Egg, Milk production. Egg, milk production up in post-pandemic period

It looks like there has been significant increase in the production of eggs and milk in the post-pandemic period, if the provisional data provided in Lok Sabha is any indication. Egg and milk production in India went up by 6.7 per cent and 5.81 per cent, respectively, during 2020-21.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Prashottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said livestock sector has huge potential in terms of its contribution to economy, employment generation and world trade.

Quoting the production data of Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT), the Minister said, India ranks first in milk production, third in egg output and second in fish production globally.

Egg

According to the provisional data provided in the Lok Sabha reply, India produced 122.04 billion eggs in 2020-21 against 114.38 billion eggs in 2019-20, recording a growth of 6.70 per cent. The country had produced 103.80 billion eggs in 2018-19.

India’s contribution to the total egg production globally was at 7 per cent, he said in the reply.

Milk

The provisional data furnished in the Lok Sabha estimated the milk production in the country at 209.96 million tonnes (mt) during 2020-21 against 198.44 mt in 2019-20, recording a growth of 5.81 per cent. India’s milk output was at 187.74 mt during 2018-19.

The Minister said India has immense share in world production accounting for 21 per cent of the output.

Stating that livestock is one of the fastest growing agricultural sub-sectors, he said it has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.93 per cent (at constant prices) from 2014-15 to 2020-21.

The percentage share of livestock sector has increased from 24.38 per cent in 2014-15 to 30.87 per cent in 2020-21 in Gross Value Added (GVA) of agriculture and allied sector, he said.

According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted during July 2019 to June 2020, the percentage of people engaged in animal production and mixed farming are 2.85 and 1.58, respectively, he said.

Highlighting the fact that India has a notable share in world trade in livestock products, Rupala said the average value of livestock product exports was ₹449 billion, comprising 2.1 per cent of the total export earnings, during 2020-21.

Fisheries

Stating that fisheries sector has been recognized as a ‘sunrise’ sector, he said it has demonstrated a double-digit average annual growth of 10.87 per cent since 2014-15.

The provisional data furnished in the Lok Sabha estimated the fish production in the country at 14.72 mt during 2020-21 against 14.16 mt in 2019-20, recording a growth of 4 per cent. India’s fish production was at 13.57 mt during 2018-19.

He said India is the second largest fish producing country globally accounting for 7.56 per cent of worldwide production and contributing about 1.24 per cent to the country’s GVA and over 7.28 per cent to the agricultural GVA.

Export earnings from the fisheries sector has been ₹467 billion during 2019-20. Fisheries sector is instrumental in sustaining the livelihoods of over 28 million people in India, especially for marginalised and vulnerable communities, and has contributed towards encourage socio-economic development, he said.

COMMENT NOW