Challenges and Future Prospects of Livestock and Poultry Farming in Indian Coastal Ecosystem - An Overview

Abstract

Indian coastal eco-system has an 8129 km long coastline covering an area of 10.78 M ha possessing about 17% of the total national population. The key activities in the coastal ecosystems include agriculture and allied sectors, industries, tourism, shipping transport, mining, etc. Farming of crops, livestock and fish is the major livelihood source for people in the coastal ecosystem. Besides providing food and earnings, livestock also provides social and cultural standards to the farming community. Coastal regions cover only 14.2% of the total Indian landmass but account for 19.5% of the total Indian livestock population. Coastal India is home to several breeds of livestock like the Vechur cattle of Kerala, Ongole cattle of Andhra Pradesh, Garole sheep and Swamp buffalo of Sundarbans, Nicobari fowls of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Black Bengal goats, Gir cattle, Billy goat of Barren Island in the Andamans, Chilika buffalo, Kuzi, Kendrapada and Edka sheep of Odisha, Malnad Gidda cattle, Gounti buffalo and Gounti poultry of Karnataka, Agonda Goan pig of Goa, Nicoberi, Frizzle, Necked neck and Barred Deshi poultry and Nicobari pig of Andam and Nicobar Island. However, livestock farming system in the coastal ecosystem faces several challenges such as low productivity, salinity of land, frequent occurrence of natural disasters like floods, cyclones and climate change. Scientific designing of farmhouses, feeding, breeding and management and adoption of climate resilient breeds/strains can help in exploiting the full genetic potential of these livestock and poultry germplasm. The development of climate-resilient smart villages, equipped with shelters for both people and livestock, in flood and cyclone-prone regions, along with the implementation of advanced weather forecasting systems, can play a crucial role. These systems would provide timely alerts about impending hazardous events, enabling the adoption of essential preventative measures to safeguard both human and animal lives.