-Economic and Political Weekly There has been a major change in the composition and mix of the cattle population in India. The proportion of male cattle has declined sharply as farmers do not fi nd it worthwhile to maintain bullocks to plough holdings that are becoming smaller and smaller. The composition of the milch cattle population too is changing. The proportion of the indigenous breed is falling and that of the...

-PTI National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) today launched a mobile application that will recommend a balanced diet for cows and buffaloes to help boost dairy farmers' income by raising milk yield and cutting feed cost. The mobile application, named 'Pashu Poshan', was launched by the Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh. The application, which will be available on both web and android platforms, can be accessed by registering on the INAPH portal (http://inaph.Nddb.Coop). "This...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A UN report has projected steady decline in prices of foodgrains over the next decade, attributing the gradual price fall to increase in overall agricultural production and diversification of dietary choices towards meat and dairy products. The report, released last week, however, emphasized that prices of foodgrains would not fall below early 2000-levels "despite the advantageous scenario regarding global food pricing". It noted that additional agricultural...

Animals, which are used for food, fibre, labour etc. hold a special place in ensuring rural livelihoods. It has been found by the NSSO's 70th Round Report that among the agricultural households having less than 0.01 hectare land (which includes landless agricultural households too), a little above 1/5th reported livestock as their principal source of income whereas 56.4% depended on wage/ salaried employment. However, as the land size went up,...

-PTI New Delhi: To conserve and develop indigenous Bovine breeds, government has launched ‘Rashtriya Gokul Mission' under the National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development (NPBBD). Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh told Lok Sabha today that the NPBBD was launched earlier this year with an integrated, holistic and scientific approach to improve and upgrade the genetic makeup of Bovines. Other objectives include enhancing their production and productivity, including developing and conserving indigenous...