Potentialities and Prospects of Livestock Development

Animal husbandry plays a significant role and rapidly growing section in rural economy in supplementary income of rural households, particularly the landless, small and marginal farmers. It also provides subsidiary occupation in semi urban areas for people living in hilly, tribal and drought prone areas where farming may not sustain the family. India’s animal wealth is both large and varied. It accounts for 57 per cent of the world’s buffalo population and 15 per cent of the cattle population. The country has the largest number of livestock in the world. Animal render extremely useful service in our transport system and millions of world population. Several industries are solely dependent on animal products for raw materials. The quality of animals has improved and the amount of production of animal products has increased considerably in recent years, though we are still far below the level of development in the western countries in both.