Kankrej'. In the western tracts of U.P. like Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh, Mathura, etc., the breed that will be used is `Hariana'. In the hilly tracts such as Dehra Dun, Garhwal, Almora and parts of Nainital, where the cattle are nondescript, Sindhi bulls will be used.
11. It is mainly through the key village scheme that the programme of livestock improvement is being pursued by State Governments. This scheme provides for concentrated work in selected areas. It envisages castration of scrub bulls, breeding operations controlled by artificial insemination centres (each, of which is intended to serve about 5,000 cows of breeding age), rearing of calves on a subsidised basis, development of fodder resources and the marketing of animal husbandry products organised on co-operative lines. During the first five year plan 600 key villages and 150 artificial insemination, centres have been established. During the second plan 1258 key villages, 245 artificial insemination centres and 254 extension centres are to be set up. The programme is intended to produce about 22,000 improved stud bulls, 950,000 improved bullocks and a million improved cows. The scheme has made encouraging progress, but in respect of fodder development and the marketing of animal husbandry products not much headway has been made. On the other hand, controlled breeding has found a large measure of acceptance and States have, enacted the necessary legislation for implementing the scheme. In the early stages work in many key villages and artificial insemination centres was delayed for want of equipment and shortage of staff, but everywhere the local people have been willing to provide rent-free buildings and contribute in other ways to make the scheme a success. During the second plan, a great deal of attention must be given to the fodder programme as this is an essential basis for the programme of cattle development. In cacti area efforts should be made to develop the limited pasture lands which are available. With the large programme envisaged in the second plan a high degree of urgency attaches to the provision of adequate staff, to better administrative planning of supplies and to public education in matters affecting animal husbandry development,
DAIRYING AND MILK SUPPLY 12. Milk statistics in India are yet in the nature of broad estimates. It is reckoned that the total milk output of the country at the beginning of the first five year plan was over 18 million tons. Of this, about 38 per cent is estimated as being used for consumption as fluid milk, about 42 per cent. for ghee and the rest for khoa, butter, curd and other products. Cows provide a little less than half and buffaloes a little more than half the total supply of milk. The average per capita consumption is estimated to be over 5 ozs. compared to about 15 ozs. which is recommended as the minimum quantity for balanced nutrition. Thus, an appreciable increase in the supply of milk is an imperative necessity. At this stage of development targets for the production of milk have to be drawn up on a regional basis with reference specially to the supply of milk for urban areas. So far a national production target for milk has not yet been formulated. It is proposed that local and regional targets should be set up in national extension and community projects and in other areas so that over the next five year period in these areas an, increase of about 10 per cent in the total output of milk can be achieved. The general objective should be to achieve an increase of about 30 to 40 per cent in milk output over a period of 10 to 12 years in intensively worked areas.
13. The average production of milk of die better Indian breeds of cows and buffaloes is about 1500 lbs. per lactation, while the general average may not be much more than one-half of this amount. These figures are to be compared with the average production per lactation in western countries which ranges from 3000 to 4000 lbs. Where systematic breeding and management have been provided, as in well-organised dairy farms, even higher average figures have been obtained in India, but the number of cows and buffaloes involved is extremely small. Under suitable conditions the cow can produce as much milk as the buffalo. In order to encourage the breeding of high milk yielding animals, a scheme for the establishment of pedigree breeding stations will be operated in the Second Plan. This would help demonstrate to the farmer the benefit of using progeny tested sires for high milk production at a reduced cost. A factor which has injured milk production in the past is the trade in high quality milch cattle between well-known breeding areas and large cities like Bombay and Calcutta where it has been customary to dispose of animals when the dry period sets in. Programmes which are now being taken up for supplying milk to urban areas will make it possible to eliminate the harm done by such trade.
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14. In recent years the supply of milk to urban areas has become an urgent problem for several reasons. Mushroom dairies set up in urban areas under unhygienic conditions are a danger to public health. Much of the milk sold in towns is adulterated and of poor quality. It is important to devise arrangements which will ensure the supply of adequate quantities of milk to urban areas (a) under conditions in which quality AS guaranteed, and (b) at prices which are remunerative to the milk producer and fair to the consumer. With these objects in view, during the second five the year plan, it is proposed to organize 36 urban supply schemes, 12 co-operative creameries and 7 milk drying plants. The latter will be located in rural areas and will produce butter, ghee and skimmed milk powder. The general policy is that milk producers' co-operatives should be organised in villages to supply milk to the urban milk supply schemes, creameries and milk drying plants. The milk producers should be given assistance such as the payment of a remunerative price, the provision of bulls or artificial insemination, technical advice, facilities for improving production and storage of fodder and the provision of milking sheds. Milk collected from rural areas is to be distributed in urban areas under the control of appropriate authorities such as Milk Boards. In Bombay a large milk colony has been organised at Aarey and for Calcutta a similar colony is being established at Haringhatta. In these cities there were large concentrations of cattle which had to be. removed out of the town. There was thus no alternative to the setting up of milk colonies. Large scale milk schemes are also proposed to be taken up in Delhi and Madras with the minimum size of cattle colonies in relation to their needs. Even where milk colonies are setup, they should be supplemented as in Bombay, by organised supply of milk from, rural areas to the maximum extent possible. It is also proposed to promote the distribution of toned milk as a source of cheap supply in urban areas. Some of the existing dairies will also be expanded for handling larger supplies. The main problems in arranging for supplies of milk from rural areas are organisational and the programmes set out in the plans of States are to be regarded as the minimum to be achieved. There is no reason why, as these programmes begin to be carried out, similar programmes should not be worked out for other areas, especially where the necessary extension staff are available to take up the task of field organisation.
CONTROL OF DISEASES 15. In the past rinderpest and other contagious diseases of cattle have taken a heavy toll, rinderpest alone accounting for about 60 per cent of the cattle mortality. A pilot scheme undertaken during the first five year plan has made it possible to draw up a programme aiming at the eradication of rinderpest over the bulk of the country during the second plan, The plans of States also provide for measures to control other contagious diseases and pests, specially Foot and Mouth disease, Haemorrhagic Septicaemia, Black quarter and Anthrax. During the first five year plan the number of veterinary dispensaries was increased from 2,000 to 2,650. In the course of the second plan 1900 veterinary dispensaries are expected to be added and these are to include 145 mobile dispensaries.
SHEEP AND GOATS 16. It is estimated that there are about 38 million sheep in India producing 60 million pounds of wool per annum. About 24 million pounds of the indigenous raw wool is utilised in the country and the balance is exported. Finer varieties of wool are imported to the extent of about 11 million pounds per annum. The average yield of wool from indigenous sheep is estimated to be about 2 pounds per head. Improved varieties of sheep can yield about 6 pounds, so that there is considerable scope for development. The demand for wool comes from five main sources, namely, from cottage industries, for carpets and floor rugs, for blankets, for the manufacture of clothing material and knitting yams in mills and for other industries like the manufacture of shawls, tweeds, etc. Imported wool is used mainly by mills.