Animal rearing

Story hook

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.