Livestock research requires ‘need based approach’

Livestock research requires ‘need based approach’

Dr.T.P.Sethumadhavan

In the era of Globalization, rapidly increasing demand for livestock products along with the changes in international trade is placing pressure on India's livestock sector both to expand and adapt. Analysis of the trends over the last three decades indicates that the growth in poultry and dairy sectors has exceeded the growth in cereal production. This may be due to rapid urbanization, population growth, rising levels of income and varying prices of livestock products. There are certain indications, which suggest that the demand led livestock growth is expected to continue and by 2020 more than 60 percent of meat and 50 percent of milk will be produced in the developing countries.

As I started working and involved in various capacities for the welfare of the farming community- as a Veterinarian, extension worker, farm journalist, and author of books, I grew mature to comprehend realities of the sweeping changes that are being made in the agrarian sector and the consequences of approaches in Farm journalism and rural development. The intricate connections between the different sectors involved in agriculture are turning more visible. The visibility and predictability of these connections are to decide whether agriculture is to remain sustainable or not? The accelerated changes in the field motivate me to search for answers.

One day a farmer aged around 75 years came to my Hospital with a bottle of his cow’s urine which was inseminated three months back and would like know whether the animal is pregnant or not? He was only a functionally literate. I conveyed him about the difficulty in reaching a confirmatory conclusion. Then he started arguing about the fingertip facilities available to detect pregnancy in human beings. Could we blame the farmer since India is the largest milk producing country in the world! Even though we have achieved spectacular growth in cross breeding, biotechnology, embryo transfer, etc this small technology to easily diagnose pregnancy in cattle has not yet been standardized. It is the need of the hour to develop a user friendly diagnostic kit so that farmers themselves can detect the pregnancy in cattle at an early period.

Mastitis is one of the important diseases which affect production in cattle. Annual economic loss due to mastitis in the country is more than INR 600 Crores. Even though it is due to variety of causative agents Escherichia coli, Streptococcus and Staphylococcus are among the common bacterial organisms affecting cattle. It is a fact that mastitis is caused by around 100 species of microorganisms and to formulate a vaccine is very difficult. At least can we think of formulating a vaccine against coli form mastitis where incidence rate is nearly 40 percent in the country? University of Wisconsin and MIT in United States are seriously pursuing research on these issues?

Among production oriented diseases Hypocalcaemia ranks first in crossbred cattle. Even though it is due to varied calcium phosphorus ratio, at the field level a kit to detect calcium phosphorus ratio just like Glucometer will be very much useful for early diagnosis and treatment of sub clinical hypocalcaemia in cattle.

Asian elephants, say the Heritage animal of India are on the verge of extinction. Musth is the major issue in the Southern states like Kerala and causes rising levels of Human elephant conflict where there are around 3500 Asian elephants of which 700 are domesticated elephants. Countries like United States and Canada have less than 280 elephants of which only 40 percent are Asian elephants. Currently our concern is to control elephants using tranquilization which won’t need a high-end research intervention. But developed countries are controlling musth using GnRH vaccines. Research works of Professor Henk of South Africa is really an eye opener in controlling musth in elephants. He along with a team of Scientists from Pretoria University formulated a protocol for controlling musth incidents in African Elephants. It is through injecting a GnRH vaccine quantity of testosterone hormone in tuskers can be reduced that will help to check the increasing incidences of Human-Elephant conflict.

All elephant rearing developed countries are practicing strategic elephant breeding programmes using Artificial insemination, Embryo transfer, Sexing of sperms, etc. Impaction and Tuberculosis are the common causes of death in captive Asian elephants of which Tuberculosis is having zoonotic importance also. Elephant Endotheiotropic Herpes viral infection is a global issue in elephants. More research works are needed in the areas of elephant musth, tuberculosis, EEHV and impaction in the country.

Increase in cost of production of livestock products is a major issue in the state. As the price of milk increases by 50 percent price of feed increases by 200 percent thus affecting the sustainability of farming practices. Studies on cost of production of milk, meat and egg are scarce. Studies on cost of production of livestock products based on different regions are needed to assess the breakeven prices and to benchmark market oriented strategies.

Research on environmental issues related to livestock production areas are acquiring momentum in the world. Some of the livestock farming enterprises in the country face environmental issues. A sustainable model to reduce environmental threats has to be designed through research.

Considering the nature of livestock development and its potential in securing the life of the disadvantaged, there is an urgent need to strengthen the delivery systems for veterinary services in resource limited areas.

Diagnosis of helminthic infections

Faecal sample

Parasite diseases are common in animals and as such effective prevention and control of diseases depends on early diagnosis of the disease status. Faecal sample examination for the presence of eggs or larvae is the routine aid to diagnosis of parasitic infections. Therefore the faecal samples must be properly collected in plastic/glass vials or bottles, preserved in 10 per cent formalin and despatched to the laboratory or processed scientifically for confirmatory diagnosis
1. Direct smear method: A few drops of water plus an equal amount of faeces are mixed on a clean glass slide. A cover slip is applied before examining under the microscope.
2. Concentration method:
A. Sedimentation method: Sedimentation is more reliable than direct smear examination in terms of number of organisms demonstrated and also due to the fact that much of the debris is removed by this technique.
Procedure
1. Mix about 2 g of faeces with 15 ml of water or 10 % formalin in a mortar with a pestle.
2. Strain it to remove the coarse particles. Transfer the filtrate into a test tube and centrifuge at 3000 rpm for 2 min.
3. Pour off the supernatant and transfer a drop of sediment on a clean glass slide for examination after applying a cover slip.
B. Floatation method: The basis of floatation is that when the faeces is suspended in a liquid with a specific gravity higher than that of eggs, the eggs will float up to the surface. Commonly employed solutions for floatation are saturated solution of sodium chloride, zinc sulphate or sugar.
Procedure
1. A small quantity of faecal sample is added to 10 ml of floatation solution and mixed well.
2. Then the suspension is transferred carefully into a test tube placed vertically and more floatation solution is added to fill the tube to the top without overflowing.
3. A cover slip is placed on top of the surface of liquid and the tube is left undisturbed for 15-30 min.
4. The cover slip is then removed vertically and inverted on a glass slide for microscopical examination.
The floatation of eggs in the floatation solution can be accelerated by centrifugation.

Skin scrapings

Skin scrapings are generally examined to detect mange mites and parasitic fungi. It is always advised to clip off the hairs in and around the area of lesions as closely as possible before attempting scraping. The periphery of the lesions should be selected to collect scrapings since these areas contain more number of parasites. Depending upon the type of parasites superficial or deep scrapings are taken. Superficial scrapings are taken using a sharp scalpel, the blade of which is held at an acute angle. For this the area is rather shaved than scraped, removing the outer epidermis together with the hair stumps. It will be some times more beneficial to moisten the skin with liquid paraffin so that scrapings will adhere to the scalpel. In instances when deep scrapings are to be obtained the area is shaved with the scalpel until blood oozes out. The pustular contents, if any, may also be taken for examination
It is always better to use stopper bottles or vials to collect the skin scraping since some of the mites are too active so that they escape if an envelope is employed for the purpose. It is preserved in 70% alcohol before despatch.

Processing of skin scrapings
1. Transfer the sample to a boiling tube containing about 5 ml of 10% aqueous potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide solution.
2. The contents are then gently boiled for about 5 min or until the hairs are digested, taking care to avoid vigorous boiling. Splashing of the contents also should be carefully avoided.
3. Once the larger particles are digested and the fluid becomes almost transparent, cool the tube and transfer the contents into a centrifuge tube. Centrifuge it at low speed (1000 rpm) for 5 min, pour off the supernatant and examine the sediment.

Blood
Blood is collected during the height of temperature for identification of extra-cellular parasites and intracellular haemoprotozoans. The proper site is clipped of hairs and cleaned with spirit or 70 % alcohol. Adopting aseptic precautions, blood is collected for serum preparations / hematological examination
Blood Smears:-
Animals: Collected from ear veins
Poultry: Collected from comb/ wattle
Whole blood:-
Cattle, horse, sheep and goat: Jugular vein
Pigs: Anterior vena cava, tip of the ear
Fowl: Wing vein
There are different methods of examination for detection of blood parasites. Hence the technique adopted for sample preparation also varies.
Wet film examination
1. Obtain a drop of blood from the ear vein /ear tip
2. Place a drop of blood on a clean glass slide
3. Apply a cover slip before examination.
Preparation of blood smears
There are thin smears and thick smears.
Thin smear:
1. Collect a drop of blood onto a clean glass slide
2. Place another slide at 30 0 angle, touch the blood and allow to spread along its edge
3. Push the second slide along the first with a smooth, rapid movement to form a thin film.
4. Air dry.



Thick smears:
1. Collect medium sized drop of blood onto the centre of glass slide
2. Mix using a tooth picks
3. Dry the smear
4. Place the slide in water until the colour disappears. This is called laking.
5. Dry the smear.

Staining of blood smears by Giemsa’s stain
1. Fix the smear in methanol for 2-3 min
2. After drying, flood the smear with freshly diluted Giemsa stain (1 part Giemsa stock solution and 9 parts tap water) and allow act for 30 to 60 min
3. Pour off the stain, wash in tap water and dry before examination
Two or more slides should be prepared. The dried smears or stained smears are separated with broomsticks/match sticks/any applicator sticks in between, wrapped in paper and packed well in cotton and despatched.

Lymph node biopsy:
After properly holding the lymph node, a sterilized needle is pricked into it. Sterile PBS /normal saline solution (0.5-1 ml is ideal) is injected into the gland, rubbed and contents aspirated back in the syringe. The contents are then smeared on glass slides and air dried before despatch.
Nasal discharge
1. Collect the nasal discharge with a scoop and transfer it to a glass slide.
2. Add a few drops of 5% Potassium/Sodium hydroxide.
3. Wait for few minutes
4. Apply a cover slip and keep ready for examination

Copious nasal discharges/sputum can also be collected into plastic bottles/vials along with 10% formalin. If the discharge is too scanty, use a scoop to collect the material. Moist cotton swabs are not advised, as they are liable to get dry, thereby losing the parasite. Granulomatous growths may be cut and fixed in 10 % formalin for despatch to the laboratory.


Egg per gram or EPG

To obtain accurate information with regard to the severity of an infection, egg counting methods have been devised in order to determine the number of eggs per gram of faeces. It is useful in determination of the efficacy of anthelmintic medicines.
Routine procedure
Weigh one gram of faeces in a test tube .Add to this 15 ml of water. The tube is corked firmly and shaken vigorously till the faeces is completely emulsified. Allow the emulsion to settle till all the froth has disappeared. Pipette out 0.15 ml of the emulsion after lightly shaking it and spread the pipetted fluid evenly on a clean grease free slide .Count all the eggs in that sample beginning from one end of the slide .The number obtained multiplied by 100 gives the number of eggs per gram. The average of three counts should be taken. Multiplication of this number by the total weight of the faeces passed during the day gives the total output of eggs. This count should be made on three consecutive days and the average is to be taken for correct assessment.

Stoll’s method
Three grams of faeces is weighed in to a test tube, which is graduated to 45 ml. The tube is then filled to the 45 ml mark with 1/10 N caustic soda solution and 10 to 12 glass beads are added to and is shaken to give a homogenous suspension of the faecal material. Then 0.15 ml of this suspension is drawn out using a calibrated pipette. The total number of eggs in 0.15 ml of the sample is counted and this number is multiplied by 100 to obtain eggs per gram of the sample.
Interpretation of EPG
The following can be taken as a guide though clinical signs and circumstances also should be considered during interpretation.
1. Nematodes: In cattle 300- 600 epg indicates the need of treatment. In lambs 2000-6000 epg indicates severe infection and a value of 1000 or more indicates the necessity for treatment. In equines, 500 epg suggests mild infection, 800-1000 indicates moderate infection and 1500- 2000 indicates severe infection.
Trematodes : the presence of 100 -200 eggs of Fasciola hepatica per gram of faeces of cattle, or 300- 600 epg in sheep indicates pathogenicity

Dr.R.Radhika

Buffalo male calf integration system

Buffalo male calf integration system
Dr.T.P.Sethumadhavan
Of the animal meat exported from India Buffalo meat (Cara Beef) has the largest share in export namely 82%. It has special qualities as it blends well with the other meats in the meat processing industry for production of corn beef, sausages, hams, etc.
In India, every year, about 5.5 million male calves are removed from the buffalo production system due to intentional killing by the farmers to save dam’s milk due to non-remunerative cost of raising male animals, thus incurring a loss of about US$ 11 million per annum. These calves could be salvaged for meat production, which will not only improve the economic condition of the farmers but also would increase meat production for domestic consumption and export market.
Hind Agro industries Limited (HAL), New Delhi is the company in India, which has started intense feeding of male Buffalo calves for meat. The male calves at the age of 10-12 months purchased from farmers are quarantined for 15 days during which vaccination and deworming are provided. Thereafter, they are fed on high protein/high energy diet to put on a body weight of 100 Kg in 3 months to produce quality meat. They are never fed on antibiotics, hormones and growth promoters. They are raised in organic farming. Meat from such animals is tender, lean and juicy. The company has established a model backward integration with 110000 farmers who are raising more than 2200 villages under contractual farming system. The company is providing animal health, animal feeding and extension management services to farmers at their doorsteps. The marketing of the animals to the meat plant is organized by the company to pay them remunerative prices. This has reduced the mortality in the male calves as inputs for animal rearing are provided by the company in vaccination, deworming and feeds.

LANDLESS LIVESTOCK FARMING
“A country rich in livestock is never poor and country poor in livestock is never rich”
- Arabian proverb
The implementation of Operation Flood brought about a “White Revolution” in India with quantum jump in milk production.A notable feature of Operation Flood was the extent to which opportunities to benefit from the dairy programme were successfully extended to millions of small-scale men and women farmers, largely through the establishment of an extensive system of Dairy Co-operative Societies. The scale of this aspect of the operation is truly remarkable, and it has been estimated that over 9 million farmers (of which 70% are resource poor) were part of an integrated system of some 75000 village Dairy Co-operative Societies. One of the great successes of Operation Flood was its contribution to the lives of millions of India’s most poor and vulnerable households. Its impact on the livelihoods of the poor can be seen in the creation of urban employment at milk processing plants, but more significantly in the new income opportunities provided to rural households throughout the country derived from sale of milk.
One of the more intriguing aspects of the “White Revolution” has been how benefits from developments in the Dairy Industry have accrued not only to small-scale and marginal farmers but also to landless families. Usually, direct access to pasture is seen as an integral aspect of the management of any livestock production system. The emergence of landless dairy producers in urban, peri-urban and rural areas is a story that is largely untold.
It is estimated that, at present 60 to 70 per cent of the fluid milk requirements of the urban areas is derived from cattle maintained within the municipal limits. These cattle are generally kept in insanitary and congested conditions, which affect their health, milk performance and breeding capacity. They are also a source of nuisance to the surrounding residential area. A majority of these animals when they become dry are sent to the slaughter house. Maintaining cattle in this manner is uneconomic and is a drain on the cattle wealth of the country.
The plan would include removal of cattle from urban areas, a measure highly desirable both from the standpoint of public health and the conservation of the cattle-wealth of the country. Providing facilities for settling them in villages around the cities may rehabilitate the dislodged cattle and their owners.
This broad objective remained for some time. Indeed, one of the aims of Phase I of Operation Flood was to displace urban-based milk production by making it uneconomical through the enhancement of low-cost rural production. However, this objective was dropped in Phase II and Phase III of Operational Flood once it was realized that the comparative advantage of urban-based milk producers meant that they had a key role to play in the national development programme.
Fifty years after the First Five Year Plan, this negative view is being challenged by a more positive discourse promoting the importance of urban agriculture as an integral factor to the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly cities. Cattle and other livestock, formerly perceived as pollutants, are increasingly recognized for their value in recycling waste, as well as in providing products needed by the urban market, and thus offering a source of living for those struggling to make needs meet.
The compounded phrase “landless livestock farmers” might be used to refer landless agricultural labourers whoare able to keep one or two livestock. Alternatively, “landless livestock farmers” might be used to refer to urban-dwellers that have adopted the intensive management and production system of “zero-grazing” or “cut and carry”. In the former case, being landless signifies a social problem and draws attention to issues of rural inequality, poverty and vulnerability. In the latter case, landless may mean nothing more than describing the fact that land for grazing is largely absent in urban areas. Many households involved in landless livestock production in urban areas may, in contrast to their rural counterparts, are comparatively wealthy. The concern is that such imprecision and vagueness in our basic analytical concepts can easily be translated into unfocused development approaches. A more precise categorisation of landless livestock farmers, therefore, is not simply a matter of semantics, but must be regarded as vitally important for the future development of sound policy guidelines and appropriate implementation strategies that meet the particular needs of the poor and vulnerable.

India is producing about 30-32 million tonnes of oilseeds that gives about 20-22 million tonnes of oilcakes/oilmeals. They are ideally suited for compound feed and being mixed to the extent of 20-25% in final feed mix. Compound feed is balanced with all nutrients required for obtaining optimum growth of farm animals, poultry and aqua. Different levels of nutrients, such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals are required for different production functions and also at different growth stages. Custom-mixing, home-mixing and traditional methods of direct feeding cannot ensure optimum feed conversion ratio. This makes farming occupation unremunerative to farmers. The compound animal feed industry has utilised the nutritional qualities of various conventional and non-conventional raw materials and scientifically compounded them to prepare animal feed according to the nutritional requirements of the animals. Thus from less than about 50,000 tonnes of production per annum in the early sixties, the compound animals feed industry in India has grown to produce about nine million tonnes of compound feed annually. Countries like Japan and Korea produce 25 million tonnes and 14 million tonnes respectively whereas India having largest cattle population in the world produces only 8 million tonnes.
The solvent extraction industry is offering nine types of oilmeals having proteins ranging between 15 to 50% ideally suited for poultry, cattle and aqua feed. The solvent extraction industry after meeting the domestic requirement is exporting about 3 million tonnes of oil meals mainly of soybean meal and rape seed meal to various counties valued a Rs.2,500/- crores. The quality of Indian meal is well-accepted world over as a quality feed ingredient by the importers. The industry has enough capacity to process raw materials and meet the growing demand from feed industry.
In the recent past scare over the ‘Mad Cow Disease’ rippled around the world. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as Mad Cow Disease is caused by mutated protein known as prion, can spread to people when they eat infected beef products. Beef consumption had dropped by an average of 27 per cent in EU and many non-EU countries. Very recently the US Agriculture Department has temporarily suspended imports of processed beef and associated products from Brazil due to Mad Cow Disease. There is no threat for Indian beef exporter because India does not feed animals with meat and bone meal and only gives vegetarian feeds to the animals. So quality of oilmeals feeding to livestock becomes more important when meat based livestock feed are banned.

ROLE OF FATS IN RATION OF DAIRY ANIMALS
Traditionally fats in livestock rations received less attention compared to other nutrients like proteins, minerals and vitamins and fats were considered essential only as a source of essential fatty acids. However, in recent times there is growing interest in use of fats in livestock rations due to changes in the production potential of animals, changing food habits, higher availability of fats, technological developments and higher production response to added fats. The body cannot synthesize essential fatty acids and they have to be essentially supplied through the diet for which the diets should invariably contain a minimum percentage of fats to ensure adequate dietary supply. Fats are concentrated source of energy and the net energy of fats, which represents the actual amount of energy that is available to the animal for useful purpose, is four times higher than the energy available through carbohydrates and proteins. Addition of fats improve the efficiency of energy utilization due to incorporation of preformed dietary fat which is energetically more efficient than the synthesis. Fats help in absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and they also help in reducing the dustiness of the feeds.
Fats form a physical coating over the feed particles in the rumen and thereby reduce the microbial digestion and also fatty acids have direct antimicrobial effects. They readily react with bivalent cations like calcium and reduce the availability of calcium needed for microbial function. Attempts to improve the nutritional value of milk/meat by increasing the levels of unsaturated fatty acids have not yielded the desired results due to microbial action in the rumen where they undergo biohydrogenation resulting in formation of saturated fatty acids.
In spite of its limitations it is possible to supplement fats in lower proportions following the guidelines given below which tends to minimize the negative effects of fat supplementation.
An important consideration in the successful feeding of fats is maximizing forage intake. A diet containing a high proportion of forage helps to maintain normal rumen function and environment in which fat is less inhibitory to rumen fermentation.
Added fats increase calcium and magnesium requirements and hence the dietary requirement of calcium and magnesium has to be increased by 20-30% above the recommended levels.
Feed relatively saturated fats, as unsaturated fats are less desirable. Animal fats and blended fats have generally yielded the most positive production responses.
With added fats due to increase in the energy content the protein content should be increased to maintain the optimum protein energy ratio.
Rations containing fats should be gradually introduced taking 2-3 weeks to reach maximum intake and it should be fed several times a day instead of the traditional practice of feeding twice or thrice a day.
Recent research works revealed that adding 3-4% fat to the concentrate mix of lactating cows increase milk production by 2-10%.
NEED FOR BYPASS FATS
The necessity of using fats to achieve high energy density in high producing animals and the limitations imposed by the rumen microorganisms to higher levels of fats led to the development of bypass fats or protected fats. Protected fats are inert in the rumen and they pass through the rumen without affecting the rumen flora, but they are digested by enzymatic or chemical processes down the rumen in the abomasum or small intestine delivering large doses of energy to support high milk production.
RELEVANCE OF PROTECTED FATS
Use of protected fats under Indian conditions is still restricted to research institutes and unlike bypass proteins it has not yet been commercially introduced or widely known. Feeding of livestock in India is mainly based on crop residues and energy deficit is one of the major problems affecting the production/productivity of the livestock. Bypass fats are high in energy and they can be used effectively to address this problem. However the widespread use of fats will depend on its availability and economic benefits in relation to use of concentrates.
Poor reproductive performance is a common problem under field conditions and of the various reasons responsible for this, energy deficit is one of the important ones and it is likely that supplementation of bypass fats may improve the energy balance leading to improvement in the reproductive performance.
TOTAL MIXED RATION FEEDING

A TMR or total mixed ration involves mixing together forages, commodities such as meals, whole seed minerals and vitamins in a mixing wagon where each ingredient is known. By blending together the forages, grains and mineral-vitamin supplements, animals are less able to selectively consume individual ingredients. Thus each bite of feed an animal consumes contains the same proportion of forages and concentrates. This can result in less digestive upsets which often increases the amount of feed animal will consume. The more feed an early lactation animal consumes, the more milk she can produce in lactation. A TMR ration may also be prepared by hand mixing and feeding a ration that has been formulated for the animal’s nutrient requirements.

PROJECT REPORT FOR ESTABLISHING A DAIRY FARM WITH 10 COW UNIT
INTRODUCTION
Compared to other agricultural enterprises, as self-employment venture dairying has unique peculiarities due to its high rate of return and low gestation period. Per capita milk availability in Kerala is 228gms\day and the nutritional requirement is 280g/day. So there is immense potential for establishing dairy farms in the state.
OBJECTIVE
The entrepreneur who has enough experience in dairying would like to start a dairy farm by introducing milch cow unit of 10 animals with the provision to expand to 20 Cow unit. By this they can utilize the surplus fodder available for efficient and economic farming.
Thrissur
Area available-60 Cents of land.
4.5 Acres of land are available for fodder cultivation.
BUILDING
Sites for sheds will be selected suitably at an elevated area of the land after filling with enough quantity of soil. It has to accommodate 10 milch cows and calves. A separate enclosure at one end will be provided for the calves and a storeroom at the other end. The roof can be of C.G.I sheets on iron truss on the concrete floor.
ANIMALS
10 Crossbred milch cows having average yield of 10 litres at an estimated value of 15,000/- each will be purchased. All available precautions will be taken in selecting genuine high yielding crossbred cows.
FODDER PRODUCTION
Work on clearing, leveling contouring and demarcating the plots of suitable size and development of irrigation will be completed before fodder cultivation.
Fodder crops like maize and Jowar, grasses like Napier, Co3, Congo signal and guinea and legumes like cowpea, subabul and stylo will be grown. Adequate fodder availability will be ensured through proper fodder production and preservation.
FEEDING
Calves will be weaned at birth and male calves will be disposed off immediately. The feeding schedule for the calves is as per package of practice recommendations. Heifers will be fed with good quality grass leguminous mixture ad libitum till one year.
Cows will be fed with 30-40kg of green fodder or equivalent quantity of hay silage. The dry animals will be fed with 1.5kg of concentrate. Cows in milk will receive concentrate mixture on the basis of their production. For initial four litres of milk production no concentrates will be allotted. For every kilogram of milk above that 400g concentrate mixture will be given.

VETERINARY AID &BREEDING
Frozen semen available at the Veterinary Dispensary, Thanikkudam will be used for insemination. Veterinary Dispensary is only one Km away from the farm site.

S.S.I. REGISTRATION
The project can be registered with the Department of Industries as a Small Scale Industry.
MARKETING FACILITIES
Available. Intend to market milk locally as fresh fluid milk.
NON-RECURRING EXPENDITURE
Land owned by the beneficiary will be utilized and its cost is not taken into consideration. Similarly existing available facilities are also fully exploited to avoid escalation of capital expenditure further.

MAGNITUDE AND SOURCE OF FUNDS
25 percent each of the capital outlay will form the margin to be invested by the farmer and the remaining 75%will be covered by a Bank Term loan.
Non-recurring expenditure
Item Cost -Rs
Land Own
Cost for land leveling 40000
Buildings- Cow shed of 60 sq m &calf pen of 8sq.m @ Rs 1400 per sq.m with the provision to house 20 milch cows (anticipating expansion potential) 95200
Cost of Construction of a store room cum laborer Quarters of 200 Sq feet @ Rs 200 per Sq ft 40000
Cost of water tank and 1.5HP pump set 18000
Cost of 10 milch cows @ Rs 15000 per cow 150000
Cost of milking and watering utensils 4000
Cost of wheel barrows 3000
Spade and shovel 1000
Miscellaneous 4000
Total 355200.00
Magnitude and source of funds raised
SOURCE PERCENTAGE AMOUNT
Margin (own resources) 25% 109700.00
Loan from bank 75% 329100.00
Total 100 438800.00

Milch cow days

YEAR LACTATION DAYS DRY DAYS
1 2240 480
· 80%of animals will be in milk at any time.
· Average production is10 litres/day/animal.
Yearly feed cost
Milch cows-96000.00Dry stock-30000Calves- 24000.00Total-150000.00
· For first 4kg of milk production no concentrate is given
· For every additional one kg of milk 400gm concentrate is given. Hence each animal will get 2.4kg concentrate per day.
· Cost of concentrate is Rs 8/kg.
· Dry animals are provided with 1.5 kg of concentrate considering that they are pregnant.
· All animals are provided with 30 kg of roughage daily. Cost of production of fodder 20 paise /kg.
· Male calves will be sold after first week.
· 2 male and 2 female calves per year.
· Feeding cost of calves up to one year is Rs 3000/calf.
· Laborers required is one along with family labour @Rs 2000 per month- 24000.00
Total recurring expenditure-
1. Feeding 150000
2. Wages 24000
3. Interest on capital 42000
4. Water & Electricity 6000
5. Veterinary expenses &A I 9000
6. Insurance 9000
7. Depreciation 10000
Total 250000

Total capital expenditure =Non-recurring expenditure +Recurring expenditure for two months+ Interest on capital.
Capital investment= 355200+ 41600+ 42000= 438800.00









Gross income
Item Total cost per year

1. Sale of milk 518500
2. Sale of calves 20000
3. Sale of manure directly/veg/garden manure packets- 90000
4. Sale of gunny bags 6000
TOTAL 634500.00
· Price of milk is Rs 17 per litre
· Cost of female at one year of age @Rs 3000
· Cost of male calves @Rs 350/
· 20 kg of dung is expected from each animal. Of this 10 kg is used for fodder production and the rest sold @Rs.0.5/kg., cost of garden/Vegetable manure @ Rs 4 Per Kg
· Cost of gunny bag Rs. 20/

Cost-income statement

Item Total Cost per year
Gross income 634500.00
Less
Total variable cost 438800.00
Profit 195700.00
Profit per month 16308 .00
· Depreciation is estimated using straight-line method with an assumption that expected life of building is 15 years.
· For equipments and machinery 10- 15% depreciation is accounted per year.
· Scientific feeding, management and disease control aspects should be followed to optimize profit margin.

Organic or Natural?

Organic or Natural?
Dr.T.P.Sethumadhavan
Globally consumers are more aware of organic foods. Deleterious effects of pesticides and chemical fertilisers have made them to think in that direction.Moreover there is a growing trend towards natural foods in developed nations. In USA we could see both seperate organic and natural food stores. Productivity is very low under natural conditions.Consumers used to prefer organic fruits and vegetables for consumption. Compared to intense farming activities production cost is too high under organic conditions.No external inputs are required for production of natural foods. During one of my US visits I thought of preparing some spicy foods. I went to a supermarket to purchase spices. But I was confused whether to purchase organic or natural spices? Umpteen number of organic and natural stores are available in USA.Finally I decided to purchase natural spices.

ROLE OF WOMEN IN RABBIT REARING - A CASE STUDY

ROLE OF WOMEN IN RABBIT REARING - A CASE STUDY
T.P.Sethumadhavan., C.A. Pradeep

Abstract:- The case study was under taken to assess the role and involvement of women in rabbit rearing and their participation in programme planning and people’s participation. Socio economic profile showed that 17% of families were woman headed. It was found that project is an innovative concept and if popularised well will contribute much to rural economy.
Rabbit production has already attained commercial status in many parts of the world including India and has the potential to become a major source of subsidiary income to the farming households. In India this industry is aimed at wool production in hilly areas of Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, Sikkim, Arunachal pradesh and as a broiler industry in temperate and subtropical regions like WestBengal, Manipur and Kerala. In many tribal and backward areas rabbits are blazing a new trial in the field of self employment and picked up as a cottage industry by small and marginal farmers. Rabbit farming is emerging as an important income generating subsidiary occupation in many parts of Kerala. As per recent statistics women play a significant role in rabbit rearing. But their role is mostly remaining invisible and passive as in many other home-based productive work. Having realised the importance of women in rabbit rearing the study was undertaken to assess their role and to analyse their involvement in different activities of rabbit farming.

The study was undertaken in Madakkathara panchayat of Trichur district where rabbit rearing scheme for women under people’s plan campaign was implemented during 1998-99 through Veterinary institutions with the objective of popularising rabbit rearing as a subsidiary occupation and to provide self-employment opportunities to women.

As per the programme, out of 20 beneficiaries selected, two month old six rabbits were distributed to six beneficiaries initially with a sex ratio of one male: five female. Preference has been given to those beneficiaries with previous experience in rabbit rearing and can cultivate enough fodder.

Madakkathara grama panchayat is having a rabbit breeding farm (with a capacity of 100 rabbits) started during the year 1996-97 under the technical guidance of Integrated Rural Technology Centre, Palakkad. Rabbits reared were of broiler breeds such as Soviet Chinchilla, Grey Giant and Newzealand White. Beneficiaries have been given training in breeding, feeding, management and disease control. They have to construct cages using locally available material.
Beneficiaries have to remit their contribution after deducting subsidy alloted (50% subsidy for those below poverty line (BPL), BPL SC-75% and non BPL-25%) from unit cost of Rs 8150 (cost of rabbit @ Rs100 and cost of construction of cage @ Rs. 30 per sq.feet). Beneficiaries are free to supply young ones to breeding unit or they sell it seperately after rearing them for two years. A five-member committee was also set up to monitor the programme.

The case study was conducted to assess the role of women in programme planning and people’s participation. Socio-economic profile showed that 17 % of the families were women headed. Among the sample selected 33% were from scheduled castes and 50% were below poverty line. All of them were literate agricultural labourers and marginal farmers. Traditionally, being women they are destined to play the role of home makers, inspite of inherent possibilities of becoming productive earners. Nevertheless, in poor families, contribution of women to household earnings is substantial. Detailed evaluation of the project revealed that it failed to foresee certain possible contingencies. Objectives were less realistic and attainable. Moreover beneficiary selection was not made transparent. Implementing agency compelled to modify the calender of work due to delay in getting adequate funds. The training imparted to more than 30% of the beneficiaries was mostly inadequate. Members of the local bodies, veterinary surgeons, livestock inspectors, workers of rabbit breeding unit and village extension officer had shown keen interest in this programme. Marketing still remains to be a grey area. The following suggestions may be considered for improving the programme.
a. More awareness creating programmes may be undertaken to increase demand for rabbit meat and vitalise marketing.
b. Encourage formation of womens groups and provide them training in processing rabbit meat and skin.


The project is an innovative concept and if popularised well it will contribute much to the rural economy.

More awareness and training programmes should be conducted with the participation of non governmental organisations. Moreover constituting women co-operative societies for processing and selling of rabbit meat and skin coupled with effective monitoring will help in achieving needed objectives.