Nation needs a growth rate of 8-10 pc in livestock: ICAR

The country needs a growth rate of 8 to 10 per cent in livestock production to achieve 5 per cent growth rate in agriculture sector in the 12th plan draft, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) Secretary Arvind Kaushal said here today.
Agricultural scientists should develop technologies to increase crop production amid the challenges like dwindling land holding, declining soil fertility and underground water table, he told a group of farmers and agricultural experts at a programme organised to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister, late Chaudhary Charan Singh, at Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) here.
Besides, they should also focus on cutting down the cost of cultivation to make agriculture a profitable avocation.

Kaushal who is also Additional Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research and Education, lauded the Haryana government as well as HAU for the significant achievements the state had achieved in agriculture and livestock production.
He said the state which constituted merely 2.5 per cent of the geographical area, was producing 6.4 per cent of the total agriculture production of the country.
Besides in wheat, bajra and mustard productivity, he said, the state was also ahead in fish and milk production.
He, however, expressed concern over falling productivity of murrah buffalo in the state.