Improving Livestock Breeding 

ECONOMY/ GOVERNANCE

• GS-3: Agriculture & Allied Sectors
• GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors

Improving Livestock Breeding 

Context: Approximately 200 million Indians are involved in livestock farming, including around 100 million dairy farmers. 

Major issues with Livestock in India

• Livestock breeding in India has been largely unorganised because of which there have been gaps in forward and backward integration across the value chain.
• Roughly 80% bovines in the country are low on productivity and are reared by small and marginal farmers. 
• Such a scenario negatively impacts the return on investment for livestock farmers. 

Government Initiative to promote Livestock Sector

• To enhance the productivity of cattle, the Rashtriya Gokul Mission was initiated in 2014 with a focus on the genetic upgradation of the bovine population through widespread initiatives on artificial insemination, sex-sorted semen, and in vitro fertilization. 
• The revised version of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission focuses on entrepreneurship development and breed improvement in livestock by providing incentives to individual entrepreneurs, farmer producer organisations, farmer cooperatives, self-help groups, Section 8 companies for entrepreneurship development and State governments for breed improvement infrastructure.
• The breed multiplication farm component of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission is going to provide for capital subsidy up to ₹200 lakh for setting up breeding farm with at least 200 milch cows/ buffalo using latest breeding technology. 
• The strategy of incentivising breed multiplication farm will result in the employment of 1 lakh farmers
• This initiative will be further amplified by web applications like e-Gopala that provide real-time information to livestock farmers on the availability of disease-free germplasm in relevant centres, veterinary care, etc. 
• The poultry entrepreneurship programme of the National Livestock Mission (NLM) will provide for capital subsidy up to ₹25 lakh for setting up of a parent farm with a capacity to rear 1,000 chicks. This is expected to provide employment to at least 14 lakh people.
• In the context of sheep and goat entrepreneurship, there is a provision of capital subsidy of 50% up to 50 lakh. An entrepreneur under this model shall set up a breeder farm, develop the whole chain will eventually sell the animals to the farmers or in the open market.
• For piggery, the NLM will provide 50% capital subsidy of up to ₹30 lakh. Each entrepreneur will be aided with establishment of breeder farms.

Conclusion

• The revised scheme of NLM coupled with the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund has the potential to dramatically enhance the productivity and traceability standards of our livestock.

Connecting the dots:

• Special Livestock Sector Package
• Crisis in Dairy Sector