The livestock sector contributes about 4.11% to the GDP and around 25.6% to the agricultural GDP. As per the 20th Livestock Census (2019), the total livestock population shows an increase of 4.6 per cent over the Livestock Census of 2012.
Though there has been an increase in the livestock population, the livestock sector has been grappling with wider challenges that confront its growth and productivity, such as:

• Outbreak of diseases: Frequent outbreaks and increase in communicable diseases among animals such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), lumpy skin disease (LSD), African swine fever, black quarter infection, etc. affect livestock health and consequently lower productivity.
• Feed and fodder deficit: Rapid urbanisation has led to shrinking land sizes and reduced green cover, which has led to severe feed and fodder shortage for the livestock sector.
• Limitations in cross-breeding: Limited artificial insemination services due to deficiency in quality germplasm, infrastructure and technical manpower coupled with poor conception rate following artificial insemination have been major impediments in this regard. After more than three decades of crossbreeding, the crossbred population is only 16.6% in cattle, 21.5% in pigs and 5.2% in sheep.
• Inadequate extension services: Due to inadequate livestock extension services that include appropriate veterinary services like vaccination, prevention and control of diseases, livestock awareness and deworming, the sector has witnessed laggard productivity.
• Thermal stress: Due to heat wave conditions, the livestock are confronted with embryonic mortality and changes in reproduction cycles leading to low fertility and low disease resistance capacity.

In view of the above-mentioned challenges, there is a need to re-energise the livestock sector in order to ensure sustainable livelihood and increase the income of Indian farmers. In this context, the following measures can be taken to enhance the growth of the sector:

• Strengthening of linkages between production and markets through institutions such as co- operatives, producers’ associations, and contract farming is the need of the hour.
• Primary vaccination for livestock should be made mandatory, and regular veterinary surveillance should be conducted in a time-bound manner.
• There is a need for wider adoption of high-yielding breeds, providing easy and timely credit and insurance, development of feed and fodder markets in dryland areas, and creation of export infrastructure, such as food safety testing labs recognised by importing countries.
• Indigenous breed gene banks can be created to assist various research institutions in conducting research as well as to help in conserving indigenous breeds for their ability to adapt to diseases and fragile climatic conditions.

Additionally, existing schemes like the National Livestock Mission (NLM), Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF), National Programme for Dairy Development Fund (NPDD), Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), etc. need enhanced support and impetus in the form of enhanced budgetary allocation and clear objectives to improve the productivity of the sector.