Context

The revised version of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM) proposes to bring focus on entrepreneurship development and breed improvement in cattle, buffalo, poultry, sheep, goat, and piggery.

Livestock breeding and challenges

• Unorganised in nature: Livestock breeding in India has been largely unorganised.
• Lack of linkages: Because of this unorganised nature there have been gaps in forward and backward integration across the value chain.
• Impact on quality: The above scenario impacts the quality of livestock that is produced and in turn negatively impacts the return on investment for livestock farmers.
• Roughly 80% bovines in the country are low on productivity and are reared by small and marginal farmers.

Entrepreneurship development through NLM and Rashtriya Gokul Mission

• The revised version of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM) proposes to bring focus on entrepreneurship development.
• Breed improvement infrastructure: It seeks to provide incentives to individual entrepreneurs, farmer producer organisations, farmer cooperatives, joint liability groups, self-help groups, Section 8 companies for entrepreneurship development and State governments for breed improvement infrastructure.
• The breed multiplication farm component of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission is going to provide for capital subsidy up to ₹200 lakh for setting up breeding farm with at least 200 milch cows/ buffalo using latest breeding technology. 
•  Moreover, the strategy of incentivising breed multiplication farm will result in the employment of 1 lakh farmers.
• The grassroots initiatives in this sphere will be further amplified by web applications like e-Gopala that provide real-time information to livestock farmers.
• Poultry: The poultry entrepreneurship programme of the NLM will provide for capital subsidy up to ₹25 lakh for the setting up of a parent farm with a capacity to rear 1,000 chicks.
• Under this model, the rural entrepreneur running the hatchery will be supplying chicks to the farmers.
• This is expected to provide employment to at least 14 lakh people.
• Sheep and goat entrepreneurship: In the context of sheep and goat entrepreneurship, there is a provision of capital subsidy of 50% up to 50 lakh.
• An entrepreneur under this model shall set up a breeder farm, develop the whole chain will eventually sell the animals to the farmers or in the open market.
• This model is projected to generate a net profit of more than ₹33 lakh for the entrepreneur per year.
• Piggery: For piggery, the NLM will provide 50% capital subsidy of up to ₹30 lakh.
•  Each entrepreneur will be aided with establishment of breeder farms with 100 sows and 10 boars, expected to produce 2,400 piglets in a year.
• This model is expected to generate a profit of ₹1.37 crore after 16 months and 1.5 lakh jobs.

Conclusion

The revised scheme of NLM coupled with the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund has the potential to dramatically enhance the productivity and traceability standards of our livestock.

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