Animal rearing
Animal rearing · dairy · poultry · fisheries · cattle breeds · Rashtriya Gokul Mission
12 min read · Updated 2026-05-25
What is Animal husbandry?
Animal husbandry is the breeding, feeding, healthcare and management of farm animals, and with fisheries it contributes about 37 percent of India's agricultural GDP. India is the world's largest milk producer, at 230.58 million tonnes in 2022-23, a position built by Operation Flood (1970-96) under Verghese Kurien's Anand cooperative pattern; fish production was 17.54 million tonnes.
The story
It is 26 November 1970. Verghese Kurien, chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), launches Operation Flood — the world's largest dairy development programme. 75% of India's milk at that time came from buffaloes; supply was famine-vulnerable; Anand Pattern Cooperatives were nascent. Three phases (Phase I 1970-80, II 1981-85, III 1985-96) later, India would become the world's largest milk producer (since 1998).
Today, in 2024, India produces 230.58 million tonnes of milk (FY23) — about 23% of global production. Per capita milk availability: 459 grams/day — above the world average of 322 g. Dairy contributes ~5% of India's GDP and 33% of agricultural GDP. The dairy sector employs **80 million households**, of which ~70% are small + marginal + landless.
Yet milk yield per animal is low: India ~1,777 kg/cow/year vs USA 10,000+ kg vs Israel 12,000+ kg. Productivity bottleneck = under-nutrition + low-yielding indigenous breeds + late conception. The Rashtriya Gokul Mission (2014) is meant to fix exactly that.
For UPSC, animal husbandry is where dairy revolution, poultry-feed-grain economics, fisheries Blue Revolution, and zoonotic-disease threats (avian influenza, lumpy skin disease, FMD) converge.
Why this matters for UPSC
GS-III tests Operation Flood, NDP, NLM, PMMSY, fisheries Blue Revolution every 2 years. Prelims hits Sahiwal/Gir, dairy schemes, NDDB role, PMMSY corpus regularly. Honest: 2 marks Prelims/cycle, one 10-mark Mains every 2-3 years.