Indian government launches new livestock schemes
The Indian government has introduced three new livestock schemes. It has allocated Rs3 billion ($67 million) to the projects, according to the country’s Financial Express newspaper.
The main scheme will focus on “salvaging and rearing” male buffalo calves. “To save milk, male buffalo calves are underfed by buffalo owners leading to stunted growth due to parasitism and untimely deaths. Annually, country losses about eight million of such male buffalo calves,” the ministry of agriculture said.
The second scheme intends to make use of “fallen animals” by establishing carcass utilisation centres in densely populated livestock regions. This will help provide employment for local people, the ministry hopes, and will improve sanitation.
According to the Central Leather Research Institute, 24 million large animals and 17 million small animals die per year at an estimated loss of Rs9.9 billion per annum because of a failure to recover hides and skins.
The third scheme deals with pig rearing. The government aims to help pig farmers increase the quality of the pork they produce by improving the conditions they are kept in and the way they are fed.
