Non-Monetary and Low-Cost Technologies to Increase Income of Small and Marginal Livestock and Poultry Farmers in India

This study has assessed the benefits of low-cost technologies adoption by the livestock and poultry farmers in India. For study, secondary data on costs and prices and benefits of the technology were collected from various published sources. The study has revealed that incremental income could be realized by processing of milk than selling raw milk. The adoption of vermicomposting will generate higher profits than dung or compost. The small and marginal farmers need to integrate various crops along livestock and poultry species diligently to maximize the revenue as Integrated Farming System (IFS) optimally utilizing the land, labour and capital resources. The timely and routine vaccination against endemic diseases in cattle, buffaloes, swine and poultry can provide benefits to the farmers significantly. Introducing improved backyard chicken breeds over native breeds, increases income due to weight gain ( 600/bird) and increased eggs ( 500/bird). The low-cost interventions for mastitis prevention in dairy animals, deworming and other traditional practices; low-cost feed supplementation like ureatreated paddy straw, azolla, and calcium supplementation in poultry and screening of eggs for fertility minimalize losses and increase farmers’ income considerably. As majority of the technologies are non-monetary and lowcost, their adoption will increase the income of small and marginal farmers substantially.