Agricultural operations having certain limitations due to its topography, climatic situation
and socio-economic
conditions claiming only about 10% of the total land for cultivation, livestock and dairy provide the only alternative avocation the villagers fall upon for a subsidiary living. The potential and prospects-based of livestock and dairy farming is elucidated as follows -
Climatic potential
It falls under the temperate zone which favors luxuriant growth of vegetation and thick forests with rich varieties of flora and fauna. It receives the direct influence of the South West Monsoon originating from the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. Generally, monsoon begins sometimes in the month of April and continues till October.
The topography, climate and Socio-economic conditions makes the people to depend more on rearing of livestock and dairying activities mainly because of traditional agriculture in hilly areas allows only about 10 per cent of the land. Heavy rainfall in sloppy hills not only causes soil erosion but also makes it acidic by removing the soluble basic part of the soil by the solvent action of the run-off water and loss of productivity. Indiscriminate mining for stones, gravels, coal, etc. diminishes the area under cultivation, forest land and grass cover. Under such circumstances, livestock and dairy farming is the alternative options to take up by the villager for sustaining their life.
The average rainfall is 1200 cms. of which more than two-thirds occur during the monsoon, winter being practically dry. Consequently the growing of fodder feeds under favorable conditions for livestock and dairy animals is highly suitable by which the option provides to minimize excessive felling of trees by means of shifting cultivation. The entrepreneurs or farmers can take up the activities without any disturb on forest and environment.
Contribution of Livestock and Dairy Production for Balanced Ecological Cycle Though pastoral practices still exist, and there are pastoral communities, predominant production mode is one of the mixed farming in which agriculture and animal production are interdependent. Agriculture provides energy to livestock in the form of by-product feed, and the livestock return a part of that energy in the form of draught power and manure besides producing milk, meat and other animal products. Not more than 5 – 6 per cent of the area under cultivation is allocated to fodder crop production to supplement the by-product feed with green fodder.
The positive environmental contribution of livestock and dairy production systems are due to: i). recycling
agricultural by-products as animal feed: The major land savings occur because the alternative is to produce equivalent amount of green fodder by allocating require land area. ii). use of dung as manure: Since manure substitutes for chemical fertilizers, besides providing plant nutrients (NPK), it protects soil-born micro organisms, and prevents green house gasses emission that would otherwise occur in the manufacture, transport and distribution of equivalent amounts of chemical fertilizers. iii). use of dry dung cake as domestic fuels: The land savings occurs because the alternative is to plant and harvest firewood, trees, and supply equivalent amount of dry firewood. Since there is gestation lag between planting and harvesting of firewood, it requires much land than the area required to be harvested each year. iv). use of working animals in agricultural operations and also for rural transport: The working animals substitute for tractor and other agricultural machinery run on fossil fuel. The working animal stock prevents green house gasses emission, in particular CO2 emission that would otherwise occur due to burning of fossil fuel in running the substitute number of tractors. Incidentally, whereas fossil fuel is a non-renewable resources, the working animal stock is renewable.
Employment Generation
Unemployment is widely regarded as a major social and economic global problem. Most of the people who become unemployed remain without work for very short periods. However, there is also a hard core of unemployed who remain without work for long periods of time. The adverse consequences of unemployment are much more acute for this group. The problem of unemployment is one of the major obstacles for the growth of economy in Meghalaya and by and large, the agriculture is the predominant contributor of its economy. Among the agriculture activities, the rearing of livestock and dairy animals are also an important component in most of the farming systems and contributes in varying proportions to generate income and employment for sustaining livelihood of the people. The appropriate technology and adequate feed supply, if provided, the livestock and dairy animal has immense potential to contribute to the welfare of the small land holders in general, and educated unemployed in particular. More employment seems to be generated if one posses number of livestock and dairy farming and at the same time the production of its sector rise up.