Economics of Animal-Rearing

Animal rearing since the 1950s has been at a gradual growth with increased numbers of ranches and quantity of livestock.

The major factors affecting growth are increasing demand for animal products and the advent of export-oriented processing facilities in various parts of the country catering to a burgeoning demand for exported meat products.

Animal Rearing

Animal rearing is the process of rearing animals for use as livestock, meat, eggs, fur or wool, and working animals. Although most of the focus in agriculture is from a crop and feed or crop standpoint, animal husbandry has often been an important part of farming. This means a person who owns or controls domestic livestock such as cattle, sheep, or pigs.

Comparing Indian and international animal rearing trends reveals that this sector is at a nascent stage. The major factor stimulating growth has been the advent of export-oriented processing units in different parts, catering to a burgeoning demand for exported meat products.

Although there is a great deal to be desired in this area, animal rearing, particularly on a large scale, can be attributed to the nature of the livestock. The most important factors that influence meat production are feed cost – which includes market prices of feed and production costs –animal nutrition, and management, with the principal economic input being feed cost.

Economics of Animal Rearing

The economics of animal rearing depends on the following factors:

Species Nutritional requirements Feed costs Production costs Maintenance and management costs the Market price of produce.

Species: The effects of species and species diversity on both livestock production and the health of the land should be examined.

Every species has its life cycle, morphological form, feeding habits, and consumption pattern. Therefore, a mixture of livestock could ensure that all these requirements are met. For example, grazing and browsing livestock may be appropriate for the same area.

Different species have different protein requirements and have to be fed differently. The proportion of legumes and grasses in a mixed ration can be varied according to the requirements of each species.

The economic costs of stocking different species should be studied for the following reasons:

To ensure the general health and safety of animals. To ensure that limited feed resources are used efficiently. To provide a varied diet for livestock to reduce the incidence of diseases caused by nutritional imbalances.

Nutritional Requirements: The nutritional requirements of livestock depend upon their metabolism and physiological processes, which depend upon species, breed, and size. These vary from species to species and get even more complicated when livestock are housed together.

The nutritional needs of cattle are very different from that of a camel or a fish; therefore, there is no compromise in feeding schemes between these animals. The animal nutrition needs of the cow and buffalo differ from that of the camel; again, there is no compromise in feeding schemes between these animals.

The breeding program for cattle should be based on the nutritional requirements for individual breeds and not on an arbitrary blend of two breeds.

Rearing of Animals for Sale

If the rancher aims to rear animals for sale, they must be fed according to market demand and prices. The economic factor mainly influencing the sale price of animals is their productivity in terms of liveweight gains or carcass and offal yields.

Furthermore, there are significant differences in carcass yield between breeds and species and between sexes. However, live weight gain figures provide a good indication of animal productivity.

Rearing of Animals at a Large scale

If the rancher aims to rear animals on a large scale, then the number of animals depends on three factors:

Population Size concerning available resources (land, pasture, and water) Density (number of animals per ha) Productivity in terms of liveweight gains or carcass and offal yields

The range within which a particular species can be customarily reared can be determined by weighing the information gained from a range of species. The results should then be compared with an analogous scheme for a common species.

Nutritional requirements: Even when care is taken in breeding, rearing, and feeding animals, the final product may not be the same as the original stock because of the influence of factors such as availability of feed, age at slaughter, and disease.

Therefore, it is important to adopt a statistical approach to evaluate animal performance in different systems. Furthermore, this should be done by comparing performance for three or more years to establish a trend or a pattern.

Conclusion

The whole issue of production, rearing, and income of the animal husbandry sector depends on the growth in demand for meat products, which may result from an increase in population or expansion in agriculture.

Furthermore, useful information can be obtained from exploiting the resource of Indian cattle breeds due to their suitable characteristics like high milk yield, calving ease, etc. The strengths and weaknesses of the economics of the animal rearing sector in India should be considered in the future. The economic analysis of this sector can be done to ascertain the importance of each factor and its contribution.