Principles and Techniques of Veterinary and AH Extension

INTRODUCTION

More than 70 million households own livestock in India and most of them are poor. Majority of these households own bovines. About five million families own small ruminants. Livestock rearing especially dairy farming is recognized as an instrument of socio-economic change mainly for the landless, marginal and small farmers who depend upon agriculture for their livelihood. Livestock rearing is an important secondary occupation, which supplements their income. In rural areas especially the landless depend primarily on cattle rearing because the scope for other employment opportunities is limited. It helps them to utilize extra labour especially when opportunity cost on family labour is almost zero. Their system of livestock rearing is characterized by rearing of few low productive animals, maintained in the shade of trees or on the side of their dwellings. Whatever little production they get from their animals is almost at zero cost as the animals are maintained on low cash inputs, which include straws and grasses. Grazing of animals is the common practice followed by this segment of livestock owners.Their main advantage is that they can utilize surplus labour for rearing of livestock. Of late due to rapid urbanization and industrialization the grazing lands are getting decreased and the dependency of the landless livestock owners on purchased inputs is increasing.

The contribution of landless and less land who own one or two cattle heads to the total milk production is quite substantial.

The Government of India has come out with various programmes to ameliorate the condition of these oppressed or low income groups of people through livestock rearing.

The production of substantial quantity of livestock products is in the hands of a large number of scattered small livestock owners, which is considered a good sign keeping in view the slogan of Mahatma Gandhi “Production by masses and not mass production" which is relevant even today to the Indian conditions.