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Problems And Prospects Of Milk
Production In Bihar
B. P. S. Yadav, S. K. Barari and A. Dey
Livestock and Fishery Improvement and Management Programme,
ICAR- Research Complex for Eastern Region, CAR Parisar, Bihar Veterinary College P. O.
Patna- 800 014
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Introduction
The principal objective of agricultural development of our country has been to bring about substantial reduction in poverty and income inequality. However, crop production sector alone is not sufficient to bring out this change. So, emphasis has to be given to develop suitable strategy for sustainable development of all the components of agriculture including animal husbandry and fisheries etc as subsidiary activities for overall rural development. Animal husbandry stands second after crop production in rural income generation activities. It had the modest share of 26.4% in 1993-94 of the GDP from agriculture and allied activities. Within the livestock sector, share of milk is found highest (65%), followed by meat (19%) and others. Milk alone contributes higher than rice or wheat alone in terms of GDP.
Dairying thus has been an important source of subsidiary income to small/marginal farmers and agricultural labourers. Since, agriculture is mostly seasonal, there is a possibility of finding employment throughout the year for many persons through dairy farming. Thus, dairy also provides employment throughout the year. The main beneficiaries of dairy farming are small/marginal farmers and landless labourers. In landless production system, livestock is the second source of income after labour. Bihar livestock sector accounted for approximately 25% of the total agricultural output in 2002-03 among which milk alone accounted for 50% (World Bank, 2007).
The State of Bihar, located in the eastern region of India has got a total 94,163 sq.km. area with human population of 82.88 million and population density of 880 (2001 census). The percentage of rural population is 89.60 out of which 84.55% depend on farm sector alone. Out of its total area, about 66.72 thousand sq.km. is under farm sector. About 60% of the cultivable land had irrigation facilities. The NSSO household consumer expenditure survey, 1999-2000 reveals that Bihar has 44 percent rural people living below poverty line against the national average of 26 percent (http://www.bihar.nic.in/Depts/PlanningDevelopment /Plan%20Content.htm). Hence, they are dependent on livestock enterprise for their livelihood. Moreover, a substantial land in both South and North Bihar is under rainfed agriculture and large portion is under the risk of frequent flood. Therefore, livestock/ dairying is the primary source of livelihood in this area.
Since ages, animal husbandry as a whole and dairying in particular remain a source of sustenance in rural areas of Bihar. However, it seems that the animal resources of Bihar are not utilized to the fullest potential. The article attempts to analyze the present scenario of dairying in Bihar along with suggestions for future development.
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Milk production scenario
India's milk production has increased from 21.2 million MT in 1968 to 88.1 million MT in 2003-04 showing an annual growth rate of 3.8 percent surpassing the 2 per cent growth in population; the net increase in availability is around 2 per cent per year. The per capita milk availability rose from 112 g per day during 1968-69 to 231g per day during 2003-04 (www.nddb.org/achievement/ataglance. html). On the other hand it is observed that the per capita milk availability remained almost static over last decade in Bihar (102 g/day in 1991-92, 100 g/day in 2003-04). In Bihar, the estimated milk production in 2001-02 was 4.068 lakh tonnes while it was 3.25 lakh tonnes in 1994-95. It is also observed that estimated productivity of the Eastern and North-Eastern region per lactating animal (1.03 lit/day) is much lower than India’s (2.91 lit/day), though the number of milch animals per household are comparable (0.69 and 0.65 animals, respectively) (Working Group 2001).
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The milk production on National basis has grown over 4% annually between 1990-91 and 2000-01. However, production showed a declining trend for milk after 1990-91. During last five years, annual growth in milk production has been further reduced to 2.58%. In Bihar a marginally higher growth rate has been recorded in the same period at 3.89%.
Dairy sector in Bihar is characterized by very large number of animals with low productivity. Average animal productivity of crossbred, indigenous and buffalo has been recorded as 4.9, 1.6 and 3.4 kg per day, respectively during 1998-99 (World Bank, 2007). As per 1997 Livestock Census the state possesses over 12.36% and 6.54%of India’s total cattle and buffalo population, respectively. The share of crossbred is about 1.15% of total crossbred cattle population in India. Bihar holds 7.87% of total milch bovine population of India. Dairy sector is highly livelihood intensive and provide supplementary income to most
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50
Dairy Year Book 2008 |
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