VAE 511: Livestock Entrepreneurship (1+0)

SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION

Introduction

• Livestock play a vital role in rural economy.
• The combination of livestock and crop farming enables complementarity through productive utilisation of farm by-products and conservation of soil fertility, thus increasing rural farm income.
• Apart from providing food products like milk, egg and meat, livestock sector generates productive employment and valuable supplementary income to the vast majority of rural households, majority of whom are small and marginal farmers and landless labourers.
• Growing human population, increasing urbanisation, rising domestic incomes and changing lifestyles in the country have led to increasing demand for livestock products.
• Livestock like cattle (bulls and cows), buffaloes, sheep and goat are an integral part of India’s socio-economic life. Animal husbandry is a part of agricultural economy. It directly supports about five per cent (20 million) of our population. India has two per cent of the geographical area and accounts for 15 per cent of livestock population (400 million). Cows and buffaloes comprise 56.5 per cent of world population.India ranks first, second, third and fifth in buffalo, cattle and goat, sheep and poultry population in the world, respectively (Economic Survey of India, 2008-09).
• It has been estimated in official reports that capacity of land to support grazing is 31 million, whereas the population, which grazes, is 90 to 100 million. It has also been calculated that fodder required for total population is 1800 million tons (MT) per annum whereas the total fodder available is 900 MT.
• For sustainable rural livelihood, resource poor farmers have to overcome technical, economic and social constraints to take benefit of increasing demand of livestock products and compete with commercial producers. There are indications that this can be done in developing countries by complete understanding of the different production systems evolved over a period of time and introduction of improved and appropriate technologies eliminating the constrained faced by the farmers.

Importance of Livestock

• Livestock sector employs over 11 million rural poor and women in principal status and eight million in subsidiary status, which is about 5 per cent of total working force in the country. According to estimates of CSO (2009), the value of output from livestock and fisheries sector together was about Rs. 2, 82,779 crore during 2007-08, which is 31.6 per cent of the value of output from agricultural and allied sectors. The contribution of these factors in the total GDP during 2007-08 was 5.21 per cent.
• During 2009-10, the country produced 112.5 million tonnes of milk 59.8 billion eggs, 43.2 million kg of wool and 4.0 million tonnes of meat from the organized sector (Economic Survey of India, 2010-11).
• The livestock and fisheries sector contributed over 4.07 per cent to the total GDP during 2008-09, which is 29.7 per cent of the value of output from agricultural and allied sectors.
• The livestock sector is one of the fastest growing parts of the agricultural economy, the FAO report underlines. Globally, livestock contributes 15 percent of total food energy and 25 percent of dietary protein. Products from livestock provide essential micronutrients that are not easily obtained from other plant food products.

Livelihoods

• Strong demand for animal food products offers significant opportunities for livestock to contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. But many smallholders are facing several challenges in remaining competitive with larger, more intensive production systems. FAO recommends that smallholders should be supported in taking advantage of the opportunities provided by an expanding livestock sector and in managing the risks associated with increasing competition.

Environment and Eco Jobs

• There is a need to enhance the efficiency of natural-resource use in the livestock sector and to reduce the environmental footprint of livestock production. It has to be ensured that continued growth in livestock production does not create undue pressure on ecosystems, biodiversity, land and forest resources and water quality and does not contribute to global warming. Market-based policies, such as taxes and fees for natural-resource use or payments for environmental services, would encourage producers to ensure that livestock production is carried out in a sustainable way. Livestock can play an important role in both adapting to climate change and mitigating its effects on human welfare, FAO said. To realize the sector's potential to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation based on enhanced capacities to monitor, report and verify emissions from the livestock production new technologies will need to be developed.
• A Eco/green job, also called a green-collar job is, according to the United Nations Environment Program "work in agricultural, manufacturing, research and development (R&D), administrative, and service activities that contribute(s) substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality. Specifically, but not exclusively, this includes jobs that help to protect ecosystems and biodiversity; reduce energy, materials, and water consumption through high efficiency strategies; de-carbonize the economy; and minimize or altogether avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution. In 2007 the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the International Labor Organisation (ILO),and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) jointly launched the Green Jobs Initiative. The International Employers Organisation (IEO) joined the Initiative in 2008. Now, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is also stressed in rejuvenating the environment and they are also contributing both qualitatively and quantitatively in improving the environment.

Sustainable livestock production strategies

• Proper management and nutrition are essential to the health and well being of domestic animals; particularly livestock species that are expected to maintain a high level of production while relying on livestock owners to meet all their physiological and behavioral needs. As livestock production becomes more intensified, the need to ensure that management and nutrition do not limit only to animal health or productivity increases. Best management practices have to be followed in biosecurity management of livestock and also in handling livestock manure.
  
• Management and nutrition are also central to the prevention and control of many infectious and noninfectious diseases besides high-level production performances. Although infectious diseases require the presence of a specific infectious organism(s), the mere presence of the causal microbe is not usually sufficient to assure that disease will develop. Other environmental and host factors influence whether the infected animal develops clinical disease or has reduced productivity as a result of the infection.
• The most effective method of preventing infectious disease is to eradicate and exclude the organism(s) causing the disease. Often, this is impossible or impractical. It becomes necessary to control the infectious disease by minimizing circumstances that favor the spread of the infectious agent, mitigating the environmental circumstances that contribute to development of the disease in the presence of the infectious agent, and minimizing circumstances that increase the host’s susceptibility.
• Proper nutritional management is essential to animal health and productivity and thereby reduce the uses of scarce resources which are essential for sustainability. Nutrition plays a significant role in influencing the animal’s susceptibility to disease as well as in managing certain diseases . Rations/diets must be formulated to provide for the basic physiologic needs (Eg. energy, protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals) of the animal and to ensure optimal growth and productivity.
• Loss of biodiversity is the major threat to the global eco-system.
  
• Watershed management can partly take care of such ill-effects, which consists of conservation of soil, biomass and water resources, development of reclaimable areas, introduction of improved crop production practices, etc.

Sustainable production measures

• Many different management practices can improve a livestock operation’s production efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Improved livestock management reduces atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide through the mechanism of soil carbon sequestration on grazing lands.
• As plants grow, they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Even though grazing cattle harvest a large portion of the plant material, through good management residues accumulate and increase the amount of organic matter in the soil. Some of this organic matter will remain in the soil or plant root system for long periods of time instead of being released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Some of the most effective practices include

Improving grazing management

• Soil testing, followed by the addition of proper amendments and fertilizers
• Supplementing cattle diets with needed nutrients
• Developing a preventive herd health program
• Providing appropriate water sources and protecting water quality
• Improving genetics and reproductive efficiency

Livestock Waste Management

• Livestock waste contains many microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. Some of these microorganisms do not cause sickness in animals or humans. However, some others are pathogens, meaning they are capable of causing disease in animals and/or humans. Irrespective of the size of their farms, all livestock producers have an important role in limiting pathogen movement from their operation to the environment. Waste management provide livestock producers to control pathogens in their production system. The Best Management Practices (BMPs) are pertaining to animal management and housing, dietary modifications, production management, land application of manure, and the chemical and biological treatment of stored manure.

Animal Husbandry and Green House Gases

• The two major green house gases produced by animal husbandry are methane and nitrous oxide. Their concentrations have increased considerably over the past 120 years. In this period the atmospheric CH4 concentration has more than doubled and the N20 concentration has risen by more than 30 per cent. One source of CH4 in animal husbandry is the fermentation of feed in the stomach of ruminants and non-ruminants. Due to their ability to digest cellulose, ruminants account for the greater share in the production of CH4. Another source of CH4 associated with animal husbandry is the decomposition of animal wastes. These mainly consist of organic material, which produces CH4 when decomposed under anaerobic conditions. The source of nitrous oxide due to animal husbandry is the decomposition of animal wastes. Any further intensification of animal husbandry will increase the amount of animal waste, making a further increase in N20 emissions likely.