On the occasion of 50th Anniversary, CLFMA of India organised golden jubilee celebration ceremony on 15-16 Sept., 2017 in Mumbai. On this occasion professionals representing different institutions and diversified fields related to feed production across India had come together to discuss and work out the strategies towards achieving the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s mission of “Doubling farmers’ income by 2022”. The theme of the symposium was to discuss the “Role of Animal Agriculture in Doubling Farmers’ Income”.
The event witnessed a swarm of representatives from animal agriculture companies across India as well as abroad who participated in the two-day event. At an event inaugurated by Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of Maharashtra, CLFMA, the nodal association of livestock industry called for liaison with the governments, institutions and associations to formulate favourable policies which would help upbringing the sectors growth and improve farmers’ income. Present at the ceremony were Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India, Shri Mahadev Jankar, Hon’ble Minister of Animal Husbandry Dairy & Fisheries, Government of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Chaudhary, Secretary (ADF), Government of India among others.
Mr B Soundararajan, Chairman, CLFMA addressed the dignitaries and the delegates and discussed how animal farming can be crucial in addressing various agriculture issues, especially, how it can help farmers in boosting their income.
“Integrated farming will help doubling farmer’s income by 2022. The Government is promoting agriculture and allied sectors to boost farmers’ productivity. It’s now time for a white and blue revolution where the dairy industry and aquaculture activities will play a major role,” said Union Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh.
Shri Devendra Fadnavis also shared his views on the how Research & Development can play a major role in improving animal stock conditions in India and together with allied sectors, various aspects can be explored.
Mr. Devendra Chaudhary, IAS, Secretary of AHD & F, Govt. of India. In his address emphasised that there is no other alternative than Animal husbandry to double farmers income in India. He mentioned that contribution of Agriculture to GDP has come down from 34% to 17% while that of livestock industry in Agriculture has gone up from 14% to 27% in last 25 years. He quoted FAO saying that if we invest one dollar in India – manufacturing and services sector will return 2.9 dollars, agriculture 3.6 dollars and livestock will return 4.7 dollars, thereby highlighting the role of animal agriculture in Indian economy. He further emphasised that there is need to bring Animal Husbandry from margins of country’s growth to main stream and centre of country’s growth.
On 16th Sept., two technical sessions were held, followed by the Plenary Session towards the end of the Symposium.
Talking about raw material security for sustained profits, S. Shivakumar, Group Head of Agri & IT Business of ITC Ltd, said that the kind of raw material procured suggests to make the final product and that reducing the cost of supply chain helps in increasing the profits.
Dr. Pratap Singh Birthal, ICAR National Professor at NIAEPR, New Delhi, regretted that there is a very weak extension link existing in India with respect to animal agriculture. Only 5 % of the farmers are getting information on newer technologies, even then the rate of growth in animal sector is higher than in agricultural sector. He said that In fact, livestock has a larger effect in poverty alleviation, having 1.5 times more potential to reduce poverty.
Dr. A.K. Srivastava, Chairman , Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board, New Delhi said that there is a need to allocate more budget for the development of Animal Industry. On the pattern of crop loans, loans should be extensively given to animal keepers also. There is a dearth of good germplasm for breeding of cows. Fodder production is another neglected area, and needs immediate action to help overcome fodder shortage.
Other speakers included Ms Parizaad Zorabian, Zorabian Foods who revealed the success story of her family Poultry/ Egg business, while Linda Brown, Nutrition Consultant, Sydney University Poultry Research Foundation in Sydney, discussed the benefits of egg white protein in human diet.
