Animal Husbandry

Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with the scientific care, breeding and management of livestock — cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, pigs, horses and camels — along with poultry and fisheries, which are usually studied as extensions of the same field.

Humans have depended on domesticated animals since ancient times for a wide range of products:

• Milk from cattle and buffaloes
• Eggs and meat from poultry and other livestock
• Wool from sheep
• Silk from silk-worms
• Honey from bees

Fisheries, as part of this broader picture, covers the rearing, catching and marketing of fish along with other aquatic animals such as prawns and crabs.

Why animal husbandry matters for India

India and China together hold more than 70% of the world's livestock population, yet contribute only about 25% of world farm produce. This gap shows that the productivity per animal is very low compared to the size of the herd. Improving this requires more than just traditional rearing practices — it calls for applying modern scientific methods of breeding, feeding, housing and disease management alongside conventional animal care, so that both the quality and the quantity of animal produce can be raised.