Non-farming businesses

Non-farming businesses

Topic: Agriculture

Concept:

Animal husbandry:

Animal husbandry refers to livestock raising and selective breeding. It is the management and care of animals in which the genetic qualities and behaviour of animals are further developed for profit.

A large number of farmers depend upon animal husbandry for their livelihood. It supports the livelihood of almost 55% of the rural population.

India is the highest livestock owner of the world.

As per the 20th Livestock Census, the total Livestock population is 535.78 million in the country showing an increase of 4.6% over Livestock Census-2012.

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.

Dairy sector:

• With the help of White Revolution, India has transitioned from a milk-deficient country to the largest producer of milk globally.
• The Anand model (Amul), which has been replicated across the country, boosted milk production.
• Harvesting animals for dairy and animal-based products is crucial for food security, poverty alleviation and other social needs.
• Harvesting animals for dairy and animal-based products in India is a major source of livelihood for 150 million dairy farmers.
• The dairy sector accounts for 4.2% of the national gross domestic product.
• Dairy sector is the second-largest employment sector after agriculture in India.

Fisheries:

• Fisheries and aquaculture are an important source of food production, nutritional security, employment, and income in India.
• The fisheries sector is a direct source of livelihoods for more than 20 million fishers and fish farmers; contributes INR 1.75 trillion annually to the gross value added to India’s economy; and is a major export earner, with fish being one of the most important agricultural commodities to be exported from India.
• Blue Revolution, the Neel Kranti Mission has the vision to achieve economic prosperity of the country and the fishers and fish farmers as well as contribute towards food and nutritional security through full potential utilization of water resources for fisheries development in a sustainable manner, keeping in view the bio-security and environmental concerns.

Status of Indian fisheries:

• Fisheries are the primary source of livelihood for several communities.
• India is the world’s second-largest fish producer with exports worth more than Rs 47,000 crore.
• Fisheries are the country’s single-largest agriculture export, with a growth rate of 6 to 10 per cent in the past five years.
• Its significance is underscored by the fact that the growth rate of the farm sector in the same period is around 2.5 per cent.
• It has a marine fisher population of 5 million; 10.5 million people are engaged in inland fishery and fish farming.
• The investment of Rs 3,000 crore in the Blue Revolution is being supplemented through the Rs 7,523-crore Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund. This will meet the capital investment requirement of this sector.
• The productivity of freshwater fish farms has gone up to more than 3 metric tonnes per hectare from the 2.5 tonnes per hectare.
• Productivity of brackish water coastal aquaculture has touched 10 to 12 metric tonnes per hectare — a sharp increase from the previous two to four tonnes per hectare.
• The marine fishery potential in the Indian waters have been estimated at 31 MMT constituting about 43.3% demersal, 49.5% pelagic and 4.3% oceanic groups.

The allocation for the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying was increased by 23 per cent to ₹4,820.82 crore during 2021-22 (BE) from ₹3,918.31 crore during 2020-21 (RE).