Climate Change and Livestock Production in India: Effects and Mitigation Strategies

Climate change poses formidable challenge to the development of livestock sector in India. The anticipated rise in temperature between 2.3°c and 4.8°c over the entire country together with increased precipitation resulting from climate change is likely to aggravate the heat stress in dairy animals, adversely affecting their productive and reproductive performance, and hence reducing the total area where high yielding dairy cattle can be economically reared. Given the vulnerability of India to rise in sea level, the impact of increased intensity of extreme events on the livestock sector would be large and devastating for the low-income rural areas. The predicted negative impact of climate change on Indian agriculture would also adversely affect livestock production by aggravating the feed and fodder shortages. The livestock sector which will be a sufferer of climate change is itself a large source of methane emissions, an important greenhouse gas. In India, although the emission rate per animal is much lower than the developed countries, due to vast livestock population the total annual methane emissions are about 9–10 Tg from enteric fermentation and animal wastes. Other direct or indirect effect such as feed resources, water resources and health contributed significantly to the change in production pattern in India`s livestock industry that support more than 70% of rural populace. It is suggested that strong and sound policies to be implemented to preserve local indigenous breeds of livestock, improvement of pasture, water resource management, research and development would mitigate the monumental consequences of climate change on livestock in India.