Animal Husbandry in India

Animal husbandry in India is a crucial component of agriculture contributing gainful employment to small farmers and the agricultural labourers. It also provides the essential proteins for human beings through meat, eggs, milk, etc. It also provides the organic manure through animal excreta.

India is the largest producer in milk and milk products in the world. The per capita availability of milk in India is around 337 gm/day/head. India accounts for 57% of buffaloes and 30% of cattle population in the world.

India ranks first in the world in buffalo and cattle population, ranks second in position in goat population, ranks third in the case of sheep population and it ranks seventh in chicken meat production and ranks third in case of egg production.

Animal Breeds in India

Animal breeds in India mainly include cattle breeds, buffalo breeds, poultry breeds, sheep and goat breeds

• Cattle Breeds - There are variety of cattle breeds that exist in India. Because of low average milk that is produced per cow, Indian cow is sometimes called "Tea-cup-cow".
  
  The following are the cattle breeds in India.
  
  
  • Milch Breeds - Gir Breed of Gujarat, Sindhi / Red Sindhi Breed of Gujarat and Rajasthan and Sahiwal Breed of Punjab and Haryana.
    
    
  • Draught Breed - Nagori breed of Rajasthan, Kherigarh of Uttar Pradesh, Hallikar of Karnataka and Khillari breed of Vidarbha in Maharashtra.
    
    
  • Dual Purpose Breed - Tharparkar breed of Gujarat and Rajasthan, Kankrej of Gujarat plains, Nimari breed of Narmada valley region of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, Ongole breed of Andhra Pradesh and Dangi breed of Maharashtra.
    
    
  • Exotic Breed - Jersey, Ayrshire, Fleckvieh, Holstein-Friesian and Brown Swiss.
  
  
• Buffalo Breeds - Important buffalo breeds of India are Murrah (a Haryana Breed), Bhadawari (Agra region in Uttar Pradesh), Jaffarabadi (Gir region of Gujarat), Surti (Gujarat plains), Nili Ravi (Punjab), etc.
  
  
• Sheep and Goat Breeds - Goat is regarded to be "Poor man's cow". Different breeds of goats and sheep that are found in India are Angora breed of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, Pashmina breed of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh that yields best quality "Mohair" wool and Jamunapari breed found between Yamuna and Chambal rivers.
  
  
• Poultry Breeds - Nirbheek, Hitkari, Chabro and Vanaraja.

Institutes Related to Animal Husbandry

• Central Frozen Semen Production and Training Institute, Hessaraghatta, Karnataka
  
  
• Central Sheep Breeding Farm, Hisar, Haryana
  
  
• Central Cattle Breeding Farms at Suratgarh (Rajasthan), Chiplima and Sunabeda (Odisha), Alamadhi (Tamil Nadu), Dhamrod (Gujarat), Hessaraghatta (Karnataka) and Andesh Nagar (Uttar Pradesh).
  
  
• National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana
  
  
• National Dairy Development Board, Anand, Gujarat