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Union Agriculture Minister Shri Sharad Pawar today informed the State Ministers of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development that the government is in the process of formulating a Livestock Insurance Scheme.
The Centrally-sponsored Insurance Scheme is proposed to concentrate initially on crossbred and high yielding cattle and buffaloes to ensure maximum coverage of the livestock for which insurance is critical. The ministry has asked the insurance companies to come out with affordable rates of premium.
The State Ministers, along with senior officers and representatives of NDDB have gathered here to deliberate on the issues facing dairy, poultry and allied sectors, especially WTO-related and inter-State issues.
The Minister stated that Animal husbandry is one of the most potential sectors for growth, and its hidden potential needs to be fully exploited through long-term planning. If we are to attain a growth rate in excess of 4% per year in the agriculture sector as a whole, we would need a growth rate of 6 to 8% in the animal husbandry sector, he added.
Shri Pawar sought States’ suggestions on the Livestock Policy that the government intends to bring to provide a roadmap for growth of the livestock sector. The Policy will also prepare this sector for the global competition it is likely to face in the WTO regime.
Shri Pawar emphasised that dairy and other animal-rearing activities not only add to the income of farmers, these also minimise hardship to farmers in times of crop failures. ‘The farmers [of Maharashtra] could face the very severe drought without much of economic distress only because of well developed dairy farming industry in the State,’ he said.
The Minister laid special emphasis on improving yield and quality of milk production. Though India is the biggest producer of milk in the world, he said, the dairy sector suffers from low productivity, poor quality of milk, limited processing, poor veterinary support and absence of uniform legislation on inter-State movement of livestock. As compared to the world average of 2197 kg milk per cow per year and Israel’s 9787 kg per year, India produces just 917 kg milk per cow. Hardly 20% of the total cattle are cross-breed. Only 3% of the milk produced is value added while liquid milk hardly gets any price to the farmer. There is only one Veterinary Centre for every 5,000 live-stock units.
The Minister stressed that the quality of dairy products would have to be improved to succeed in the WTO regime. He regretted that funds released by the Centre under the Integrated Dairy Development Project are not being utilized by the States, slowing the growth of improvement in dairy sector in non-Operation Flood areas.
Talking of the role of infrastructure in improving milk productivity, the Minister asked the States to keep in mind the milk shed concept. Milk shed is the collective effort for collection of milk from rural areas and ensures remunerative price to the farmer.
The Minister informed of the many steps that the Ministry has taken recently for improving the genetic make up of cattle and buffalo population. The National Project for Cattle and Buffalo Breeding is being strengthened by substantially increasing its coverage and by identifying deficiencies and taking effective steps to remove them. The Ministry also intends to liberalize the import of quality semen from reputed sources. It has formulated interim guideline for the import and export of cattle/buffalo, germ-plasm.
While complimenting the poultry sector on its remarkable performance, the Minister said, poultry needs to be promoted as a rural backyard activity for empowering women and adding to the meager income of poor farmers. Similarly, focus needs to be laid on other animals such as sheep, goat and pig which, he said, can become an important source of income for landless persons and marginal farmers.
Explaining that the absence of a uniform legislation for the control of movement of livestock across the country is a handicap for effective control of diseases, Shri Pawar asked wholehearted support of the State machinery to the regulatory mechanisms being put in place by the Centre. He informed that the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases in Animals Bill is in final stages of approval and hoped that it would strengthen the regulatory mechanism and disease control efforts.
Welcoming the State representatives, the Animal Husbandry & Dairying Secretary Shri PMA Hakeem said that there is vast scope for private investments in livestock and dairy sectors. He also emphasised on improving productivity and quality of this sector so as to invigorate rural economy.
The Minister released the Punjab sire directory giving details of cattle breed in the State. He also presented ISO certifications to West Bengal and Haryana for improving the quality of cattle semen.
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