Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ ______________________________ ______ ____ ___ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 2012 ), 42 - 44 (201 2 ) Res.J. Recent .Sci. International Science Congress Association 42 Review Paper Strategies for Sustainable Dairy Farming in India: A Review Shahi Sudhir Kumar 1 , Singh Rajvir 2 , Mishra U.K. 3 and Mishra D.J. 4 1 Dept. of A.H. and Dairying , Janta College, Bakewar, Etawah, UP, INDIA 2 Dept. of Agronomy , Janta College, Bakewar, Etawah, UP, INDIA 3 Dept. of Ag. Botany , Janta College, Bakewar, Etawah, UP, INDIA 4 Dept. of Soil Science and Ag. Chemistry , Janta College, Bakewar, Etawah, UP, INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in Received 17 th August 2 012 , revised 27 th August 2012 , accepted 29 th August 2012 Abstract Livestock production is the vital sector which action a major source of income to the impoverished rural households throughou t the world. Live stock equip people with food, income, draug ht power and fertilizer and act as the major livelihood means of millions of our country, where crop farming faces challenges India is one among the fastest growing economics of the world an d mainly depends on the agrarian sector as a tool for progress. Da iry sector is emerging as the highest contributor to the agricultural wealth of India, surpassing even cereals. India is the highest milk producing country in the world contributing 17% of the world production. The annual m ilk production in India has reach ed 121.50 million ton es in 2011 against the 17 million tonnes in 1951 and the annual growth rate in this sector is 4 % which is nearly three times that of the world. Sustainable da iry farming is an interaction of many factors that influence production and reproduction environment, longevity of live and input management . Keywords: Dairy farming, l ivelihood, l ivestock, s ustainable. Introduction The contribution of dairy animal is widely recognized. Our country is blessed with vast dairy resource. Dairy farming involves a group of interaction of many fac tors that influence production and reproduction, environment and management. Dairy cooperatives cover about 60,000 villages all over India and only 12 - 14 per cent of total milk production is canalized thr ough organized sector 1 . Concerted efforts should, therefore be directed towards unorganized dairy farmers by providing necessary inputs and make them to adopt newer milk production technologies. India has become the world’s largest milk producer but its sh are in the world milk trade is very minimal. An attempt to identify problems of the farmers and to resolve the same for improving the export earning and higher returns to dairy farmers is discussed in this paper. Various tips have also been given for effic ient identification and formulation of dairy husbandry. Ever since the creation of mankind, the major thrust has been on the search for food for existence. Thus, for human population, the nature provided a continuous supply of food. Plants and animals were utilized by man as foods during the prehistoric period. Subsequent domestication of animals and evolution of crop raising activities made animals farming as a subsidiary to agriculture. In western countries, animal husbandry is even now referred to as ‘An imal Agriculture’. However, of late, dairy industry has shown the ability to sustain itself as a profitable industry in many sphere over - powering the traditional dominance exercised by agriculture. This trend is witnessed all over the world. Fortunately, o ur country is blessed with vast dairy resources. Cattle and buffaloes population are the highest in India (Annual report, 2000). Dairying is acknowledged as the major instrument in bringing about socio - economic transformation of rural poor in our country . Milk is the second largest agricultural commodity produced in our country next only to rice. India’s bovine population is about 19.2 per cent of world’s and 51.0 per cent of Asia’s population with annual production of about 121.50 million tons of milk (2 011). Considering the biological value of milk protein, our traditional habit of including milk in daily dietary have been one of the most important factors that had saved millions of children of our country from developing malnutrition syndromes. Since, ever growing human population is making scarcely available land still more scarce, our aim to improve milk output should be by way of improving productivity of the animals rather than increasing the heads of bovine population 2 . Concerted efforts should he nceforth be directed towards the dairy farmers contributing major proportion of our country’s milk production to provide necessary input and make them adopt newer technologies in breeding, housing, feeding, rearing and health care to ensure substantial gro wth in milk output. Further, even though India has become the world’s largest major milk producer with the cost of milk production being very low next only to New Zealand, its share in world’s milk trade is very minimal. Exports earnings through ghee, ski m and whole milk powders are increasing, while import of special cheeses and Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ________ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 2012 ), 4 2 - 44 (201 3 ) Res.J.Recent.Sci International Science Congress Association 43 butter oil is also showing an increasing trend. Under the most favorable environment, created by WTO agreement, to improve our export earning through this sector and ensure better returns to dairy farmers, research efforts should be directed towards new product development through biotechnology (genetically modified cultures and convenient packaging, ensuring, higher shelf life). Further, improved compliance to milk food legislatio n and conforming to international standards will also aid in improving export avenues for dairy products. Indian dairy industry is so well developed on modern lines. It has acquired the technologies and engineering capabilities so well that now it is in a position to even export such technologies to other nations. Problems Confronting Sustainable Dairy Production: There is wide variation in (i) agro - climatic condition, (ii) biodiversity and ecology (iii) socio economic and cultural background of people, (iv ) types/breeds of dairy cattle reared. It is therefore necessary to plan for dairy development specific to each micro level, viz., a block, a village, a taluk and a district. This planning not only would result in optimum utilization of local resources, but will also ensure better viability of the programs and higher cost benefits ratio 3 . Before embarking on planning and formulation of dairy development programs, it is necessary to consider environmental impact (water bodies’ pollution, over grazing of g rasslands, degradation of watersheds, deforestation). Nowadays, environmental aspect is very much stressed by the private parties and multinational agencies while funding the animal husbandry projects. Notwithstanding above consideration, it is essential to adopt the following tips for efficient identification and formulation of animal husbandry and veterinary projects: Need for identifying such technologies, which demand less capital, less time and minimum operations. Need to explore the possibilities of providing loans at the lowest interest rates with subsidies for dairy development activities. Need for Gradual improvement of existing indigenous breeds of animals. Need for Gradual removal of useless stock and replacement with high yielding superior qual ity animals. Need to Gradual manipulation in husbandry practice for improving animal productivity and adoption of biotechnological interventions in feed and fodder, reproduction and growth aspects. Need for Government role in improving the supply of inputs and service to dairy farmers / beneficiaries at their doorsteps with minimum cost. Need Contribution from various nongovernmental agencies/organization to ease the problems of farmers in association with the governmental agencies. Need for developing viab le farmer’s cooperatives societies / federations like, milk producers cooperative societies at village and district levels, federations, boards and corporations. Need for simultaneous development of cold chain storage and marketing facilities especially fo r milk and milk products. Need for extensions services from the Government, Agriculture Universities, R&D institutions, federations and corporation, besides mobilization of various input services from various agencies. Table – 1 Per Capita Availability a nd Production of Milk in India Year Per Capita Availability of Milk (g/day) Production (Million tones) 2001 - 2002 222 80.9 2002 - 2003 234 85.9 2003 - 2004 237 89.4 2004 - 2005 240 92.2 2006 - 2007 246 100.9 2007 - 2008 252 104.8 2008 - 2009 258 108.5 2009 - 20 10 263 112.5 2010 - 2011 281 121.80 Source: Economic survey 2011 - 12, ministry of Finance Govt. of India Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ________ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 2 ( ISC - 2012 ), 1 - 6 (201 2 ) Res.J.Recent.Sci International Science Congress Association 44 Plann ing a Sustainable Dairy Project: It may be useful to consider the following information for planning and development of new dairy husbandry and v eterinary projects which would be sustainable throughout 4 . Dairy Cattle Population : First step is to know the existing number position of dairy animals in the different dairy sub zones of the country thro ugh available records such as Census report of bot h hum an and dairy cattle populations, reports of survey conducted, a ctu ally conducting a sample survey, w ith these records, we can obtain the appropriate information for identification and development of suitable dairy development projects a nd schemes at g rassroots level. The information can be classified as follows: Number of cattle, buffalo, total males and females, females in milk, dry and pregnancy, males as breeding bulls, young males and females, etc. Work animals: regional requirement and availabi lity of drought animals. Productivity - high yielder, low yielder, etc. in respect of milk Breed - Nondescript, indigenous, exotic upgraded or crossbr eed etc. Feed Resources Available : Pasture grazing land Green fodder available and short falls in supply Av ailability of dry fodder Concentrate, type and cost, quality, brand Mineral mixer . Categories of Holdings : One is landless agricultural workers, marginal, small, medium and large farmers. Other is extent of Usage of Natural Resources like Land, Human (la bor), Capital and entrepreneurship. Existing Infrastructure facilities : Veterinary hospitals, dispensaries, and rural veterinary dispensaries (veterinary primary health centers) . AI centers - AI breeding facilities with liquid or frozen semen. Semen ban ks – semen collection, evaluation and freezing, facilities with adequate facilities for storing, of frozen semen. Cooperatives – primary / secondary societies for meeting the farmers demands and provision of inputs inclusive of soft term, short term and m edium term loans. Extension services – Animal husbandry and dairying. Chilling centers – M ilk collection and chilling units and transportation to processing units. Feed plants – manufacturing of compounded feed. Availability of m anpower. Drought Power : Worldwide, animals are stills very important source of power for agriculture operations and for transportation of goods and people. It is widely used in developing countries like ours. Bullocks, buffaloes, horses, mules and camel are very widely use in our country for drought purpose and their role in saving of energy and there by the most precious foreign exchange 5 . It is estimated to be Rs. 45,000 crore per year. It should be emphasized that depleting levels of fossils fuels may slow down or even rever se the mechanization trends witnessed even in developed countries. Conclusion Dairy industry is poised to play a major role in our nation’s economy in the years to come. The value of milk is set to achieve a new boom. The industry’s major contribution i n providing newer avenues for employment, both direct and indirect, and its role in improving the nutritional standards of our people also add to the importance that needs to be attached to this sector during the 21st century. References 1. Annual Report, N ABARD National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mumbai (1999) 2. Anon Annual Report on National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, (ICAR), Bangalore (2000) 3. Basic animal husbandry statics, Dept. of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheri es, Govt. of India (2010) 4. Economic survey, ministry of finance, Govt. of India (2010 - 11) 5. Sooch S.S., Value addition and promoting life style of rural masses through efficient livestock waste disposal. Proceedings of the national symposium on emerging manag ement concepts for sustainable livestock and poultry production, ISAPMCON, Nov.2 - 4, Ludhiana, Punjab (2011)