54
S
tate
of
I
ndia
’
s
L
ivelihoods
R
eport
2015
Table 4.1:
Landholding of households in different land-based activities
Characteristic
Self-employed in
Cultivation
Livestock farming
Other agricultural activities
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Estimated no. of hhd (00)
670,121
27,328
54,236
% of hhd
42.92
1.75
3.47
% area of land owned
81.41
1.47
1.48
Average area owned per hhd (ha)
1.104
0.489
0.248
Source:
Key Indicators of Land and Livestock Holdings in India, NSS 70th round, December 2014, NSSO, MoSPI, GoI.
Productivity
: India tops in milk production
world-wide. The average productivity of milk-
ing animals has increased but is significantly
lower than the global standards. While milk
productivity is 2,041 litres per annum in India,
other countries such as Israel, US, UK and
Australia have a productivity of 11,415 litres,
9,591 litres, 7,535 litres and 5,471 litres per
annum respectively.
Cost of production
: According to the
International Farm Comparison Network
(IFCN), research on benchmarking the cost of
milk production in 46 countries and the level
of cost per 100 kg of milk production for South
Asia including India is less than $30, whereas
the levels for USA, Brazil and Oceania are $35
to $40. For the European Union (EU), the
Middle East and China, it is $40 to $50. Indian
dairy farmers are competitive globally due to
low cost input systems and cheap labour.
Benefit to dairy farmer
: Indian dairy supply
chain has been recognised globally as the most
efficient, passing on about 80 per cent share of
consumers’ rupee to the dairy farmer vis-a-vis
around 30 per cent to 35 per cent in some of the
developed countries (however, this 80 per cent
is questionable since interactions with farmers
and dairies showed that the farmers are able to
get only 50 per cent to 60 per cent share of con-
sumer rupee and in some circumstances even
lower. This is discussed later in the chapter).
Farm size:
While other countries rely on
medium-to-large-sized farms, in India milk
contribution is made by both small and
marginal farmers. The average herd size in UK,
Australia and New Zealand is 126, 268 and 402
animals respectively.
Source:
Making Indian Dairy Farming
Competitive: The Small Farmer Perspective, A
White Paper, Yes Bank, 2015.
Box 4.1:
Indian dairy vis-a-vis the global dairy
•
Dairying is a part of the farming system
and not a separate enterprise for small
and marginal farmers. Feed is mostly
residue from crops, whereas cow dung is
an important organic source of nutrition
for the crops (Box 4.1). Themanure avail-
ability leads to lower production costs.
•
Further, a large proportion of dairying
activities at the household level are car-
ried out bywomen. The base line study of
NDP shows that women’s share of total
time spent in dairying is 64 per cent;
while women spendmore time on activi-
ties done at home, men spendmore time
on activities outside home. Despite their
considerable involvement and contribu-
tion, significant gender inequalities also
exist in access to technologies, credit,
information, inputs and services, prob-
ably because of inequities in ownership
of productive assets including land and
livestock.
•
Dairying provides a source of continu-
ous cash flow, whereas income from
agriculture is seasonal and lumpy. This
regular source of income has a huge
impact onminimising risks arising from
lack of liquidity in the household.
