Image used for representational purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Manjunath H.S.

The ‘Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics,’ prepared by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying after an integrated sample survey, showed an increase in the milk, eggs and meat productions in the country.

Union Minister Parshottam Rupala, who released the report on Wednesday, said the contribution of livestock sector in the agriculture sector had been showing steady improvement that signifies its growing importance for the country’s economy.

The report said total milk production in the country was 221.06 million tonnes in 2022. India continued to remain as the largest milk producing country in the world. The production had increased by 5.29% over the previous year, the report said. The per capita availability of milk was 444 grams per day.

The milk production from exotic/crossbred cattle had increased by 6.16% and indigenous or non-descript cattle had gone up by 6.13% as compared to previous year. The milk production from buffaloes also increased by 4.44% as compared to 2021 and indigenous buffaloes contributed 31.58% of the total production followed by 29.91% by crossbred cattle. “The Indigenous cattle contribute 10.35% of the total milk production in the country whereas non-descript cattle contribute 9.82% and non-descript buffaloes contribute 13.49% of the total milk production in the country. “

Goat milk shared a contribution of 2.93% in the total production across the country. Exotic cow had a share of 1.92% to the total milk production, the survey showed. Rajasthan (15.05%), Uttar Pradesh (14.93%), Madhya Pradesh (8.60%), Gujarat (7.56%) and Andhra Pradesh (6.97%) together contribute 53.11% of total milk production in the country. The milk production was 209.96 million tonnes in 2020-21.

The total egg production in the country was 129.60 billion numbers and it is an increase by 6.19% than the previous year. The per capita availability of egg is 95 eggs per annum. Top five egg producing States are Andhra Pradesh (20.41%), Tamil Nadu (16.08%), Telangana (12.86%), West Bengal (8.84%) and Karnataka (6.38%) and these States together contribute 64.56% of total egg production in the country.

The total meat production in the country was 9.29 million tonnes. It had increased by 5.62% as compared to previous year. The meat production from poultry was 4.78 million tonnes, contributing about 51.44% of the total production. The growth of poultry meat production has increased by 6.86% over previous year. “The top five meat producing States are Maharashtra (12.25%), Uttar Pradesh (12.14%), West Bengal (11.63%), Andhra Pradesh (11.04%) and Telangana (10.82%). They together contribute 57.86% of total meat production in the country,” the survey said.

51.44% of meat production was contributed by poultry. “Buffalo, goat, sheep, pig, and cattle contribute nearly 17.49%, 13.63%, 10.33%, 3.93% and 3.18% of meat production respectively to the total meat production of the country,” the survey added.

Ranpal Dhanda, president of Poultry Federation of India, said more people were opting for eggs and chicken for their protein necessities. “Any increase in our per capita eggs and meat consumption will bring a lot of employment opportunities in the country. Even now, our per capita eggs and chicken consumption is much less than the developed world,” Mr. Dhanda said.

The total wool production in the country during 2021-22 was 33.13 thousand tonnes which had declined by 10.30% as compared to previous year, the survey added.

Farmers ride on a cart loaded with grass in a village on the outskirts of Jalandhar, Punjab on January 31, 2023. According the Economic Survey, the performance of the agriculture and allied sector had been buoyant over the past several years due to the measures taken by Centre to augment crop and livestock productivity
| Photo Credit: AFP

The Economic Survey noted that the agriculture sector in the country grew by 3% in 2021-22, lower than an average growth of 4.6% in the last six years. In 2020-21, the growth in this sector was 3.3%. In 2016-17, the growth rate was 6.8%, followed by 6.6% in 2017-18, 2.1% in 2018-19 and 5.5% in 2019-20. The Survey said private investment in agriculture increased to 9.3% in 2020-21. The public investment, however, remained at 4.3%, the same as 2019-20. In 2011-12, the public investment in agriculture was 5.4%.

The survey, tabled in both the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday, said the performance of the agriculture and allied sector had been buoyant over the past several years due to the measures taken by Centre to augment crop and livestock productivity, ensure certainty of returns to the farmers through price support, promote crop diversification, improve market infrastructure through the impetus provided for the setting up of farmer-producer organisations and promotion of investment in infrastructure facilities through the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. The survey also hailed schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi for helping farmers.

Climatic issues

The survey said the country rapidly emerged as the net exporter of agricultural products. “In 2020-21, exports of agriculture and allied products from India grew by 18% over the previous year. During 2021-22, agricultural exports reached an all-time high of US$ 50.2 billion,” the survey said.

The survey said there was a sustained increase in the foodgrain production in the country, but expressed concern at the climatic issues that impacted agriculture. “As per Fourth Advance Estimates for 2021-22, the production of food grains and oil seeds has been increasing Year-on-Year. Production of pulses have also been notably higher than the average of 23.8 million tonnes in the last five years,” the survey said adding that changing climate had been impacting agriculture adversely.

“The year 2022 witnessed an early heat wave during the wheat-harvesting season, adversely affecting its production. The year experienced a decline in the sown area for paddy cultivation too in the Kharif season due to delayed monsoons and deficient rainfall,” it noted.

The survey concluded that the performance of the agriculture sector remained critical to the growth and employment in the country. “Investment in the sector must be encouraged through an affordable, timely and inclusive approach to credit delivery,” it said. A focus on the horticulture sector and the thrust towards allied activities had diversified farmers’ income making them more resilient to weather shocks, the survey pointed out.

“A greater focus on the development of the food processing sector can reduce wastage/ loss and increase the length of storage, ensuring better prices for the farmers,” it added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

i Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Saturday urged Agricultural and Rural Development Banks (ARDBs) to extend more long-terms loans to the agriculture sector, including for irrigation projects and other infrastructure.

Cooperative banks should focus on providing loans for increasing the irrigated land in the country, he said.

To overcome the challenges of small farm holdings, the Minister asked cooperative banks to think how to operate such small farm fields with a cooperative spirit.

India has 49.4 crore acres of agriculture land, highest after the U.S. If the entire farm land is irrigated, India can feed the whole world, he added.

Addressing a national conference, Mr. Shah said, “If we look back and see the last 90 years journey of long-term financing through cooperatives and how it has percolated down, if you see the data, it has not grown.”

He noted that there are many hurdles in long-term financing and time has come to overcome them with a cooperative spirit.

He also said cooperative banks should not function as banks alone, but focus on other cooperative activities like setting up of agri infrastructure such as irrigation.