Investment Trends and Growth Potential of Animal Husbandry Industry in India

As the world's largest producer of milk and third-largest producer of eggs, India's animal husbandry and dairying sectors have evolved by leaps and bounds. India's livestock and dairying industry expanded at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about 8% from 2014 to 2022 and will continue to feed about 200 million Indians. Since the beginning of civilization, agriculture and animal husbandry have continued to be fundamental aspects of human life. These efforts have contributed to the food basket and draught animal power and the preservation of ecological equilibrium.

According to the 20th Livestock Census, there are around 303.76 million bovines (cattle, buffalo, Mithun, and yak), 74.26 million sheep, 148.88 million goats, 9.06 million pigs, and approximately 851.81 million poultry in the nation. In India, livestock constitute an essential component of agriculture and contribute in many ways to the expansion and improvement of the industry. Livestock improves food and nutritional security by providing nutrient-rich food products, generates income and employment, acts as a buffer against crop failure, provides draught power and manure inputs to the crop subsector, and contributes to foreign exchange through exports. India has one of the world's most extensive livestock populations. Proactive government measures and an increasing emphasis on ease of doing business have gradually cleared the ground for greater innovation and private-sector investment. Moreover, the animal husbandry sector received an almost 40% boost in the Union Budget 2023-24 announced by Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2023. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying received an allocation of US$ 527.53 million (Rs. 4,327.85 crore), up from US$ 378. 50 million (Rs. 3,105.17 crore) in the revised projections for 2022-23.

Animal Husbandry in India

Animal husbandry refers to livestock farming and selective breeding. It is the management and care of animals in which their genetic qualities and behaviours are developed for profit. In other words, it is a branch of agriculture concerned with the rearing, breeding, and raising of animals to produce meat, fibre, eggs, milk, and other food items. Animal husbandry is a major source of income for many farmers.

Animal husbandry and dairying sectors have played a significant socioeconomic role in India due to the country's favourable terrain and environment. Traditional, cultural, and religious beliefs have all helped to keep these practices going. They also serve an important role in creating gainful employment in the rural sector, notably among landless, small, and marginal farmers, and women, in addition to providing inexpensive and nutritious food to millions of people. India has a great supply of livestock and poultry, which play an important role in improving the socioeconomic conditions of the rural population.

India is the world's largest producer of milk and buffalo meat, the second-largest producer of goat meat, the third-largest producer of eggs, and the eighth-largest producer of meat.

Types

• Dairy Farming

Dairy farming is an agricultural technique concerned with the long-term production of milk, which is then processed to produce dairy products such as curd, cheese, yoghurt, butter, cream, and so on. It entails the control of dairy animals including cows, buffaloes, sheep, and goats, among others. The animals are protected from illnesses and are regularly examined by veterinarians. A healthy animal is sound socially, psychologically, and physiologically. These animals are milked either by hand or by machine. Milk is preserved and industrially processed into dairy products, which are then used commercially. Dairy is the single largest agricultural commodity, accounting for 5% of the national economy and directly employing more than 8 crore farmers. India is the world's leading producer of milk, accounting for 23% of worldwide output. Milk output has climbed by 51.05% in the last eight years, rising from 146.3 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 221.06 million tonnes in 2021-22. Milk output has increased at an annual rate of 6.4% over the last eight years, whereas global milk production has increased at a rate of 1.2% per year. Milk availability per capita is 444 grammes per day in 2021-22, compared to the world average of 394 grammes per day in 2021.

• Poultry Farming

Poultry farming is concerned with the growing and breeding of birds for commercial purposes. Domesticated birds include ducks, chickens, geese, pigeons, turkeys, and others for eggs and meat. It is critical to take care of the animals and keep them in a disease-free environment in order to acquire quality food from them. Both meat and eggs are excellent sources of protein. Poultry farming employs a huge number of people and helps farmers improve their incomes. India ranks third in egg production and eighth in meat output in the world. The country's egg production has climbed from 78.48 billion in 2014-15 to 129.60 billion Nos. in 2021-22. Egg production in the country is increasing at a pace of 8% each year. In 2021-22, the per capita availability of eggs will be 95 eggs per year. Meat production in the country has climbed from 6.69 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 9.29 million tonnes in 2021-22.

• Fish Farming

Fish farming or pisciculture is the process of rearing fish in controlled tanks or ponds for economic reasons. Demand for fish and fish protein is growing. Fish species such as salmon, catfish, cod and tilapia. There are two types of fish farming:

1-Extensive aquaculture based on local photosynthetic output.

2-Intense aquaculture, which relies on fish being fed outside food sources.

• Bee Farming

Bee farming, also known as apiculture, is the practice of keeping bee colonies in man-made hives by humans. Honeybees are raised on a huge scale. Bees are cultivated to produce honey, wax, and pollinate flowers. They are also employed by other beekeepers for similar purposes. An apiary, often known as a bee yard, is a facility where bees are kept.

Advantages

• Animal husbandry aids in the proper management of animals by providing proper food, shelter, and illness prevention to domestic animals.
• It employs a significant number of farmers, raising their standard of living.
• It contributes to the development of high-yielding animal breeds through crossbreeding. This enhances the production of a variety of food products such as milk, eggs, meat, etc.
• It encourages the correct disposal of animal waste and promotes a healthy environment.

Current Trends in Animal Agriculture

• Livestock Health Management

To identify infections early on, farmers continually monitor the health of their cattle. They are able to raise the likelihood of a successful outcome via this. To assist with this, startups and scaleups are developing technology that simplifies disease diagnosis and treatment. Such solutions aid farmers in regulating nutrients and milking their cows. Furthermore, detection solutions like estrus, lameness, and face detection boost illness diagnostics efficiency. Portable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kits safeguard the health of animals by allowing on-demand testing.

• Farm Automation

Significant issues like the rising food demand and the labour crisis are addressed by automated farming, which also increases animal productivity and well-being. Startups are creating solutions such as automated dairy installations, computerised feeds, cleaning systems, and incubators. Furthermore, farmers control the barn atmosphere using computerised ventilation and lighting control systems. Animal farms can improve livestock management by employing robotics. Milking and pusher robots, for example, speed up agricultural activities while removing frequent physical interventions.

• Artificial Intelligence

AI provides improved insights into animal behaviours, disease control, and prevention. Additionally, AI-powered digital twins can predict breeding heat cycles and prevent bad livestock behaviour. It also enables farms to construct energy-efficient housing buildings. Farmers utilise translation algorithms to better interpret the grunts and squeals of animals in order to ensure their well-being. AI and machine learning (ML) are being used by startups to improve big data and analytics workflows in livestock management. Such solutions collect data at the animal and farm levels in order to improve product quality, animal health, and management practices.

• Animal Breeding Technologies

Farmers utilise animal breeding technology to find the healthiest and most productive animals in order to maintain a high-quality herd. Several techniques, including as sex selection, embryo cultivation, parthenogenesis, and gene transfer, enable them to make better use of their resources. DNA marker technology improves the frequency of desirable features in future generations of agricultural animals. Furthermore, DNA profiling simplifies parentage testing. Embryo transfer and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technology also accelerate genetic advancement in one generation, which would otherwise take five generations with traditional breeding.

• Precision Livestock Farming

The fundamental benefit of precision livestock farming is improved animal well-being while lowering environmental consequences. They are called complex, individual, and time-variant (CIT) systems because of how each species reacts to its surroundings. PLF monitors livestock in real time to assist farmers understand their condition and intervene as needed. Startups are creating technologies that measure and record livestock behaviour, weight, food and water intake, temperature, and respiration rate. In addition, it enables for the identification and correction of aberrations from typical processes.

Government Initiatives

• Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund

  The Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) was established as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package with a corpus of US$ 1.82 billion (Rs. 15,000 crore). The Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) has been authorised to encourage investments in animal husbandry infrastructure by individual entrepreneurs, private corporations, MSME, Farmers' Producers Organisations (FPOs), and Section 8 companies to establishDairy Processing and value addition: A total of 6676 direct jobs have been created, and 1,00,000 farmers have benefited from 82 units.

  1. Infrastructure for dairy processing and value-addition.

  2. infrastructure for meat processing and value-added services.

  3. Animal Feed Plant.

  4. Breed improvement Technology and Breed Multiplications Farms for Cattle, Buffalo, Sheep, Goat, Pig and technologically supported Poultry Farms.

  • Dairy Processing and value addition: A total of 6676 direct jobs have been created, and 1,00,000 farmers have benefited from 82 units.
  • Animal Feed Plant: To date, 95 projects have been funded. 61.56 lakh MT per year feed manufacturing capacity added to existing feed production capacity (Cattle Feed around 15.39 lakh MT per year, Poultry Feed around 46.17 lakh MT per year).
  • Meat Processing and value addition: So far, 15 units have been supported, with a capacity of 9.59 lakh MT per year.
  • Breed Improvement Technology & Multiplication Farm: 31 units have been supported.
  • Animal Waste to Wealth Management: 1 project has received support.
  • Setting up of Veterinary Vaccine and Drugs Production Facilities: 1 project has received support.
• National Livestock Mission

  The National Livestock Mission (NLM) was initiated in 2014-15. This Mission was created with the goal of achieving long-term development of the livestock industry by focusing on enhancing the availability of quality feed and fodder, risk coverage, effective extension, improved credit flow, and livestock farmer/rearing organisation, among other things. NLM was recently amended and restructured, with a budget of US$ 280.35 million (Rs. 2,300 crore) for the next five years, beginning in 2021-22. The scheme is implemented through the three Sub-Missions listed below:

  • Sub-Mission on Breed Development of Livestock & Poultry: Proposes to put a greater emphasis on entrepreneurship development and breed improvement in poultry, sheep, goats, and piggery by providing incentives to individuals, FPOs, SHGs, and Section 8 companies for entrepreneurship development, as well as the State Government for breed improvement infrastructure.
  • Sub-Mission on Feed and Fodder development: This Sub-Mission is to strengthen the fodder seed chain in order to increase the availability of certified fodder seed needed for fodder production, as well as to encourage entrepreneurs to develop fodder Block/Hey Bailing/Silage Making Units through incentivisation.
  • Sub-Mission on Extension and Innovation: The sub-mission is to incentivize institutes, universities, and organisations that do research and development in the sheep, goat, pig, and feed and fodder sectors, as well as extension operations, livestock insurance, and innovation.

• Rashtriya Gokul Mission

  Since December 2014, the Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) has been undertaken to develop and conserve indigenous bovine breeds. The initiative is vital in increasing milk output and bovine productivity to meet rising milk demand while also making dairying more profitable for the country's rural farmers. The plan has been continued under the umbrella scheme Development Programmes from 2021 to 2026, with a financial outlay of US$ 292.54 million (Rs. 2,400 crore). The scheme will boost productivity, and the program's benefits will reach 80 million dairy farmers, particularly small and marginal farmers. 

  • Accelerated Breed Improvement programme using IVF
  • Sex-sorted semen production
  • Establishment of Breed Multiplication Farms
  • Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme
  • Induction of MAITRIs
  • Progeny testing and Pedigree selection
  • Animal Husbandry Startup Grand Challenge 2.0
  • Farmer Awareness programme
  • e-GOPALA app
  • National Kamdhenu Breeding Centre

Road Ahead

India's milk output has surged by more than 44%, and the country is on track to become a major player in the global dairying and animal supply chain. To provide an impetus for technological innovations, the government has facilitated the creation of platforms such as the e-Gopala app, INAPH (Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health), and the National Digital Livestock Mission – these initiatives have broadened the scope for innovations and interventions by startups. The livestock and dairying industry in the country has been particularly promising, as it constitutes the backbone of the country's rural economy and employs nearly 200 million Indians.