Can Budget 2018 address Small Livestock Farmers’ Challenges?

Can Budget 2018 address Small Livestock Farmers’ Challenges?

By:

Vijay Sardana

Do you know, animal population is more than human population in India. Why there is no feed and fodder policy, health and insurance services and what is the policy for aged animals? Stray animals will destroy field crops and will create law and order problem in villages and traffic and civic nuisance in cities. Who will take care of unwanted animals? 
In absence of clear policy and budget allocations, we may see sick and dead animals all around in coming days. This can be health risk to humans as well.

Where are the data?

How much Milk, egg, meat and fish is required by Indian consumers every year? 

Where are the estimates? 

Why Economic Survey is quite on demand estimates? 

In absence of demand estimates, budget is also not giving any clear direction for feed, fodder and input requirements for livestock sector.

According to Economic Survey 2018, the median agricultural incomes (as measured by income from cultivation, net of cost and unsold produce valued at local market rates) at about Rs.19,250 in 2012-13 or about Rs. 1600 per month or Rs. 52.74 per day, are still meager (NSS, 2012-13). 

In Rs. 52.74, no family can even buy the minimum calorie requirements from the cheapest source of food. It means average farmer family not only poor but also sick due to lack of minimum nutrition intake. Still MSP is not calculated based on farmers need, but based on political compulsions. NO political party is keen to address this mess and accept the flaw in system.

Issue are:

The percentage of monthly average household expenditure on productive assets shows that among the households that possess less than 0.4 hectares of land, almost 50 percent of average expenditure is incurred on livestock and poultry

The poultry production in India has taken a quantum leap in the last four decades, emerging from an unscientific farming practice to a commercial production system with state-of-the-art technological interventions. 

The total poultry population in our country is 729.21 million (as per 19^th Livestock Census) and egg production is around 82.93 billion during 2015-16. The per capita availability (2015-16) is around 66 eggs per annum. 

Milk has cross requirement for minimum intake and now there is pressure on milk prices in most part of India.

No government is willing to address meat requirement issues, whereas 70% Indian population is non-vegetarian.

Government Allocation for livestock needs relook:

To support agenda of doubling farmers income with the help of livestock sector, the government must relook at its budget allocation.

Need to have proper marketing infrastructure free of cartels. According to budget, an Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of Rs. 2000 crore will be set up for developing and upgrading agricultural marketing infrastructure in the 22000 Grameen Agricultural Markets (GrAMs) and 585 APMCs. It is not clear how much is allocated for the livestock sector. Today, one of the biggest problems with livestock sector is there is no livestock marketing system in the country. It is either fulling unorganized or cartelized or monopolized. There is no law, regulation, and system for price discovery. There must be an urgent step to ensure proper regulatory regime for the livestock sector to ensure benefit reaches small farmers.

Operation Greens & FPO schemes must include Livestock sector:

Government proposes to launch an ‘‘Operation Greens’’ on the lines of ‘‘Operation Flood’’. ‘‘Operation Greens’’ shall promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management. The proposal is to allocate a sum of Rs. 500 crore for this purpose. Operation Green must cover perishable livestock products like meat, fish, and milk as well to support small farmers.

Without supporting small livestock farmers in the form of FPOs and without marketing support doubling farmers income cannot be achieved.

Livestock Exports and Non-tariff barriers:

India’s agri-exports potential is as high as US $ 100 billion against current exports of US $ 30 billion. To realize this potential, export of agri-commodities will be liberalized. To promote exports the most important task is to address non-tariff barriers hurting Indian exports. To address this challenge there must be a massive investment in healthcare and extension services so that farmers get the latest updated information as part of their production process guidelines. Unless there is a systematic focus on eradicating disease and other health-related issues, exports are difficult to improve. To address this government must plan massive support for healthcare investments in the livestock sector.

Why is Livestock sector out of Mega Food Parks Scheme?

Government proposes to set up state-of-the-art testing facilities in all the forty-two Mega Food Parks. Not a single mega-food park is focused on livestock and Fisheries sector.

Every state has massive livestock population. No farmer is willing to keep unproductive animals. In absence of any livestock policy, there will be a serious problem of stray animals, lack of private investment and there will be an acute problem on law and order due to stray animals in villages. The government must address this issue before it becomes a national liability. There will be competition for land and water to ensure feed for stray animals.

Credit Cards for livestock sector may become liability in absence of insurance and healthcare support

Government proposes to extend the facility of Kisan Credit Cards to fisheries and animal husbandry farmers to help them meet their working capital needs. Small and marginal farmers will get more benefits.

Credit Card will welcome step but without price realization of egg, meat, and milk, it may become a liability. In many places, milk prices are already below the cost of production and livestock is becoming a liability.There is no marketing intervention scheme like MSP for the livestock sector. There is no clear livestock marketing policy for livestock farmers. In absence of marketing policy, existing cartels in APMC markets will not allow livestock farmers to grow financially.

MGNREGA must create rural livestock marketing infrastructure:

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA) can be used for Cattle Shed / Poultry Shelter /  Piggery shed. In absence of clear policy, this will lead to massive corruption due to discretionary powers for the implementation agency. In place of individual sheds, this scheme should be used to address the needs of common infrastructure facilities like market yards, veterinary hospitals and fodder storage sheds and these should be handed over to cooperatives and panchayats for management.

Livestock is ATM machine for farmer, please support it logically:

In brief, the livestock sector is like ATM machine for farmers and can address distress among small farmers. This needs proper elaborate planning. Simply budget allocation will not help and in fact may damage more due to uneven development due to lack of proper fodder, feed and healthcare services.