What is Animal Husbandry: Its Importance, Types and Benefits

Table of Contents  

• Introduction
• What is Animal Husbandry?  
• Difference between Animal Husbandry and Livestock  
• Types of Animal Husbandry
  • Poultry Farming  
  • Cattle Farming
  • Beekeeping
  • Fish Farming
• Why is Animal Husbandry Essential?
• How do Good Animal Husbandry Practices Benefit Farmers?
• Advantages of Animal Husbandry for Indian Farmers  
• Animal Husbandry Department of India 
• Final Insights and Concerns

Introduction  

Animal husbandry is an important natural and economic activity. It is an important link between humans and nature which fulfills various needs of the human population. It not only provides food and various products to us but also helps in creating manure and generating energy resources. Animal husbandry makes a significant contribution in the Indian economy. It generates income for farmers, creates employment opportunities, and helps earn valuable foreign exchange. Animal husbandry basically comprises two entities. One relates to raising livestock, and the other relates to selective breeding. The branch relates to the care, breeding, and management of animals.  

What is Animal Husbandry?  

Animal husbandry is a scientific management which involves raising and taking care of animals, birds, insects, and fish in a way which promotes the welfare of animals and ensures the quality of their products like milk, meat, fiber, and other products.  

It is a broad term known to cover various practices, including breeding, feeding, weeding, and heeding of animals. But what exactly are these practices? Let us understand briefly:  

• Breeding: It is a practice of producing high milk-yielding, egg-yielding, or meat-yielding breeds of animals.  
• Feeding: It deals with feeding animals. It involves selecting the right feed type, method, and animal feed time.  
• Weeding: It is the practice of eliminating uneconomical livestock, birds, or fish.  
• Heeding: It deals with the proper care and management of animal livestock.  

Difference between Animal Husbandry and Livestock  

Having understood the concept of animal husbandry, let us know the difference between animal husbandry and livestock. So, Livestock basically means farm animals raised in an agricultural setting for labor or products and animal husbandry means raising, breeding, and managing animal livestock. Animal husbandry is much broader in scope and involves raising and breeding animals, birds, fish, or insects. On the other hand, Livestock Farming usually does not include rearing insects, birds, or fish. 

Types of Animal Husbandry  

The types of animal husbandry largely depend on the species of animals being raised. The leading animal husbandry examples are poultry farming, dairy farming, fish farming, and beekeeping.  

Poultry Farming  

Poultry Farming focuses on breeding and raising poultry birds such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese. This branch of animal husbandry is primarily geared towards chicken and egg production.  

Raising poultry requires nutrient-rich feed, which is rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin K. Besides, proper cleaning, sanitation, and disinfectant spraying are necessary to prevent diseases in poultry fowl.
Besides, poultry fowls can be crossbred to improve the varieties of breeds. For example, the indigenous Aseel can be crossbred with foreign Leghorn to develop new varieties. With the increased demand for poultry products, the scope of the Poultry Farming Business in India has increased.  

Cattle Farming  

Cattle Farming is the practice of breeding and rearing cattle for dairy and draught labor work. Two types of cattle are bred primarily in India: cows and buffaloes.  

Dairy animals are female cattle and are primarily used for milk. Thus, they are also called milch animals. On the other hand, draught animals are domesticated for agricultural work like tilling and irrigating. The cattle are crossbred to produce the improved breeds of cattle that are high milk-yielding and disease-resistant. For instance, exotic or foreign cattle breeds such as Jersey and Brown Swiss are known for longer lactation periods. Thus, these cattle breeds are crossbred with local breeds like Red Sindhi and Sahiwal, which have excellent disease-resistant qualities.  

Beekeeping  

Beekeeping or Apiculture is also among the top animal husbandry types. It is the practice of raising and managing bee colonies. It requires low investment; thus, farmers Undertake Apiculture to generate additional income.  

It is primarily used to produce honey and other bee-related products like beeswax, royal jelly, and propolis. The value, quality and taste of honey is the outcome of the quantity of pasturage and availability of flower and nectar varieties. In India, many varieties of bees are used for the commercial production of honey. Some of them are Indian Bee (Apis cerena indica), Rock Bee (A. dorsata), and Little Bee (A. florae).  

Fish Farming  

Fish farming or Aquaculture is concerned with breeding and rearing fish in controlled environments such as ponds or tanks. The production of fish in India emphasizes true fish and shellfish such as molluscs and prawns.  

Fish can be obtained in two ways. These are capture fishing and culture fishing. The former involves catching the fish directly from natural resources like the sea or river, whereas the latter involves rearing fish in controlled environments like ponds, tanks, or cages. The fisheries sector can further be divided into Marine and Inland Fisheries. Popular marine fish varieties include Mackerel, Sardines, Tuna, Pomphret, and Bombay duck. On the other hand, popular inland fish are Catla, Silver Carp, Rohu, Grass Carp, and Common Carp.  

Why is Animal Husbandry Essential?  

Animal Husbandry is vital for sustaining rural livelihood and increasing agriculture output and national income. Some of the importance of animal husbandry are:  

• They are an essential source of protein as animal meat is rich in dietary protein.  
• Animals like cows, buffaloes, and goats are important sources of milk and dairy products such as cheese, yoghurt, etc.  
• Animal wastes are often used as organic manure, which helps increase crop yield and crop quality.  
• They are also an important source of fiber, like leather and wool.  
• Draught animals are an important source of non-human labor because they are used for tilling, irrigating, transporting, etc.  

How do Good Animal Husbandry Practices Benefit Farmers? 

• Safe Animal Feed: The microbial contamination, antibiotic residues and adulteration of animal feed is spreading quite vigorously. Therefore, providing animal feed with better nutritional content leads to welfare of animals with direct animal health benefits which ultimately benefits the farmers or consumers.   
• Animal Welfare: Animals should be reared in humane conditions. They should be free from thirst, hunger, malnutrition, discomfort, pain, stress, fear, injury or diseases. Proper amount of food, shelter, etc. should be provided to them for overall improvement in health and productivity.  
• Disease Prevention: In order to prevent any outbreak of diseases the Implementation of vaccination programs and regular health check-ups are mandatory as they ensure a healthy livestock population. 
• Clean Animal Living Conditions: Maintaining clean, well-ventilated, sound control housing with appropriate temperature and pest control for animals helps in preventing diseases and leads to healthy animals. 
• Proper Handling and Transportation: It is important to handle animals gently and ensure proper methods for their transportation to reduce stress and injury. 
• Record Keeping: Detailed records of animal health, feed, and production helps in monitoring and improving farm management practices. 

Advantages of Animal Husbandry for Indian Farmers  

Animal husbandry in India has several advantages for the country's economy, society, and food security. Here are some of the critical advantages of animal husbandry in India:  

• It provides livelihoods and employment opportunities to millions of people residing in rural areas.  
• It contributes significantly to India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and contributes 25.60% to overall agriculture GDP.  
• India is the largest producer of milk globally and provides a continuous supply of milk for consumption, making it a crucial source of high-quality protein.  
• Animal husbandry efforts help conserve and maintain the diverse livestock breeds, ensuring their survival for future generations.  
• Livestock, particularly drought-resistant breeds like the Kankrej and Deoni cattle, play a critical role in drought-prone regions.  

Animal Husbandry Department of India 

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying is one of the Departments under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying originally came into existence on February 1, 1991 by merging two Divisions of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation into a discrete department. This department’s objective is to work towards empowering the livestock sector through skilled youth, farmers, and entrepreneurs’ livestock management. It is also responsible for issues relevant to Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS) and National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). It advises State Governments/Union Territories in generation of policies and programmes in the area of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development. The animal husbandry department has a cycle which begins with identifying the skill needed in livestock, proceeds with developing curriculum and budget, then identifies training partners or infrastructure, introduces skill development programs, and lastly monitors it for evaluation. This will ultimately foster economic prosperity and ensure nutritional security while promoting disease-free zones for enhanced animal health.  

Final Insights and Concerns 

Although the Department of Animal Husbandry is rapidly developing, this development has led to several issues like low feed conversion efficiency, nitrogen utilization efficiency, product quality and high methane emissions. The above-mentioned concerns are more eminent for ruminants than for monogastric animals because of their unique digestive system, which needs to be studied better for addressing the above issues. A better understanding of the rumen microbiome-host interaction can provide unique discoveries which will lead to the development of applicable approaches to improve animal production and health.