National Livestock Mission

White Revolution was launched in 1970 through the National Dairy Development Board under the name ‘Operation Flood’.

The success of the White Revolution:

• Quality Brands: Amul has become one of India’s most loved brands, and is respected internationally too for the quality of its products and the efficiency of its management. It has successfully competed with the world’s largest corporations and their well-established brands.
• Equity was key: Kurien repeatedly emphasises, that the enterprise achieved its outcome of empowering farmers because the governance of the enterprise to achieve equity was always kept in the foreground, with the efficiency of its production processes in the background as a means to the outcome.
• Creation of Market value chains around it: The approach made it possible to enhance backwards and forward linkages in the dairy value chain,
• Measurable Outcomes:
  1. Paving the way for freeing small farmers from the clutches of middlemen, and
  2. Guaranteed minimum procurement price for milk.
  3. Statistics indicate that small and marginal farmers have access to only 50-70% of the resources that large and medium farmers have.
  4. Once again, the presence of collectives in the form of cooperatives and milk unions plays a significant role in enhancing the knowledge and bargaining power of women.

• Impact on Women’s life:
  1. Training of Women: Institutionalising such inputs, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) now organises farmer’s orientation programmes across the country.
  2. Enhanced incomes: According to the latest data, there are more than 1,90,000 dairy cooperative societies across the country, with approximately 6 million women members.
  3. Women-led cooperatives also provide fertile ground for grooming women from rural areas for leadership positions. In many instances, this becomes the first step for women in breaking free from traditional practices.
  4. Women-led companies: To this end, the NDDB has played a proactive role in setting up women-led producer enterprises like Shreeja Mahila Milk Producer Company, which was started with 24 women and now has more than 90,000 members, with an annual turnover of approximately ₹450 crore.

The two Revolutions – with varied purposes

	Green Revolution	White Revolution
Purpose	The purpose of the Green Revolution was to increase the output of agriculture to prevent shortages of food.	The purpose of the white revolution was to increase the incomes of small farmers in Gujarat, not the output of milk.
Mechanism	The Green Revolution was largely a technocratic enterprise driven by science and the principles of efficiency.	Whereas, the white revolution was a socio-economic enterprise driven by political leaders and principles of equity.
Visionaries	In May 1962, M. S. Swaminathan, a member of IARI’s wheat program, requested Dr. B. P. Pal, director of IARI, to arrange for the visit of Norman Borlaug to India and to obtain a wide range of dwarf wheat seeds possessing the Norin 10 dwarfing genes. This slowly resulted in an explosion in production. This led to the highest increase in Food grains in the 80s decade.	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel had a vision of a cooperative movement of Gujarati farmers to increase their incomes. Verghese Kurien enrolled in their visionary enterprise. They were compelled to develop solutions indigenously when Indian policymakers, influenced by foreign experts, said Indians could not make it.
Methodologies	Technological/Hybrid seed model: The green revolution aimed to increase outputs by applying scientific breakthroughs with methods of management to obtain economies through scale.	Cooperative Model: The white revolution was more based on the socio-economic movement.  It happened despite around a majority of dairy farmers owning only small landholdings — typically households with two to five cows.
Focus on Diversity	Monocropping on fields was necessary to apply all appropriate inputs — seeds, fertilizer, water, etc., on scale. This avoided the diversion of land use to other “non-essential” crops.	Diversity of the farm activities. The cropping, waste management and dairy output worked in a symbiotic relationship.
Suitability to Indian socio-economic model	It was an imported technology and heavily relied on government procurement.	The methodologies and economic models were developed within India. New managers were trained within India to run the cooperative model.

 

Learnings and the Way forward for future agricultural changes:

1. Inclusion and equity in governance must be hardwired into the design of the enterprise. An increase in the incomes and wealth of the workers and small asset owners in the enterprise must be the purpose of the enterprise, rather than the production of better returns for investors.
2. The ‘social’ side of the enterprise is as important as its ‘business’ side. Therefore, new metrics of performance must be used, and many ‘non-corporate’ methods of management are learned and applied to strengthen its social fabric.
3. Solutions must be ‘local systems’ solutions, rather than ‘global (or national) scale’ solutions. The resources in the local environment (including local workers) must be the principal resources of the enterprise. The enterprise must be embedded in the local community from whom it gets its environmental resources, and whose well-being it must nourish by its operations.
4. Science must be practical and useable by the people on the ground rather than a science developed by experts to convince other experts. Moreover, people on the ground are often better scientists from whom scientists in universities can learn useful science.
5. Sustainable transformations are brought about by a steady process of evolution, not by drastic revolution. Like strong drugs to treat specific ailments, large-scale transformations imposed from the top can have strong side effects too. They slowly weaken the patient’s health, as the scientific managerial solutions of the green revolution have harmed the soil and water resources of northern India.

Kamdhenu Aayog:

The Kamdhenu Ayog has been created for the conservation, protection and development of the cattle population in the country including the development and conservation of indigenous breeds.

• It will result in increased growth of the livestock sector which is more inclusive, benefitting women, and small and marginal farmers.
• Announced in the 2019 budget.

It covers cattle, buffalo, poultry, sheep, goat, and piggery

Major Objectives:

• Feed and Fodder:
  1. Availability: more area coverage under quality fodder seeds, technology promotion, extension, post-harvest management and processing in consonance with diverse agro-climatic conditions.
  2. Effective seed production chain (Nucleus – Breeder –Foundation – Certified-Truthfully labelled, etc.) with the active involvement of farmers and in collaboration with the dairy/farmers cooperatives, seed corporations, and private sector enterprises.
• Establishing convergence and synergy among ongoing Plan programmes and stakeholders.
• Promoting applied research in prioritized areas.
• Capacity building of state functionaries and livestock owners.
• Promoting skill-based training and dissemination of technologies for reducing the cost of production, and improving the production of the livestock sector
• Conservation & genetic upgradation of indigenous breeds of livestock (except bovines: covered under Gokul Mission) in collaboration with farmers/farmers’ groups/cooperatives, etc.
• Providing infrastructure and linkage for marketing, processing and value addition, as forward linkage for the farmer’s enterprises.
• Promoting risk management measures including livestock insurance for farmers.
• Promoting activities to control and prevent animal diseases, and environmental pollution, promoting efforts towards food safety and quality, and supply of quality hides and skins through timely recovery of carcasses.
• Encouraging community participation in sustainable practices related to animal husbandry, involvement of community in breed conservation and creation of resource map for the states.

Mission Structure

1. Sub -Mission on Livestock Development–  includes activities:
   • For the overall development of livestock species including poultry, other than cattle and buffalo, with a holistic approach.
   • Risk Management component: would also cover cattle and buffalo along with other major and minor livestock.
2. Sub-Mission on Pig Development in the North-Eastern Region –
   • to forge synergies of research and development organizations through appropriate interventions
   • Holistic development of pigs in the NER including genetic improvement, health cover and post-harvest operations.
3. Sub – Mission on Feed and Fodder Development– Focus on increasing both production and productivity of fodder and feed through the adoption of improved and appropriate technologies best suited to specific agro-climatic regions in both arable and non–Arable areas.
4. Sub -Mission on Skill Development, Technology Transfer and Extension–  It will provide a platform to develop, adopt or adapt the technologies including frontline field demonstrations in collaboration with farmers, researchers extension workers, etc.

Revised  National Livestock Mission (RBM):

Wider application:  by providing incentives to individual entrepreneurs, FPOs, farmer cooperatives, joint liability groups, SHGs, and Non-Profit Organisations (i.e. Section 8 companies) for entrepreneurship development and State governments for breed improvement infrastructure.

Entrepreneurship promotion under breed multiplication component

• Milch animal Breed multiplication farm component: It’ll provide for capital subsidy of up to ₹200 lakh for setting up a breeding farm with at least 200 milch cows/buffalo using the latest breeding technology.
• Poultry entrepreneurship programme: It provides for capital subsidy of up to ₹25 lakh for setting up a parent farm with a capacity to rear 1,000 chicks. The rural entrepreneur running the hatchery will be supplying chicks to the farmers.
• Sheep and goat entrepreneurship:  to develop the whole chain to eventually sell the animals to the farmers or in the open market.
  • For goats: There is a provision of capital subsidy of 50% up to 50 lakh.
  • Assistance for a breeder farm with 500 does/ewe(Sheep) and 25 buck/ram animals with high genetic merit from the Central/State government university farms.
• For Pigs: NLM will provide a 50% capital subsidy of up to ₹30 lakh
  • Each entrepreneur will be aided with the establishment of breeder farms with 100 sows and 10 boars, expected to produce 2,400 piglets in a year.
  • A new batch of piglets will be ready for sale every six months.

e-Gopala

Web applications like e-Gopala provide real-time information to livestock farmers on the availability of disease-free germplasm in relevant centres, veterinary care, etc.

Development funds:

Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF):

DIDF is a ₹10,880 Crore Fund set up under NABARD to provide most of the loans to NDDB (National Dairy Development Board) & NCDC (National Cooperative Development Corporation) to implement the scheme through:

• End borrowers: Milk Unions, State dairy federations, Milk Producer companies etc.
• Focus area: Efficient milk procurement system: Chilling infrastructure, electronic milk adulteration testing equipment, creation of processing infrastructure, value addition facilities.

Fisheries & Aquaculture Development Fund (FADF):

FADF is a ₹7500 Crore Fund set up under NABARD to provide funds to NCDC and all scheduled banks to provide loans; It will provide:

• Concessional finance to state governments, state entities, cooperatives, individuals and entrepreneurs etc. for taking up investment activities of fisheries development.
• Focus Area: New technologies(ex: Open cage fishing) & entrepreneurship development;

Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF)

AHIDF is a Rs. 15000 crore fund set up in 2020 aimed to facilitate much-needed incentivisation of investments in the establishment of such infrastructure for dairy and meat processing, value addition infrastructure and establishment of animal feed plants in the private sector.

• Eligible beneficiaries: FPOs, MSMEs, Section 8 Companies, Private Companies & individuals.
• Mechanism: Minimum 10% margin money contribution by the beneficiaries. Balance 90% would be the loan component to be made available by scheduled banks.
• Subsidy:
  • 3% interest subvention
  • 2-year moratorium period for the principal loan amount and 6-year repayment period thereafter.
  • 25% Credit guarantee for MSME.
• Under it, a ₹750cr Credit Guarantee Fund is managed by NABARD.

Important Livestock diseases

Glanders:

Glanders is a contagious and fatal disease of equines (including horses, donkeys and mules).

• Humans can also get the disease. It is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei.
• No vaccine is available for the disease.
• Recently, M/o Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying has released the National Action Plan for Control and Eradication of Glanders.

Avian Influenza (H5N1): Bird Flu.

• It causes a highly infectious, severe respiratory disease.
• It does not infect humans easily, but once it does, the mortality rate is about 60%.
  1. It is difficult to transmit the infection from person to person.
  2. Can’t spread through properly prepared and thoroughly cooked food.
• Its outbreak is declared by M/o Animal Husbandry
• Vulnerabilities:
  1. Areas bordering infected countries and in areas visited by migratory birds.
  2. Almost all cases of H5N1 infection in people have been associated with close contact with infected live or dead birds or H5N1-contaminated environments.

National Animal Disease Control Program

Rs. 13000 crores cleared by cabinet for 2019-20 to 2023-24 to fully control FMD and Brucellosis to support livestock-rearing farmers in the country and create better livelihood opportunities for them.

It has two components:

1. Foot and Mouth Disease(FMD) Component: It envisages vaccination coverage to 30 crore bovines, 20 crore sheep/goats and 1 crore pigs at six-month intervals along with primary vaccination in bovine calves.
   • It is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of livestock affecting cattle, swine, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed ruminants.
   • It is not zoonotic and rarely transmits to humans.
   • There are seven strains which are endemic in different countries worldwide. Each strain requires a specific vaccine to provide immunity.
   • The disease is estimated to circulate in 77% of the global livestock population. Intensively reared animals are more susceptible to the disease than traditional breeds.
   • If a cow/buffalo gets infected with FMD, the milk loss is up to 100% which could last for four to six months.
2. Brucellosis Control Programme: to cover 100% vaccination coverage of 6 crore female calves.
   • It is a zoonotic and contagious disease of livestock caused by various bacteria of the family Brucella.
   • Affect:
     • The disease in animals is characterized by reproductive failure. While animals typically recover, and will be able to have live offspring following the initial abortion, they may continue to shed the bacteria.
       • It affects cattle, swine, sheep and goats, camels, equines, and dogs.
       • It may also infect other ruminants, some marine mammals and humans.
     • Transmission to humans is most often by drinking raw milk from infected animals, causing a severe debilitating disease in people.

In the case of Brucellosis, the milk output reduces by 30%, during the entire life cycle of the animal.

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