Agriculture and animals are also well mentioned in our Vedas and Samhita that represents the happiness and prosperity to the society and people. The contribution of livestock in total agriculture and allied sector GVA (at constant prices) has increased from 24.32% in 2014-15 to 30.13% in 2020-21. Livestock sector contributed 4.90% of total GVA in 2020-21. Number of cattle (including milch cattle), buffaloes, mithun, yak, horses & ponies, donkeys, camel, sheep, goat and pigs in the country are 193.46, 109.85, 0.39, 0.058, 0.34, 0.084, 0.12, 0.25, 74.26, 148.88 and 9.08 million, respectively (Livestock census, 2019). Livestock populations were 536.752 million in the year 2019 with declining growth of yak, horses & ponies, donkeys, camel and pigs. Backyard and commercial poultry were 317.07 and 534.74 million, respectively (Livestock Census, 2019). In India, mechanization in dairy farming started very late and at a low pace, unlike several other sectors of agriculture. The average dairy farm herd size in the country is between 3-5 animals. The small farmer is practicing/adopting traditional practice such as cows milked and forages harvested manually. The mechanization of the small dairies, which belong to marginal and small farmers, are needed to be addressed with priority since there has been acute shortage of labour in rural areas because of man-power migration to urban areas in quest of better opportunities. Poultry is also another way of getting food and nutritional security in India which employs about 1.5 million people. Of late, the mechanization interventions in this sector with respect to handling of eggs, hatching of eggs, meat and automation of feeding, drinking water supply, maintenance and sanitation of poultry farms have raised concern for better hygiene requirement and market demand. The desirable interventions for stress- free and healthy housing of the poultry, dairy and draught animals with respect to climate change also have got severe impact on their health, growth and productivity which is need to be addressed. It is also clear that many kinds of agricultural machinery and equipment related to dairy and poultry farming are being promoted and adopted by some large size farmers in the country. These mechanical, electronic equipment and automation technologies saved time and increase the efficiency of labour. The level of mechanization is lower in the family type enterprises than in the modern livestock enterprises. It is proved that the application of mechanization has potential for the disposal efficiency of livestock and poultry farming waste, effectively reduced the pollution discharge, improved the living environment, and laid foundation for the sustainable development for livestock industry. Mechanization is the use of mechanical and electronic equipment to reduce the need for human labour with reduced drudgery for increasing overall productivity. Encouraging points of mechanization are time saving, requiring less labour, improving product quality, increasing production, increasing efficiency, accuracy and safety.
Bullock farming is prevalent in the many states/UT of the country. Bullocks are prominent source for the farmers for interculture operation at various stages of crops like cotton, chilly, castor, turmeric, soybean etc and ridge/ furrow making in many states of the country. Farmers having bullocks are earning Rs. 1000 and Rs. 1500 to 3000 per day in tillage and interculture operation, respectively. Farmers prominently use bullock operated interculture tools for various wide-row sown crop due to lack of viable mechanical alternative for the operation. Farmers are using bullock carts throughout year for transportation of agriculture produce, FYM disposal to fields, movements from home to field etc. In recent impact study conducted at ICAR-CIAE Bhopal indicated benefit to society in operation of animal drawn blade harrow and 2/3 row seed drill is Rs. 4312 crore per annum.
Artificial intelligence has become an intrinsic part of our daily life. The infrared camera technology can enhance and improve the productive capacity by the third eye monitoring of animals and livestock. Facial recognition and monitoring health status, livestock farmers can detect the onset of health issues often before clinical symptoms appear. It has the potential to improve productivity, enhance traceability, assist in disease prevention and provide for animal health and well-being accountability.
Dr. Shiv Pratap Singh, Ph.D (FMP)
Project Coordinator
Fellow- IE(I), RASSA, SSRP, AIF & ISNS
AICRP on Mechanization of Animal Husbandry (MAH)
ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, MP, India – 462038
Mobile: 9425650815 Whatsapp 9868577092
Office: +917552734731 / +917552521172