Livestock Minister Rajiv
Ranjan Singh Highlights India’s Dairy & Livestock Leadership at FAO Global Conference
in Rome
·
Union Minister Pitches India’s Farmer-Centric
Livestock Model, Calls for Policy Space & Global Cooperation
India’s
Vision & Global Role
·
India expressed appreciation to FAO and highlighted
its role as First Vice Chair of the FAO Sub-Committee on Livestock.
·
Under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership, India
has focused on farmer-centric, inclusive initiatives to ensure food
security, nutrition, poverty eradication, and livelihood generation.
·
India’s welfare measures since COVID-19 have lifted
269 million people out of extreme poverty (World Bank 2025 report).
Livestock
Sector Achievements
·
Livestock sector contributes 31% to agriculture
GVA and 5.5% to national GDP, growing at 12.77% CAGR.
·
India is:
o
Largest milk producer globally
(239 MT; ~25% of world output).
o
Second-largest producer of eggs.
o
Leading exporter of buffalo meat.
·
Livestock provides sustainable livelihoods to two-thirds
of rural households, with strong participation of women.
Key
Initiatives Highlighted
·
Rashtriya Gokul
Mission: Conserving indigenous breeds, benefitting 92M
animals & 56M farmers.
·
World’s largest livestock vaccination programme: 1.2B
doses annually; global hub for vaccine production.
·
National Digital Livestock Mission – Bharat
Pashudhan: Digital IDs for 353M animals & 94M livestock
owners.
·
USD 3.5B Animal Husbandry Infrastructure
Development Fund: Dairy, feed, breeding, meat processing.
·
Grassroots empowerment:
o
MAITRIs for breeding services.
o
A-HELP initiative for rural women in
animal health.
·
One Health approach: Calls
for stable funding to combat transboundary diseases.
·
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR):
Implementing a National Action Plan aligned with global framework.
·
Pandemic Preparedness: USD 25M
G20 Pandemic Fund grant to strengthen animal health security (with FAO, ADB,
World Bank support).
·
Women-led development: 70% of
dairy workforce are women; “White Revolution” built on their leadership.
·
International Day of Milk:
Resolution co-sponsored with Ireland, endorsed by FAO, to be taken up by UNGA.
Global
Call
·
India urged that the Global Plan of Action for
Sustainable Livestock Transformation remain a guiding framework, not
a rigid model, allowing space for national priorities.
·
Stressed need for finance, technology transfer,
and capacity building to support a phased transition.
·
Reaffirmed India’s commitment to share scalable
innovations with the Global South and strengthen FAO partnership.
Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry
& Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh addressed the 2nd Global Conference on Sustainable
Livestock Transformation at Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome. At the High-level Ministerial session,
Mr. Singh highlighted India's farmer centric initiatives, Innovations and transformations
that are driving inclusive growth in livestock and dairy sector in the country.
While conveying India’s deep appreciation
to FAO and its Director-General Dr. QU Dongyu for inviting India to share its experiences
and best practices, he expressed pride in India’s role as the First Vice Chair
of the Sub-Committee on Livestock established under FAO. Mr. Singh stated "Under
the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has undertaken a
series of transformative and inclusive initiatives to ensure food security, improve
nutritional outcomes, strengthen livelihoods, and eradicate poverty." Mr. Rajiv
Ranjan Singh noted that since COVID-19, India’s welfare measures have lifted 269
million people out of extreme poverty, reducing it from 27.1% to 5.3%, as per the
2025 World Bank Report. He underlined the central role of the livestock sector in
providing sustainable livelihoods to nearly two-thirds of rural households and millions
of small and marginal farmers, many of them being women. He said that the livestock
sector has recorded an impressive CAGR of 12.77% in recent years that contributes
31% to agricultural Gross Value Added (GVA) and 5.5% to the national economy.
Mr. Singh highlighted that India is today the world’s largest producer of milk,
accounting for nearly 25% of global output with an annual production of 239 million
tonnes. India is also the second-largest producer of eggs and a leading exporter
of buffalo meat.
While addressing the gathering, Mr. Rajiv
Ranjan Singh credited India’s livestock progress to people-centric policies, global
cooperation, and the resilience of smallholder farmers. He reaffirmed India’s 80-year
partnership with FAO and commitment to share scalable innovations with the Global
South. Stressing that the Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Livestock Transformation
must remain a guiding framework and not become a prescriptive model. He stressed
that it must allow space for national priorities, capacities, and circumstances
of the developing countries. He called for finance, technology transfer, and capacity
building to support a phased transition. Reaffirming India’s vision, the Union Minister
resolved to make the sector more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient.
Key initiatives undertaken by India in the Livestock Sector as highlighted
by Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Singh at FAO, Rome:
·
Through the Rashtriya Gokul Mission, India is conserving indigenous cattle breeds and
improving genetic diversity. Over 92 million animals have benefited, supporting
more than 56 million farmers.
·
India implements the world’s largest livestock vaccination programme,
administering over 1.2 billion doses annually to combat major diseases. India is also a global hub for high-quality vaccine
production and exports.
·
Through the National Digital Livestock Mission – Bharat Pashudhan,
India has created a digital ID system to enable traceability,
early disease detection, and ensure safety of animal products. To date, over 353
million animals and 94 million livestock owners have been registered.
·
India’s USD 3.5 billion Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund supports investments in dairy, breeding,
feed plants, and meat processing.
·
At the grassroots level, India has trained local resource
persons through the MAITRIs programme to deliver breeding services even in
remote areas. Through A-HELP, India is empowering rural women
to contribute meaningfully to animal health delivery, reinforcing the role of women
in livestock development.
·
India strongly supports the One Health approach, recognising the interconnectedness
of human, animal, and environmental health. India calls for predictable, stable funding for transboundary animal disease
programs, including through the FAO’s regular budget.
·
India has backed the Resolution on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
in agrifood systems and is implementing a National Action Plan aligned with
the Global Action Plan.
·
To strengthen pandemic preparedness,
India has secured a USD 25 million grant from the G20 Pandemic Fund
to boost animal health security systems. This effort is supported by partnerships
with the FAO, ADB, and the World Bank.
·
India is also deeply committed to women-led development. Over 70% of India’s
dairy workforce are women. He stated that “White Revolution” is a testament to their leadership, enabled by cooperative
models that have transformed rural livelihoods.
·
India and Ireland jointly co-sponsored the resolution for the International
Day of Milk, endorsed by the 44th FAO Conference and looking forward to its consideration
by the United Nations General Assembly.