Parliament Question: Awareness Programmes for Livestock Farmers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3724 ANSWERED ON 11TH AUGUST, 2026 AWARENESS PROGRAMMES FOR LIVESTOCK FARMERS 3724: SHRI RAJESH NARANBHAI CHUDASAMA: Will the Minister of FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING मत्स्यपालन, पशुपालन और डये री मंत्री be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has recently organised a virtual awareness program for livestock farmers in country through Common Service Centres (CSCs); (b) if so, the details thereof along with aims and objectives of organising said program; (c) the total number of livestock farmers participated in this event from across country, State-wise; (d) whether any initiatives are being implemented by the Government to promote scientific breeding and improve fodder quality in the country, if so, the details thereof; and (e) the other steps/measures taken/being taken by the Government to create awareness among livestock farmers regarding diseases of livestock, vaccination to livestock breed improvement, zoonotic disease control and sanitation practices? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING (SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH) (a) to (b): Yes Sir. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), Government of India, has organised five virtual awareness programs for livestock farmers in the country through Common Service Centers (CSCs) during the Financial Year 2025-2026. Aims and Objectives of the awareness programmes through Common Services Centres is for creating awareness of schemes of Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying and to serve as a platform for knowledge sharing, policy awareness, and promoting entrepreneurship, highlighting the vital role of livestock farmers in rural development. The details of the five Virtual awareness programmes conducted through CSCs during 2025- 2026 on the following topics were as under:i. “Improving Livestock Productivity" organized on 11th July 2025 through 2000 CSCs location. ii. “Enhancing Livestock Productivity” organized on 23rd July 2025 through 4000 CSCs location iii. “Enhancing Livestock Productivity” organized on 20th August 2025 through 2000 CSCs location. iv. “Ethno Veterinary Medicine (EVM) for livestock farmers” on the occasion of 10th Ayurveda Day was organized on 23rd September 2025 through 2000 CSCs location. v. “Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare Awareness Month” organized on 5th February 2026 through 2500 CSCs location. (c) A total 6,41,250 livestock farmers participated in five virtual awareness programmes conducted through 12,500 CSCs locations across the country during 2025-2026. State wise details of participation of livestock farmers in the five virtual awareness programmes is annexed at Table 1 to 5. (d) The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying is supporting the States/Union Territories (UTs) to promote scientific breeding and improve fodder quality through the implementation of following schemes: 1. Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM): To supplement the efforts of the States and UTs in promoting scientific breeding, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India (GoI) is implementing Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) since December 2014 for development and conservation of indigenous breeds, genetic upgradation of bovine population and enhancement of milk production and productivity thereby making milk production more remunerative to farmers. 2. National Livestock Mission (NLM): In order to promote scientific breeding and improve fodder quality in the country, the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India is implementing the scheme of National Livestock Mission since the financial year 2014-15. The scheme of National Livestock Mission (NLM) aims towards employment generation, entrepreneurship development, increase in per animal productivity and thus targeting increased production of meat, goat milk, egg and wool under the umbrella scheme Development Programme. The concept of NLM Scheme is to develop the entrepreneur in order to create the forward and backward linkage for the produce available at the unorganized sector and to link with the organized sector. The Sub Mission on Breed Development of Livestock and Poultry of realigned National Livestock Mission aims to bring sharp focus on genetic breed improvement of sheep, goat, pig, camel, donkey, horse and mule by providing the financial assistance to the State Governments for breed conservation and establishment of breed improvement infrastructure. The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India (GoI) under the sub mission on Feed and Fodder Development aims towards strengthening of fodder seed chain to improve availability of certified fodder seed required for fodder production and encouraging entrepreneurs for establishment of fodder Block/Hay Bailing/Silage Making Units through incentivisation.(e) In order to complement and supplement the efforts of the State and UTs to create awareness among livestock farmers regarding diseases of livestock, vaccination, breed improvement, zoonotic disease control and sanitation practices, the Department has made awareness generation as integral part of the various schemes and details are given as under: i. Under Rashtriya Gokul Mission, fertility camps, milk yield competition, calf rallies, farmers training programme, seminars and workshop, conclaves etc. to create awareness among the farmers about importance of indigenous bovine breeds have been organized across the country. ii. Under Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme (LHDCP) Scheme, financial assistance is provided to the States/UTs for training and awareness on Good Animal Husbandry Practices, Biosecurity/Sanitary measures, vaccination against animal diseases, disease surveillance and monitoring and capacity building which supports animal health and productivity. iii. Under National Livestock Mission, in order to create awareness among livestock farmers, the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India under the Sub Mission on Innovation and Extension is carrying out extension services including promotional activities for animal husbandry and schemes, seminars, conferences, demonstration activities and other Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) activities for awareness generation. The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India has observed "Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare Awareness Month” from 14th January to 13th February every year, with the goal of raising awareness about the importance of modern animal husbandry practices and improving the welfare of livestock across the country. iv. The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying conducted a National Workshop on “Poultry Disease Free Compartments: World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Framework & Indian Perspective” on 8 May 2026 at Hyderabad to strengthen capacity among State Veterinary Services, research institutions, the poultry industry and farmers for establishing and maintaining disease free poultry compartments. “Mastitis Awareness Month – June 2026” campaign was also conducted where States/UTs organized farmer awareness camps, training programmes, demonstrations, and IEC dissemination in local languages, thereby strengthening livestock health awareness, disease control, and clean milk production. v. In addition to above, the Department enhances outreach for creating awareness amongst livestock farmers through collaboration with agencies like Press Information Bureau (PIB), Prasar Bharati and Central Bureau of Communication, running media and social campaigns, organizing exhibitions, National Milk Day, Pashu Melas and supporting state governments in extension services. During vaccination drives, Department broadcasts TV and radio spots on various platforms, including YouTube and social media. Department develops and distributes IEC materials such as booklets and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to raise awareness on livestock health, vaccination, breed improvement, zoonotic disease control and sanitation practices. vi. Further, with an objective to recognize and encourage all individuals like Farmers rearing indigenous animals, AI Technicians and Dairy cooperative societies / Milk Producer Company/Dairy farmers Producers Organizations working in livestock sector, National Gopal Ratna Award is also given by the Department every year. *******Annexure Table 1: State-wise details of participation of livestock farmers in Virtual Awareness Programme through the Common Service Centers held on 11th July, 2025 Sl. No. State No. of Livestock farmers participated 1 Gujarat 14,700 2 Maharashtra 18,200 3 Rajasthan 16,400 4 Karnataka 12,000 5 Andhra Pradesh 17,800 6 Tamil Nadu 8,800 7 Telangana 8,000 8 Puducherry 2,000 9 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 2,600 10 Goa 1,500 Total 1,02,000 Table 2: State-wise details of participation of livestock farmers in Virtual Awareness Programme through the Common Service Centers held on 23rd July, 2025 Sl. No. State No. of Livestock farmers participated 1 Arunachal Pradesh 2,400 2 Assam 14,300 3 Bihar 45,800 4 Haryana 21,300 5 Himachal Pradesh 8,100 6 Jammu & Kashmir 12,500 7 Ladakh 2,900 8 Manipur 5,100 9 Meghalaya 2,400 10 Mizoram 5,000 11 Nagaland 5,000 12 Punjab 11,700 13 Sikkim 4,600 14 Tripura 3,500 15 Uttar Pradesh 50,300 16 Uttarakhand 9,800 Total 2,04,700Table 3: State-wise details of participation of livestock farmers in Virtual Awareness Programme through the Common Service Centers held on 20th August, 2025 Sr. No. State No. of Livestock farmers participated 1 Odisha 25,000 2 Chandigarh 800 3 Chhattisgarh 13,050 4 Delhi 3,200 5 Jharkhand 14,400 6 Kerala 1,900 7 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 500 8 Madhya Pradesh 22,100 9 West Bengal 22,200 Total 1,03,150 Table 4: State-wise details of participation of livestock farmers in Virtual Awareness Camp through the Common Service Centers held on 23rd September, 2025 Sr. No. State No. of Livestock farmers participated 1 Andhra Pradesh 5,900 2 Bihar 6,850 3 Chhattisgarh 7,900 4 Gujarat 7,200 5 Haryana 7,100 6 Haryana 350 7 Himachal Pradesh 1,050 8 Jammu And Kashmir 2,600 9 Jharkhand 3,500 10 Karnataka 5,550 11 Kerala 1,550 12 Madhya Pradesh 6,250 13 Maharashtra 7,450 14 Nagaland 500 15 Odisha 6,350 16 Puducherry 500 17 Punjab 3,550 18 Rajasthan 7,600 19 Tamil Nadu 2,950 20 Telangana 3,550 21 Uttar Pradesh 7,450 22 Uttarakhand 5,60023 West Bengal 2,800 Total 1,04,100 Table 5: State-wise details of participation of livestock farmers in Virtual Awareness Programme through the Common Service Centers held on 5th February, 2026 Sr. No. State No. of Livestock farmers participated 1 Uttar Pradesh 10,600 2 Maharashtra 9,400 3 Gujarat 8,550 4 Chhattisgarh 7,800 5 Uttarakhand 7,500 6 West Bengal 7,500 7 Odisha 7,450 8 Haryana 7,200 9 Rajasthan 6,700 10 Bihar 6,650 11 Andhra Pradesh 6,500 12 Punjab 6,500 13 Karnataka 5,800 14 Madhya Pradesh 5,300 15 Tamil Nadu 5,050 16 Assam 3,000 17 Jharkhand 2,700 18 Jammu and Kashmir 2,500 19 Tripura 2,300 20 Himachal Pradesh 1,900 21 Delhi 1,500 22 Sikkim 1,500 23 Kerala 950 24 Meghalaya 550 25 Manipur 500 26 Mizoram 500 27 Puducherry 500 28 Arunachal Pradesh 400 Grand Total 1,27,300